As the global trade association of the golf tourism industry, IAGTO have taken great care and immense pride over the past 19 years to ensure that our annual Awards represent the pinnacle of achievement for golf destinations and golf resorts, reflecting accurately the opinions of golf tour operators, golf travel writers and, ultimately, the golf traveller.For six years now they have been pro-actively supporting sustainable golf thru the relationship with the GEO Foundation, and this year they have four worthy winnners of our Sustainability Awards.
These Awards act as a catalyst for best practice as well as showcasing existing excellence.
This year, Golf resorts and golf destinations across the globe have been honoured at a gala dinner to mark the 2019 IAGTO Awards in Slovenia capital Ljubljana.
The winning destinations in the golf tourism industry’s annual celebration of excellence are Spain’s Costa del Sol and Logroño-La Rioja regions, Dominican Republic, Mauritius, Hua Hin in Thailand and Scottsdale, in Arizona. Golf resort awards were scooped up by Scotland’s Gleneagles, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, in Canadian province British Columbia, and Mission Hills Haikou, on China’s tropical paradise island of Hainan.
Besides the IAGTO Awards – organised by global golf tourism trade organisation IAGTO (International Association of Golf Tour Operators) – a further four golf resorts were lauded for their environmental and community efforts in the 2019 IAGTO Sustainability Awards. Run in conjunction with non-profit golf sustainability body GEO Foundation, they have been held for the last six years.
The 2019 winners are: Italy’s Gardagolf Country Club; Jack’s Point Golf, in New Zealand; Al Mouj Golf, in Oman; and Portugal’s Vidago Palace, which is only the second recipient of a Special Award.
The winners were announced to 1,200 international golf tourism delegates at the gala dinner, which was held in the Ljubljana Exhibition & Convention Centre at the end of the 21st International Golf Travel Market.
IAGTO Chief Executive Peter Walton said: *“With our annual Golf Tourism Awards now in their 19th year, it is inevitable and expected that a number of tonight’s Award winners were receiving this highest of accolades for the second or third time. But there were also some stand-out first time winners including the Costa del Sol deservedly being voted European Golf Destination of the Year, and on the other end of the scale but also in Spain, the evocative region of Logroño-La Rioja being nominated Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year by the world’s leading golf travel writers.
“The fact that Gleneagles and Fairmont Chateau Whistler were first-time winners demonstrates the wealth of incredible golf resorts available and the strength of the competition. Delivering the best possible experience for the visiting golf travel consistently year after year saw the Dominican Republic become the only four-time winner (2009, 2013, 2016, 2019) with Mauritius on three (2008, 2016, 2019) and Mission Hills Haikou (2012, 2019), Scottsdale (2011, 2019) and Hua Hin (2014, 2019) all picking up the iconic crystal Award for the second time.*
*“This year we are also shining a light on the tremendous efforts being made by Global-Golf-4-Cancer and its stoic founder Nick Edmund.”*
**The following are this year’s winners:**
IAGTO SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS – NATURE PROTECTION
Jack’s Point wins international tourism award for nature protection
IAGTO SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS – RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
Gardagolf Country Club wins IAGTO Sustainability Award
IAGTO SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS – COMMUNITY VALUE
Al Mouj Golf wins the IAGTO Sustainability Award for Community Value
IAGTO SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS – OUTSTANDING COMITTMENT
Vidago Palace Wins Second Golf Environment Award
GOLF RESORT OF THE YEAR AWARD – EUROPE
Global Golf Tour Operators vote Gleneagles their European Golf Resort of the Year 2019
GOLF RESORT OF THE YEAR AWARD – NORTH AMERICA
Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club named 2019 North America Golf Resort of the Year by IAGTO
GOLF RESORT OF THE YEAR AWARD – ASIA PACIFIC
Mission Hills Haikou Crowned Asia Pacific Golf Resort of the Year by IAGTO
UNDISCOVERED GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR
Golf In Logroño-La Rioja, IAGTO Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year for 2019
GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR – ASIA PACIFIC
Hua Hin Again Wins IAGTO Award for Asia’s Golf Destination of the Year
GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR AWARD – AFRICA, INDIAN OCEAN & GULF STATES
Mauritius wins IAGTO Golf Destination of the Year for Africa, Indian Ocean and the Gulf States
GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR – LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
Dominican Republic Named Latin America and Caribbean’s Best Golf Destination 2019
GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR AWARD – NORTH AMERICA
Scottsdale Selected IAGTO North American Golf Destination of the Year
GOLF DESTINATION OF THE YEAR – EUROPE
The Costa del Sol receives the IAGTO award for European Golf Destination of the Year
