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Leading Courses have today announced the Best Golf Resorts in Europe for 2023, a list that features nine European Tour Destinations. The rankings are solely based on traveller’s opinions as 50% is based on golf course reviews written on Leading Courses and 50% on hotel/resort reviews written on Booking.com. Costa Navarino took top spot in the list with a score of 9.46 out of 10, followed by Terre Blanche who narrowly missed out on a spot in the top ten. Camiral Golf & Wellness, Verdura Resort and Diamond Country Club all made the top fifty. Leading Courses has published a ranking for the Best Golf Resorts in Europe every year since 2016, with the exception of 2021 due to COVID-19 but for the first time, the number of holes a resort has was factored into the algorithm that calculates the overall ranking. This gives venues with more than 18 holes an edge over other resorts. The full list of European Tour Destinations included in the Top 100 are: 1. Costa Navarino, Greece 11. Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort, France 19. Camiral Golf & Wellness, Spain 28. Verdura Resort, Italy 46. Diamond Country Club, Austria 69. Quinta do Lago, Portugal 73. Arabella Golf, Spain 91. Le Touquet, France 100. Le Golf National, France

Adrian Meronk held his nerve in a breathless back-nine battle to win the 2023 DS Automobiles Italian Open. The Pole kept his composure to hold off French duo Romain Langasque and Julien Guerrier at Marco Simone Golf & Country club to win by one shot. Meronk, who holed the winning putt at the Hero Cup in January, lifted his third DP World Tour title and boosted his hopes of qualifying for the Ryder Cup, which will take place at this course later this year.   Meronk and Langasque duelled on the back nine, while overnight leader Guerrier kept in touch with them in a thrilling finale. The Pole edged ahead on the 16th hole with his fifth birdie of the day and holed a par putt from the edge of the green on the 17th. Langasque’s challenge had appeared to have faltered with a bogey on the 16th, but he stunningly chipped in for a birdie on the penultimate hole to keep the pressure on. But the Pole would not falter as he birdied the 18th to finish one shot clear of Langasque, with Guerrier a further two back. Meronk said: “I didn’t play as well as previous days so I had to grind a little bit, but I’m proud of myself and my caddie that we kept believing, kept hitting good shots and the putts on 17 and 18 were very big. “I knew 16 and 18 are birdieable. I had an amazing shot on 16 so that was quite an easy birdie. Seventeen was a bit of a struggle but the putt saved me. On 18 I just focused on making a birdie cos I didn’t want to go to a play-off.” Victory on the Ryder Cup course moved Meronk up to fourth in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. And the 29-year-old is targeting a place in Luke Donald’s Europe team for September. Meronk added: “It was definitely on my mind coming here, performing well in front of Luke. I think it might help but there’s still a lot of time left. I still have to work on my game and get better to make the team.” Meronk and Langasque started the day on 11 under, a shot adrift of Guerrier. The former immediately picked up a shot on the par-four opening hole for the first time this week before he chipped in from the edge of the second green for a par. A bogey on the third dropped him back to 11 under, but gains at the fifth and ninth gave him a one-shot lead at the turn. Langasque, playing in the final pair with compatriot Guerrier behind Meronk, had produced a flawless first eight holes and rounded off the front nine with a birdie. The pair were tied at the top soon after when the Pole dropped a shot on the tenth despite a stunning chip from the edge of a bunker. Meronk birdied the 11th to edge ahead again, but Langasque soon

Ben Martin, Economics Practice Director at HKS Advisory Services, recently presented his ‘23 for 23 hospitality trends’ in an exclusive ‘Talks from the Tour’ event to the European Tour Destinations network. The trends he identified centre on three prominent factors: Elevated, Unique Experiences Ben explains: “In this next five years, I think there will be a peak awareness that life is there to be lived and there will be people embarking on bucket list trips. For golf, this means golfers prioritising top tier destinations they’ve always wanted to play. “But destinations can also target these consumers by giving people an add-on uplift to make their trip a remarkable experience. That’s down to the imagination of the venues to say, ‘how can we turn this into something really memorable for our customers?’. Experiences are hugely important for people.” ESG (Environment, Social and Corporate Governance) “The issues we’re facing in nature and the environment are leading to heightened awareness among consumers of sustainable travel and a wider concern for ESG matters,” Ben points out. “The time has come to think about not only design elements involved in the development of high-quality destinations, but also in the operating elements too – for example, putting sensors in rooms, and making sure transport is all electric or hydrogen when you’re on site. Customers will scrutinise this and this can filter into online reviews. “The S part of that – society – is also crucial. We need to engage in local society and recognise the vital role that employment plays in the success of the resort. So many people stepped out of the industry during the pandemic. The amount of thought you give to the design and care of your staff can have a huge impact in keeping them. “For example, if you’re in a remote location and have a staff village, you should make that village feel like a real home for them and care about it. These people are an essential part to the delivery of your offer, making customers feel welcome and making them want to return again in the future. “And the really big thing we’re learning is destinations need to be very mindful that they can’t just talk about it anymore; they have to be doing it.”   Technology and Media Ben explains: “Utilising and capitalising on media consumption habits and technology are also important for destinations in this digital age. “For media consumption, this is about how we communicate information through media and how we can take advantage of it. The Gen Z population is not necessarily looking at search engines for destination reviews; they’re looking at Instagram or TikTok to find real content from people who are at those destinations. “We can also use technology, because it gives us the ability to work remotely in a way that we have never done before. The pandemic, in many respects, has accelerated this, with the need to reduce contact with services and devices. You can now even get voice-controlled hardware that’s

