In a major step designed to give maximum support to the entire golf tourism industry, the Covid-19 Recovery Hub created by IAGTO for its 2,700 member companies, is being made accessible to all golf courses and golf resorts worldwide that receive golf visitors, along with all hotels currently working with IAGTO golf tour operators.
The Recovery Hub includes an Operational Status webpage that enables golf courses and hotels to upload and then regularly update their reopening schedule, current operational status and Covid-19 safety measures.
Over 700 IAGTO-member golf tour operators in 62 countries receive a daily update notifying them of changes made to the site in the past 24 hours. Most importantly, this means that there is now one global central resource for the golf tourism industry to keep track of the changes that are being implemented in golf destinations worldwide literally every hour, avoiding time-consuming administration and communication.
IAGTO Chief Executive Peter Walton said: “We made the decision to extend this essential service beyond our membership in order to ensure that every golf destination now has a mechanism to keep golf tour operators informed of the precise operational conditions in place at every golf course in their region. Access to our Recovery Hub site is now entirely free of charge to non-member golf courses and golf resorts.”
Walton added: “In our role as the global trade association of the golf tourism industry, our entire focus since March has been to provide guidance and create tools that will ensure that our tourism sector is the best prepared for the recovery from this unprecedented crisis.”
The Operational Status section of the Recovery Hub focuses on five aspects of golf course and hotel operation:
1) Current status and conditions of current visitor access
2) Date and details for reopening or next phase of reopening/increasing visitor access
3) Compliance with local government standards and regulations relating to Covid-19
4) Details of Covid-19 safety measures currently in place
5) Covid-19 safety certification
To gain access to the Covid-19 Recovery Hub, golf courses and golf resorts that are not currently members of IAGTO must first register, which is entirely free of charge, at www.iagto.com/iagtolite