Golfnotes

2004 BEST GOLF DESTINATIONS :

Britsh Columbia (Canada), Ireland, Italy, Fancourt (SA)

The 4th annual IAGTO (International Golf Travel Market) Awards Ceremony 2004 took place on December at the Barcelo Bavaro Convention Center in the Dominican Republic in front of an audience of 700 IAGTO members, golf travel professionals and invited guests. Ireland, Italy and British Columbia (Canada) picked up the best golf destinations awards for 2004.

For the Emerging and Established Golf Destination of the Year, IAGTO polled its own golf tour operator membership comprising 160 operators in 34 countries who took into consideration: customer satisfaction, quality of golf courses and accommodation, value for money, support from suppliers, tourist boards & airlines, and accessibility to tee-times.

- IRELAND : ESTABLISHED GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR

Accepting the award Damian Ryan, Director of Golf for the Failte Ireland (the Irish Tourist Board), said: "I am very proud on behalf of Failte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the Irish golf tourism industry to accept this award. This is something special. I would like to thank IAGTO members for voting Ireland as the No.1 destination in the world! We have waited for this moment for a long time. There are a lot of people in the industry who have made this possible: the golf course owners, hoteliers, car rental and coach hire companies – everybody has put in an enormous amount of hard work over the years to make Ireland the number one golf destination for 2004."

- ITALY : EMERGING GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR

Cinzia Giudici, representing the Italian Golf Federation said: " Many people already come to Italy to enjoy the "Dolce Vita" - including 7500km of coastline, our wonderful cities, mountains, lakes, spas, gastronomy and good climate. Now, thanks to you, another very important step has been made in the development of golf tourism to Italy. We are fully aware that we have a long way to go and that we have to build a number of new courses especially in southern Italy, which is the main project and goal of the Italian Golf Federation with the help and support of interested partners. However, for us this is an essential incentive for our growth. To everyone I say 'hold on, this is just the beginning. Now we are in the game, we want to play!'."

- BRITISH COLUMBIA : UNDISCOVERED GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR

The nominees and winner of the Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year were selected by the Golf Travel Writers Association taking into consideration included: the extent to which the golf destination was considered to be undiscovered; qualities that make for an interesting golf destination; attractiveness of the region and of the courses; golf course quality & accessibility; standard of accommodation; friendliness of the staff; value for money; speed of play; climate.

Receiving the Award, Tourism British Columbia's Marketing Director, Peter Harrison, said: " Not only do we have fantastic golf courses, but in combination with Vancouver, Victoria, Whistler, the wine country and the Rocky Mountains, we feel we can offer a really complete golf destination. Vancouver and Victoria enjoy a temperate climate year-round, so much so that avid golfers can find a golf course to play at any time of the year."

- FANCOURT (SOUTH AFRICA) GOLF RESORT OF THE YEAR ,

The 2004 IAGTO Awards included a new category: the Golf Resort of the Year. IAGTO's 160 specialist golf tour operators each submitted the names of what they considered to be the five best golf resorts in the world. They were asked to take into account the contribution made by the resort to its golf destination, value for money, quality of service, speed of play, booking procedures and of course customer satisfaction. Even with more than 700 votes tabled, the results were very close, but the magnificent Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estate emerged ahead of the rest. Peter Walton added: "Fancourt has helped its country gain a tremendous reputation for golf travel, has helped its fellow suppliers win an IAGTO Golf Destination of the Year Award, has constantly delivered an extraordinary quality of golf and customer service and has just hosted two teams competing for one of golf's most prestigious trophies - the President's Cup."

For more local information see Reports

Winners 2004

Ireland links courses attract golfers from world around

Golf dell'Ugolino betwwen Florence and the Chianti country.

Golf Chateau Whistler in British Columbia

Fancourt : Montagu course

Copyright (c) golftrotter.com. All rights reserved.