The 22nd International Golf Travel Market, the leading business-to-business event for the golf travel community, begins in Marrakech, Morocco, next week (Oct 14-17), with over 450 golf tourism suppliers from over 40 countries expected to join over 500 pre-qualified buyers from 45 countries for four days of pre-scheduled appointments, networking and education sessions.
The overall theme for this year’s show is ‘Grow Golf Together’, with the aim of highlighting how international golf travel suppliers can widen their appeal to a more diverse audience, including women and millennials. Headline speakers include BBC’s Naga Munchetty, R&A’s Director of Sustainability Steve Isaac and IAGTO’s CEO Peter Walton.
A familiar key face of BBC News, Munchetty is one of the main presenters for the BBC’s flagship Breakfast programme. Keen to empower and inspire women to achieve success, she will be sharing her experiences as a female golfer and will talk about how golf resorts and tour operators can appeal more to the female golfer. Steve Isaac, Director of Sustainability at R&A, will be looking at how to improve the golf experience and share insights into the R&A’s sustainability initiatives. These include Golf Course 2030, GreenLinks (The Open’s sustainability programme) and support for greenkeeper education.
A series of educational content sessions will also be available for everyone to attend to provide participants with industry insights, which will help grow their golf business. Networking events are planned as an added opportunity to continue to build relationships, while the official golf tournament is taking place on October 14.
This year has seen a significant increase in interest from buyers from America, with a 70% year-on-year increase in visitors due to attend the event from the United States.
Among the many companies exhibiting include the Algarve Tourism Association, Andalucia Tourist Board, Dominican Republic Tourist Board, Dubai Golf, Golf in Russia, Tourism Ireland, Monte Rei, Costa Navarino, European Tour Destinations and Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs. On the media side, over 40 international travel and golf journalists will also be attending to seek upcoming stories on what’s new in golf travel.
David Todd, IGTM’s Event Manager, commented: “With our refreshed brand image and website, together with a new organising team, it’s time for a change. We wanted to shake up the content of our official opening address for our participants; highlighting the changes in golf travel today and how businesses capitalising in this area can go above and beyond to ensure they are keeping up with the needs of their clients and appeal to a wider audience.”