Peter Walton , Chief Executive of global golf tourism organisation IAGTO , talks to Destination Golf ’ s Peter Ellegard
DG : What prompted you to set IAGTO up ?
PW : IAGTO is 20 years old this year … For three years to 1996 I was UK Director of the Tenerife Tourist Office , during which time one of my goals was to turn this popular tourism destination into a successful golf destination , even though it only had three courses then , not the eight that it has now . In researching the market within the UK and beyond , the enormity of this niche travel sector became apparent , but so did its disparate nature and the lack of any coordination or support structure . I decided to have a go at changing that and dived headfirst into establishing the International Association of Golf Tour Operators ( IAGTO ) and the International Golf Travel Market in 1997 .
DG : How has IAGTO grown since then ?
PW : In September of 1997 I think we had about 20 golf tour operators , predominantly in the UK . Today we have just shy of 2,500 member companies in 96 countries , of which 641 are outbound golf tour operators carrying some 1.9 million golfers on golf vacations last year alone . The larger part of our membership now comprises golf resorts , golf courses , hotels , tourist boards and other golf tourism suppliers from virtually every golf destination on the planet .
DG : What does IAGTO do to help its members ?
PW : Similar to most industries , ours comprises ‘ buyers ’ and ‘ suppliers ’ – the buyers in our case being golf tour operators and the suppliers being the golf destinations , their golf courses and hotels . So as a trade association our remit has always been to make it easier , less costly and more effective for our buyers and suppliers to work together . Right from the beginning I set IAGTO the target of creating at least three new dynamic services every year that our members could take advantage of , so that the value of our organisation to our membership grows rapidly year by year . Here are just a few examples :
• We established the first golf tourism trade show , the International Golf Travel Market , now in its 19th year ( owned and operated by Reed Travel Exhibitions ) on , CEO of IAGTO
• We created the largest golf tourism photo library in the world for the benefit of our members
• We have been engaged by governments and tourist boards to produce the golf tourism promotional and
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