The European Tour Group’s Chief Tournament and Operations Officer Ben Cowen was among a stellar line-up of presenters at the 2026 European Tour Destinations Annual Conference last week.
Representatives from the network’s world-class venues gathered at Arabella Golf Resort Mallorca, the award-winning 63-hole destination just outside Palma, to learn from and network with industry leaders and peers.
Tying in with the event’s theme, Heightening the Guest Experience in the Age of AI, Cowen shared insights into how the European Tour Group is adopting AI into many areas of its operations, including on-course spectator experience.
“The DP World Tour is very proud to be recognised as one of the top ten technologically advanced sporting organisations in the world,” said Cowen. “On-course fan experience is an area we’ve worked hard to optimise. Golf is played over a huge area compared to lots other sports, and it’s vital we make it as easy as possible for spectators to find out a wide range of information – from where players are on the course to which grandstands have free seats.
“We are also working with AWS to provide live chatbots, allowing spectators to get a quicker response to questions about live play. There’s also instant language translation, and a huge amount of data from wind direction to a player’s historical success rate on any given hole.”
Attendees heard from Ben Martin and Daphne Yuanidis from market intelligence firm HKS on how automating the predictable will allow resorts to humanise the exceptional, and from Sanjit Atwal, Chief Revenue Officer at Halfspace, on how data and AI will change the golf hospitality landscape.
There were also thought-provoking presentations from Andrew Lees, Global Segment Manager at Husqvarna, Emilie Despois, Marketing Director for Fine & Country, and Richard Payne, Director of Commercial Strategy for Levy, who spoke about what golf can learn from iconic sporting events.
Ian Knox, Head of European Tour Destinations, said: “Our Annual Conference is one of the cornerstones of the year. It was very valuable for attendees to hear from Ben Cowen on what’s happening in the European Tour Group, and all our presenters offered eye-opening learnings and insights that delegates can take back to their venues and put to good use in their strategies and operations. Several new venues have recently joined our network, so we enjoyed welcoming them and finding out more about their respective resorts.”
For more on European Tour Destinations, visit www.europeantourdestinations.com