Costa Navarino, the sustainably driven destination in Greece’s southwest Peloponnese, is celebrating the Olympic Games 2024 with landmark events and enhances its sports offering, with a new summer camp and the return of the NBA Basketball School. On April 17, Costa Navarino proudly welcomed the Olympic Flame at the world’s first International Olympic Academy Golf Course, as part of the flame’s journey from Greece to Paris. It is the first golf course in the Mediterranean to ever host the Olympic symbol. The 18-hole signature golf course symbolises the links between golf and Olympism, as it is the nearest golf development to Ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games. The naming of course also reflects the International Olympic Academy, Hellenic Olympic Committee and Costa Navarino’s shared values of sustainability, personal welfare, education, and growth. Two young athletes from the Navarino Junior Golf Academy acted as torchbearers. To celebrate the spirit of the Olympics, Costa Navarino will introduce a new five-day sports camp for children and teenagers aged six to 15, from July 15 to August 16. The camp will give them the chance to try their hand at ten different sports which feature in the Olympic Games. The aspiring athletes will receive expert coaching in golf, tennis, basketball, football, archery, climbing, beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, and water polo. The basketball and football sessions will be led by coaches from the NBA Basketball School and Bayern FC respectively, while qualified coaches will oversee the other sports. Sports enthusiasts can further develop their skills at the NBA Basketball School which returns at Costa Navarino for its second year of operation, with an engaging program for players of all ages. The NBA Basketball School will run from May 27 to September 15. Young players from six to 18 years old will live the NBA experience in three to seven-day camp programmes, while adults can participate in daily one-hour activities. All participants will receive an NBA branded T-shirt upon registration, and participants who attend the full programme (six or seven days) will receive an NBA Basketball School certificate and NBA gift. For the period from June 30 to August 17, participants will have the exclusive opportunity to train with the NBA veteran and first-round draft pick, Michael Bradley, who will join as full-time camp director. Whilst children are training, adults can also participate in a range of sports including tennis, padel and pickleball at the Mouratoglou Tennis Center, wakeboard, SUP yoga, kitesurfing, sailing and diving in clear blue water, as well as enjoy the Messinian lush nature through hiking, cycling, climbing. Costa Navarino is a 45 minute-drive from Kalamata International Airport. Easyjet flies direct to Kalamata from London Gatwick three times a week from April to November. British Airways has four direct flights a week from London Heathrow between May and October. Jet2 has twice-weekly direct flights from Birmingham, London Stansted and Manchester from May to November, while Ryanair flies weekly from London Stansted between June and September.

Marking a landmark evening for Dubai Golf, the team at Jumeirah Golf Estates, led by Director of Golf, Franco Botha, also won the award for Golf Operations Team of the Year while the team at Emirates Golf Club, headed up by Club Manager, Dean Nelson, won the award for Ultimate Service Excellence. Gold Flag Destination status is a coveted symbol of professional excellence as decided by the 59club in Middle East and Africa. 59club’s industry benchmark of excellence, its Gold, Silver and Bronze Flag Designations, are awarded annually. These highly prized accolades recognise member clubs and resorts that provide excellent facilities for golfers to enjoy, as well as having achieved the required standard of customer service throughout the year. Chris May, CEO of Dubai Golf, commented: “Everybody at Dubai Golf is delighted to have been recognised with these destination status flags that highlight the quality and fantastic service that our venues offer. These MEA Service Excellence Awards are a testament to the great work that the whole team at Dubai Golf has done in the past 12 months, and further demonstrate the exceptional welcome and hospitality that our teams offer.”  Jumeirah Golf Estates‘ Director of Golf, Franco Botha, added: “I’m exceptionally proud of the team here at Jumeirah Golf Estates. We continue going from strength to strength, and prioritising our service has been at the forefront of the experience here for years now. This award reflects the hard work the team has put in to keep pushing for higher standards across the board.” Emirates Golf Club’s Club Manager, Dean Nelson, added: “Winning the 59club Ultimate Service Excellence Award is validation for the hard work our team has put in to make the service we offer members and guests a top priority. The quality of the products and services we offer at Emirates Golf Club are of the highest standard, so it’s crucial to us that we match our service to the experience.” These latest accolades for the Dubai Golf group underline a period of unprecedented development and success, including the hosting of three significant DP World Tour events since November 2023: DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club, and the Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club.

