Phuket hoteliers tee off for first industry golf day
Monday, 03 Aug, 2016
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The Phuket hospitality scene is forever evolving. Big global players announce plans for new resorts on a seemingly monthly basis while new independent upstarts are making their presence felt right across the island. It’s an ultra competitive market not for the faint hearted. Despite its relative size, Phuket tourism is a fairly tight knit community where paths cross regularly at social gatherings and industry events. The hospitality business is in many ways like any other industry. The golf course is where deals are won and lost, differences settled and new partnerships forged. However it can also be a platform to celebrate all that is good in the Phuket hotel scene while gaining some much needed bragging rights.
In a nutshell that is the basis for a new annual industry event which teed off for the first time on July 15. The inaugural Laguna Phuket Hospitality Challenge aims to bring together hospitality decision makers, hoteliers and other tourism stakeholders in a more informal setting. The goal is to turn this industry golf day into an annual happening.
As first time events go, it was a great success with 60 golfers (in teams of four) fighting it out and putting their reputations on the line. In a Four Ball Texas Scramble format, the 15 team field produced some remarkable scores, either in spite of, or perhaps because of the ample free food and drink offered at most holes. Holes were sponsored by the likes of Outrigger, Dusit Thani, and Banyan Tree, alongside iconic Patong entertainment institutions Tai Pan and Hooters. For each it was a platform to showcase their inimitable food and beverage offerings to their contemporaries (including a copious amount of free alcohol). Prior the main event, the day kicked off in typically breathless style with Thailand’s first ever speed golf competition.
"The hospitality industry is very competitive, but even with this competitive spirit, it’s a great day out for the industry, great for networking and importantly we are raising money for kids’ charities," said Mark Cameron, managing director of organiser ASEAN Events.
Cameron is an affable Scotsman and an experienced operator with numerous industry golf events under his belt including several Oilfield Classics. Along with Paul Wilson, Group Director of Golf and the well drilled team at Laguna Golf, it turned out to be a seamlessly planned affair.
Cameron is also Thailand director for Helping Hand Group, an Australia based organization which facilitates fundraising at charity events through live auctions, silent auctions and ballot bidding. It provides a robust platform to optimize fundraising with prizes ranging from holidays and travel experiences, artwork and memorabilia – items on the auction block during the post golf dinner included a signed Lionel Messi shirt, an autographed boxing glove from Mohammad Ali and numerous luxury hotel stays.
Helping Hand Group has raised more than $80 million so far for various charitable organizations, and notably, brings a fresh new fun element to normally staid charity auctions. It recently won a prestigious award for its ‘Last Donor Standing’ program, which as the name suggests, turns the conventional charity auction bidding process on its head. Having seen it first hand at the dinner, it is certainly offers an entertaining new twist.
Along with the fine weather, Laguna Golf provided a fitting venue for the day. Lagoons meander throughout this par-71 championship course, topped off by a captivating mountain backdrop. The course has bagged a number of prestigious awards recently including Thailand’s best Golf Course at the World Golf Awards last year. The traditional Thai villa clubhouse is a swanky affair complete with fine dining, a well equipped pro shop and adjacent floodlit tennis courts. It has no less than six-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo as its Brand Ambassador, who returns to Phuket next month to oversee the Laguna hosted Faldo Series Thailand Championship – South, which is open to all junior golfers.
The golf club is just one component of Laguna Phuket, a huge 1,000 acre fully integrated resort nestling between a multitude of interconnected lagoons and the wide sandy expanse of Bang Tao beach on Phuket’s west coast. It features seven upscale resort hotels including parent company Banyan Tree, Outrigger, Dusit Thani, Angsana and the arty loft style residences of Cassia Phuket.
by Ray Montgomery
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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