A new specialist golf PR and Marketing consultancy has been launched this week in Scotland.
Golf Communications International has been formed by Helena Woodcock and aims to provide a full suite of media handling, marketing and event organisation services to resorts, courses, hotels and other businesses involved in the golf industry.
Operating from a base close to the historic Home of Golf in St Andrews, Golf Communications International is already working with several clients in the UK and Europe.
With more than five years’ experience of the golf tourism industry, having worked as VisitScotland’s Golf PR Executive and previously heading up the Golf Department at the Czech Tourism Authority, Helena has a substantial database of media and golf contacts throughout Europe and beyond.
“I am very excited at the prospect of working with courses and businesses in the golf tourism sector to help them achieve their full potential,” explained Helena. “The industry is going through a tough period at the moment thanks to the global economic situation but that just makes it all the more important to find effective ways of getting the right message across.
“I can help courses reach their target media and work with them to ensure they raise their profile and promote themselves in as effective a fashion as possible without having to invest a fortune.”
Golf Communications International offers clients four main services. It can assist with all media activity from organising press trips to placing magazine features or attracting broadcast coverage. It can assist with preparing marketing materials from publications and brochures to display stands and copywriting. Clients can also receive support in working with tour operators to create packages for their venue and in official representation at trade shows and exhibitions.
Helena will be meeting with potential clients at the International Golf Travel Market in Malaga, Spain in November, the European Golf Course Owners’ Association Conference in Amsterdam, Holland in December and the USPGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida in January.
Having helped establish a national golf department for the first time at the Czech Tourist Authority, Helena was instrumental in the country winning the Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year Award at the prestigious International Association of Golf Tour Operators’ awards in Marbella in 2006.
From there Helena moved to VisitScotland where she worked with some of the most famous courses in the world of golf including the Old Course at St Andrews Links, Carnoustie, Turnberry, Gleneagles, Royal Aberdeen, Kingsbarns and Machrihanish Dunes.
Helena has worked with some of golf’s most important organisations including the R&A, IMG, the International Association of Golf Tour Operators, the European Golf Course Owners’ Association and the European Golf Travel Media Association. She has worked at major golf events such as The Open Championship, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the Johnnie Walker Championship, the BMW International Open and the SAS Scandinavian Masters and has attended trade shows in the UAE, Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Spain, Scotland, Mexico, England, Finland and Sweden.
Golf Communications International www.golfcomms.com