Laguna Golf twice honoured at IAGTO Awards
This week 1,200 golf industry professionals from 70 countries saw Laguna Golf win two esteemed accolades at the 17th annual International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) Awards, held in conjunction with the International Golf Travel Market.
Paul Wilson, Laguna Golf Assistant Vice President/Group Golf Director, said: “Laguna Golf, part of Banyan Tree Group, is proud to be recognised by the established IAGTO Awards with two prestigious awards.
“Echoing the Group’s ethos of Asian-inspired hospitality and sustainability, IAGTO provides the platform for us to raise the bar and spur us to be forward-thinking in the continual strive for service excellence while leading the way in sustainability for a superior golf experience.”
Laguna Golf Lăng Cô was voted for the first time as 2017 IAGTO Golf Resort of the Year while Asian Golf Industry Federation Golf Course Facility Member Laguna Golf Phuket won the 2017 IAGTO Sustainability Award for Community Value.
Chi Phan, Laguna Lăng Cô Assistant Vice President, Director of Operations, added: “Winning the IAGTO Golf Resort of the Year award is a significant milestone and recognition to Laguna Golf Lăng Cô team’s dedication in providing high quality resort and course facilities with exceptional experience.
“It comes on the heels of the recent second annual Laguna Golf Classic hosted by Laguna Golf Brand Ambassador and course designer Sir Nick Faldo and we are set to welcome our guests for the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in March 2017.”
Established in 2000, the IAGTO Awards are the annual Awards of the global golf tourism industry. As the global trade organisation, IAGTO Awards recognise the best-performing golf resorts in three regions based on the highest vote count: North America, Europe and the Rest of the World.
Votes were cast by 640 IAGTO member golf tour operators in 61 countries which oversaw more than 85% of all golf holiday packages sold worldwide with annual sales of over US$1 billion.
At the same Awards Gala Dinner, the fifth IAGTO Sustainability Awards continues to recognise golf clubs, resorts and destinations that lead the way in sustainability.
In partnership with GEO (Golf Environment Organisation) the awards celebrate and publicise the excellent work that many of IAGTO’s 820 golf course and golf resort members are doing in this field. The stringent judging was based on expert evaluation from GEO.
Situated about an hour’s drive from Danang International Airport, Laguna Golf Lăng Cô is located within the greater Laguna Lăng Cô, a US$200 million fully-integrated resort development by Banyan Tree Group and the first in Vietnam.
Laguna Golf Lăng Cô is the first course in the country to have Zoysia fairways and Tiff Eagle greens. The course is nestled between mountains and sea on a sandy strip of dune land that is perfect for golf. The unique environs feature rice paddies, soaring trees, ‘blowout’ areas, creeks, streams and dramatic rock outcrops on oceanfront footage.
This 6,961-yard, par-71 course is the 26th course designed by six-time Major winner Faldo.
Commenting on Laguna Golf Phuket winning the IAGTO Sustainability Award for Community Value, GEO Chief Executive Jonathan Smith said: “Laguna Golf Phuket, in Thailand, has been dedicated to community relations and corporate social responsibility since its establishment in 1984 within the grounds of a disused tin mine.
“By turning profits back into key ethically motivated purposes – cultural diversity, social equity, educational empowerment, promotion of health and sports, and environmental preservation – the resort is able to function as a community within a community, safeguarding its ecological and cultural heritage and promoting a shared prosperity.
“For this reason and the wider value it provides, Laguna Golf Phuket wins the Community Value category.”
