Members of VisitScotland’s golf marketing team are leading a Scottish mission to Lake Como in Italy to enhance The Ryder Cup 2014 legacy and show the world why Scotland is endorsed as The Home of Golf.
The national tourism organisation has taken its largest ever number of Scottish golf businesses to the International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), the world’s premier golf trade event.
Team Scotland is attending Villa Erba, Lake Como, Italy, from 27 – 30 October 2014 with a delegation of 21 partners* including Trump Golf Scotland, The Gleneagles Hotel, Ayrshire Golf Scotland and Highland Golf Links.
At the exclusive four-day B2B event, which is dedicated to international golf tourism, VisitScotland will carry out appointments with buyers, sponsor various functions, showcase destination presentations and host a dedicated Scotland networking evening for around 200 people.
Sure to be a highly popular attraction, the VisitScotland stand is displaying the world-famous Claret Jug, the trophy awarded to the winner of The Open Championship, which will be held at St Andrews in 2015 and Royal Troon in 2016.
Over 600 golf tourism suppliers and around 350 pre-qualified buyers are expected to attend IGTM from approximately 65 countries. This is the first time in IGTM history that the four day event has been held in Italy.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said: “IGTM gives VisitScotland and our partners the chance to carry out hundreds of valuable appointments – meeting face-to-face with tour operators and golf businesses from around the world. The interest from the Scottish industry to take part was immense and Team Scotland will have the biggest presence to date at the event.
“Our stand will certainly be busy and we are also delighted to have the world-famous Claret Jug on display. This year we will focus on building on the Ryder Cup legacy, while promoting all the great golf events happening in Scotland in the next 12 months such as The Open in St. Andrews and the RICOH Women’s British Open. As 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, we will have smoked salmon, haggis, Irn Bru and whisky tasting at our Scotland evening giving everyone a little preview of our country’s finest, fresh cuisine.”
Team Scotland delegation at IGTM are:
n Ayrshire Golf Scotland
n Cameron House on Loch Lomond
n Carnoustie
n Craigielaw Golf Club and Lodge
n Dundonald Links
n Fairmont St Andrews
n Fife Golf
n Golf Aberdeen City and Shire
n Golf Perthshire
n Highland Golf Links
n Kingsbarns Distillery and Visitor Centre
n Kingsbarns Golf Links
n Macdonald Hotels and Resorts
n Meldrum House Country Hotel & Golf Course
n Scotland’s Golf Coast
n St Andrew Executive Travel
n The Gleneagles Hotel
n The Village at Machrihanish Dunes
n Thistle Destination Management
n Trump Golf Scotland
n The Open Hospitality 2015
In 2014, Scotland proved it is the perfect stage for world-class events. The Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games were huge successes for Scottish tourism, putting the country on the map with a television reach of over half a billion homes.
Scotland will continue to play host to the world’s best golf events with no fewer than six major championships confirmed for the four years following The Ryder Cup, including The Open Championship, The Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, the Scottish Hydro Challenge and the RICOH Women’s British Open.
EventScotland www.EventScotland.org
VisitScotland www.visitscotland.com