THE 7th Asia Golf Tourism Convention, considered as the most important golf tourism event in the Asia Pacific region, was held at the Marriott with Frederick Alegre, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Tourism; Peter Walton, CEO of International Association of Golf Tour Operators; and Cesar Montano, COO of Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippines in attendance.
Owned and operated by the IAGTO, the AGTC takes place in a different golf destinations each year with the seventh year being staged in the Philippines and the main convention taking place at the Resorts World Manila from April 22 to 25.
The AGTC 2018 has attracted over 560 participants, including 200+ golf tour operators from 33 countries. A record number of golf tour operators (over 160) participated in golf familiarization tours before and after the convention, experiencing first-hand what the Philippines has to offer the international golf traveller.
Previous AGTC host destinations have been Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2012), Pattaya, Thailand (2013), Mission Hills Haikou, Hainan Island, China (2014), Jakarta, Indonesia (2015), Chiang Mai, Thailand (2016), Danang, Vietnam (2017).
AGTC brings together international golf tour operators from around the world, all selling golf vacations to Asia, to meet with golf tourism suppliers (golf resorts, hotels, golf courses, inbound tour operators and tourist boards) from Asia, the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Gulf States.
AGTC is also designed to showcase the host destination to the participating golf tour operators, in order to generate sustainable growth in golf travel to the host destination of this high revenue, low impact tourism sector.
Established in 1997, the IAGTO is the global trade organization of the golf tourism industry and has over 2,653 member companies in 98 countries, including 685 golf tour operator members in 64 countries, which control more than 87% of golf vacation packages sold worldwide and which collectively have annual sales of more than $2.5 billion.
IAGTO runs the annual Asia Golf Tourism Convention and North America Golf Tourism Convention, along with regular Destination Conventions. It also established the International Golf Travel Market, now owned and operated by Reed Travel Exhibitions, in 1997 and the International Golf Travel Writers Association in 2000. IAGTO also runs the prestigious annual IAGTO Awards and the IAGTO Excellence Awards.
“Thanks to the efforts of the Philippines Department of Tourism and its Tourism Promotion Board, the world’s leading golf tour operators will see for themselves an amazing array of golf experiences—including the Tagaytay Highlands, Clark/Angeles City and Metro Manila—for the first time, in the case of the majority of them. At the convention itself, close to 1,000 meetings will take place between international tour operators and Philippine golf course, hotels, inbound operators and other golf tourism suppliers. I have no doubt that this will lead to an immediate and sustainable growth in golf tourism to the Philippines,” said IAGTO Chief Executive, Peter Walton.