The Asian Golf Industry Federation has re-engaged with Signature Group to lead the expansion of a Sponsorship Development Plan that will further enhance the AGIF as an industry leader in the unique and diverse Asian golf marketplace.
In 2013, Signature Group assisted in developing a Strategic Plan and a Sponsorship Engagement Plan for the AGIF with a focus on the initiatives of education, research and growth of the game in an important and rapidly expanding golf market. The AGIF’s Board of Directors has implemented many of those recommendations as the organization moves into the fall of 2014 and beyond. The region has drawn vast interest, indicated by more than 15 tournaments on the PGA Tour, European Tour and LPGA and with The Presidents Cup scheduled for South Korea in 2015.
“The Sponsorship Development Plan will indicate the wide interest by international organizations in our growth as the authoritative source of information in the Pan-Asian region,” said Tim Trinka, President of the AGIF, based in Singapore. “The relationship with Signature Group continues our focus on driving sponsors to a place where they can obtain reliable research, education and engagement in the rapidly expanding golf industry in Asia.”
Signature Group CEO Bruce Lucker has met with and interviewed the AGIF Board of Directors in China, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and at the 2013 Presidents Cup to better understand the path forward by using internal and external analysis, strategic options, identifying key assets to invest in and potential, highly respected sponsors.
Recently, the AGIF and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) finalized a strategic alliance to share educational materials and raise the profile and standard of turfgrass maintenance in the Asian region.
“We have laid out what we feel are outstanding potential revenue opportunities for the AGIF,” Lucker said. “We are working closely with the AGIF staff, members of the Board of Directors and various committees to refine this plan and outline specific assets the AGIF can deliver to the sponsor market. Our overall goal is to grow the revenue base of the AGIF.”
The wave of modern golf development in Asia began in the 1960s, approximately 130 years after the first Asian course was built in India in 1829. Estimates indicate there are currently more than 4,600 courses in Asia, with many new courses in various stages of development, an upward trend in direct contrast to flat market growth through much of the rest of the golf world. China and India are among the world’s largest economies, and within the next decade Asia is expected to have more than 50 percent of the world’s population. Already, more Chinese (39.7 million) are watching golf on television that in the U.S. (24.8 million).
Asian Golf Industry Federation www.agif.asia
Signature Group www.signaturese.com