Recipients of the IAGTO Exc
Awards honoured as the AG
to a close in Jakarta
Golf courses in six countries
in the Asia Pacific region
have been recognised for the
excellence of their facilities and
service at a lavish gala dinner
in Indonesian capital Jakarta
marking the end of the 4th
annual IAGTO Asia Golf Tourism
Convention (AGTC).
A special award for the
achievements of a tourist office
was also made during the
2nd annual IAGTO Excellence
Awards, with the Malaysian
Tourism Promotion Board –
which brands itself as Tourism
Malaysia – being given the
accolade.
Peter Walton, Chief Executive
of global golf tourism industry
organisation IAGTO, which
organises the annual AGTC
event, revealed the winners to
the 700 convention delegates
and dignitaries gathered in the
grand ballroom of Jakarta’s
luxury Hotel Mulia for the gala
night. IAGTO has carried out
50
more than 250 golf tourism
audits of golf courses around
the world over the past decade
and this year, one course
from each of six countries
was selected to receive the
prestigious distinction.
The golf course recipients of
Diamond Award in the 2015
IAGTO Excellence Awards were:
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Abu
Dhabi; Angkor Golf Resort,
Cambodia; Spring City Golf
& Lake Resort, China; Damai
Indah Golf’s BSD & PIK courses,
Indonesia; Kota Permai Golf &
Country Club, Malaysia; and
Black Mountain Golf Club,
Thailand.
This is the first year a tourist
office has been honoured in the
Excellence Awards. Announcing
Malaysia’s tourism board as
winner of that category, Walton
told delegates: “Over the past
18 years, we have seen that
real success for achieving
sustainable golf in golf tourism
Destination Golf TRAVEL
comes when private and public
sectors work together. We
need ministries of tourism and
tourist boards to support the
promotion of golf destinations
in the Asia Pacific region.
“So the final winner of our
Excellence Awards goes to a
tourist board that deserves
recognition for supporting its
national golf tourism industry
through the funding of a longterm golf tourism promotion
strategy that began in 2011.”
Tourism Malaysia Director of
Industry Development, Saidi
Bundan, said: “Winning the
accolade is an achievement
that we really appreciate for
our hard work in promoting the
destination. Since four years ago
the government has focused on
the golf segment as one that
can contribute to the economy.
“We started marketing
and promoting the golf
segment together with non-