IAGTO chief executive officer Peter Walton discusses how golf tourism has been affected by the global recession.
In 2004, KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice set out to create a unique international event that focused on the business around golf. With much valuable input and support from the industry, the concept of the Golf Business Forum (GBF) was developed.
The Golf Business Forum is a two-day conference filled with engaging, dynamic and interactive discussions, one-on-one interviews, fast-paced debates and presentations from key industry leaders on a variety of topics, from golf design, development and investment through golf operations to efficient tools in international branding and golf tourism marketing.
The event brings together the entire spectrum of the golf industry from developers and investors to operators and journalists. The Golf Business Forum now attracts more than 250 participants from over 40 nationalities.
Each year, the Forum is taken to a different destination, a stunning venue at an exciting location. The Golf Business Forum has been hosted in Budapest, Prague, Cyprus, Ireland, Wales, Turkey, Dubai with the latest event held in Tuscany, Italy.
The Forum has recognised some of the most acknowledged personalities in golf with the Lifetime Achievement Award, including Dana Garmany (Chairman & CEO of Troon Golf), dr. David Chu (Founder of Mission Hills), Ken Schofield (Former Executive Director of the PGA European Tour), as well as golf stars Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Arnold Palmer.
The event has enjoyed great recognition from the golf industry: having been covered by prestigious golf and broadsheet publications as well as CNN’s Living Golf.
Today, the annual Golf Business Forum is widely regarded as the most important golf business-to-business event in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