As Spain’s No.1 Golf Resort* celebrates its 25th anniversary year, it completes the implementation of Trackman Range technology at its Golf Hub, making it the first venue in the Catalan region to offer the tour-proven golf ball tracking solution, and only the second in Spain to feature its courses on the industry’s leading virtual golf software. Flavio Papa, Director of Golf at Camiral Golf & Wellness, commented: “Golfers visiting our five-star resort can now enjoy access to detailed shot analysis, interactive experiences, and entertaining games directly on their personal mobile devices using the Trackman App, or on one of the ten interactive screens available. “Our two championship courses, the Stadium and Tour, will soon join the list of world-class virtual courses available to play at Trackman Range locations worldwide. “This integration enables us to enhance every golfer’s practice experience, be they beginners or seasoned players, by providing them with one of the largest practice facilities in Europe, including a natural grass practice tee and a 2,000 square-meter putting green and chipping area, as well as a variety of entertainment options, including virtual course play, fun games and interactive challenges, thanks to the new Trackman Range.” Further investment at the European Tour Destination has included a comprehensive renovation of its professional golf shop. The boutique-inspired redesign by Spanish architects Jaime Prous embraces the resort’s Eat, Play, Stay Well philosophy featuring eco-friendly wood, warm lighting and sustainable materials used throughout. The now more inviting space is divided into two distinct areas, comprising a golf reception and a retail space, offering a more personalized experience for all visitors. “At Camiral Golf & Wellness, we are dedicated to delivering a world-class customer experience, and the unveiling of our architect-designed pro shop and new Trackman Range further underscores this commitment,” added David Plana, CEO at Camiral Golf & Wellness. “This significant investment in our golf facilities comes at an opportune moment as we celebrate our 25th anniversary and continue our ongoing journey to establishing Camiral Golf & Wellness as one the world’s premier destinations for golf and wellness.” Located within a 20-minute drive from neighbouring Girona, just one hour from Barcelona, Camiral Golf & Wellness boasts two acclaimed golf courses, including the Stadium Course, consistently ranked among the top 10 in Continental Europe. Beyond golf, the resort offers a 300-hectare forested estate, sport and leisure facilities, range of dining choices, nature trails and more.

The core principle is, of course, to attract buyers, however, a knock-on effect to a captivating listing and a coherently planned marketing effort is the wider ability to gain future business from those wishing to sell properties. Here, Sandra Ruttle, Real Estate Consultant for European Tour Destinations, outlines four compelling approaches agents should consider when listing and marketing properties: Emotion, emotion, emotion While pictures might first attract a buyer to a property, increasingly, it is the carefully crafted written content that is helping seal the deal. In addition to the important facts and figures relating to a property, a story-telling narrative around the key features of the property is becoming as important. “The essence of selling luxury real estate is the feeling and emotion created in what it is being presented in the listing,” said Sandra Ruttle. “Adverts that evoque emotive responses are proving key to attracting interest.” A sense of exclusivity Marketers use a mix of psychology and human behaviour factors to influence their audiences into taking particular actions. Increasingly, emotional trigger words are being incorporated as part of a smart strategy to increase conversions for businesses. “The trigger words are mostly calls-to-action, aiming to garner the target’s attention, maintain it, and then materialise it for business growth and bottom-line improvement,” commented Sandra Ruttle. “So, creating events, separate sections on websites and marketing communications labelled ‘members-only’, ‘private client’ or ‘restricted access’, conjure a sense of exclusivity, which gives products a greater perceived value, and make prospective buyers ‘want’ – instead of need – by giving them the feeling of belonging to an elite few. “Social media is also very conducive to this, with closed groups on Facebook or WhatsApp communities allowing agents to market properties to select people before they go out publicly.” The psychology of selling Many psychology experts have weighed in on the best ways of displaying prices that make people want to buy a product or a service. Sandra Ruttle explained: “Many industries use a ‘starting from’ pricing structure, however, studies have shown that putting a less expensive price second, which follows the subtraction principle of Biswas et al. that suggests that, as we learnt to subtract numbers when the larger one appears on the left, we associate the second numbers as being smaller, and, inadvertently giving us the perception that they are cheaper or more affordable. “The second price listed needn’t be the lowest one on offer – but it is the one most commonly selected. “Additionally, the more precise the number quoted, the better the chance of getting this price. “Based on a study in 2007 that looked at 27,000 real estate transactions, specific prices (e.g., $362,978) are more effective than rounded prices ($350,000) – not because buyers are less likely to negotiate but because we simply associate precise numbers with small values.” Building Relationships Once interest has been captured, leading a potential buyer through the sales funnel can be a lengthy process. However, destinations have the ability to develop deeper and more meaningful