With more than 23 million golfers, the Asian golf market represents a significant opportunity for destinations – particularly with the recent relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions in the region. With 320 delegates, including 130 tour operators from 25 countries, joining for two days of vital talks and meetings, this year’s Asia Golf Tourism Convention (AGTC) provided European Tour Destinations the ideal opportunity to reconnect with key commercial partners from across Asia. “It’s been a long road to recovery post pandemic for Asia,” explained Ian Knox Head of European Tour Destinations, who attended the event in Japan. “International travel from Asia declined to virtually zero over the last three years, but the signs are promising for its return. “Before the pandemic, China was the largest outbound travel market in the world, with 150 million international trips a year,” he continued. “As restrictions ease in the country, we are already witnessing a robust recovery in regard to the amount of international travel from China in the first part of 2023 and experts predict it’ll only progress as the year goes on. “It demonstrates how the golf tourism market remains strong in Asia and highlights the need to continue to support tour operators on the continent, while also showing how vital it is for our network of destinations to make those connections again with partners in the region.” Among the attendees from European Tour Destinations were Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Le Golf National, Saujana Golf & Country Club and recent addition to the network, Costa Navarino – Europe’s top ranked golf destination. Elena Kourelea, Assistant Golf Sales Manager at Costa Navarino, said: “2022 was a very successful year for us, from the opening of two new golf courses and the arrival of W Costa Navarino, to joining European Tour Destinations and ranking as the best golf resort in Europe. “Our aim now is to access new countries and new markets to spread the message of Greece as an emerging golf destination and, more precisely, to showcase why Costa Navarino is ranked the #1 Golf Resort in Continental Europe. She added: “It was Costa Navarino’s first time attending the AGTC and I was impressed with the turnout of delegates and tour operators. I believe these were at a similar level to pre-pandemic times, which is very encouraging. The quality of tour operator and travel agents we met was very good and has enabled us to generate a good level of business during the Convention. “Being a part of the European Tour Destinations network underlines our high-quality standards and mark of excellence, which is helping us drive business and grow booking levels for 2023 and beyond.”

“It’s been non-stop since joining European Tour Destinations in March 2022, and there is still so much more to come,” said Javier Jimenez-Casquet, Director General at La Hacienda Links Golf Resort. One of Europe’s most exciting golf projects in Southern Spain, the 36-hole resort has been forging ahead with an expansive multi-million-Euro investment project, started in 2020. In July 2022, it opened its renovated Links course, before turning its attention to its Heathland course with enhancements aimed at improving playability. Next on the agenda will be a new Halfway House on its Links course, before the anticipated opening of the region’s only Fairmont Hotel & Residences complex in 2024. The luxury 153-room hotel and 51 villas will complete the ambitious investment project and elevate the resort to a flagship venue in one of Spain’s most well-established golf destinations. Recognised for its portfolio of 80 hotels across the world, including many landmark addresses, such as The Plaza in New York and The Savoy in London, the new Fairmont Hotels & Resorts complex at La Hacienda Links Golf Resort will undoubtedly attract new customers to the resort – particularly from North America, where the majority of Fairmont’s hotels are located. “In the Fairmont brand, we have an ace up our sleeve,” explained Ana Berbel Rondon, Director of Commercial and Marketing at La Hacienda Links Golf Resort. “We’ll have the only Fairmont address in Iberia, complete with a hotel, residences, and two renovated golf courses. This not only gives us an unrivalled and unique selling point, but also a huge opportunity, especially within American and Canadian markets, where the Fairmont brand resonates particularly well. “Golfers in those particular markets are also, for the most part, links golf enthusiasts. So, having the only links course in Southern Spain, positions us really well to target the North American market – a key objective for La Hacienda Links Golf Resort in the near future.” Attracted by Costa del Sol’s Ryder Cup heritage – the 1997 host venue located a mere 10 minutes’ away – Javier Jimenez-Casquet, Director General at La Hacienda Links Golf Resort, believes golf travellers to the region will have a compelling reason to stay at La Hacienda Links Golf Resort given the gravitas the Fairmont brand holds with customers from across the Atlantic. “As per the 1997 Ryder Cup, the impending 2023 Solheim Cup will undoubtedly leave a lasting legacy in the Costa del Sol,” he commented. “We hope our enhanced golf offering and our exciting new Fairmont project will make La Hacienda Links Golf Resort a ‘must-visit’ venue to visitors heading to the region, for both golf and leisure breaks, for many years to come.”