The spectacular island of Madeira hosted the European Tour’s 1500th event, the Madeira Islands Open. The joint Challenge as European Tour event attracts all of Europe’s young hopefuls trying to work their way onto the big stage by battling it out in the golf trenches. The Madeira Islands Open is sponsored by the local tourism authorities and they have also supported a joint hotel and course, rooms and rounds online booking engine supplied by OpenTee – GolfSwitch.
The press conference at the Santo da Serra Golf Club was attended by local as well as international press, courtesy of the European Golf & Travel Media Association. Both, Jonathan Fletcher of Palheiro Golf and Ricardo Abreu of Santo da Serra were flanked by Jo Maes, OpenTee – GolfSwitch’s European Director to explain to the media what the online tee time booking engine will mean to Madeira as a golf destination.
Jo Maes explains: “OpenTee – GolfSwitch are the leaders in online tee time bookings and we currently connect to about 3,700 golf courses worldwide. The recent acquisition by OpenTee builds upon the groundwork laid out by GolfSwitch which provides golf courses with the tools to leverage the internet as a tee time sales tool. Madeira is such a destination where the hotels and golf clubs work closely together to provide visiting golfers with the best rooms & rounds combination possible. By connecting the golf courses to the network they now have a 24/7 reception where golfers can book rounds of golf either directly on the golf club’s website or via the extensive network OpenTee – GolfSwitch brings to the table. Our network reaches 10 million golfers with all the different tools associated like ShotZoom, GolfShot and others.’
Ricardo Abreu of Santo da Serra adds: “Having the islands of Madeira come together in this online initiative can only be good for us. It’s been a pleasure working with OpenTee – GolfSwitch and this initiative, supported by the local tourism authorities, has provided the whole hospitality industry with a tool to attract more golfers from abroad. We from Madeira are extremely welcoming people and our spectacular environment, both on Santo da Serra as Palheiro, will provide golfers with an unforgettable golf experience.”
The tee time booking engines are active on both golf club websites and the Rooms & Rounds engine will be incorporated on an Madeira Islands Golf website which will function as a central reservation site. Both the courses as the hotels are connected via live interfaces so golfers find immediate and live inventory and pricing.
GolfSwitch www.golfswitch.com
OpenTee www.opentee.com
Palheiro Golf www.palheirogolf.com
Santo da Serra Golf Club www.santodaserragolf.com