Fairmont St Andrews European Golf Resort of the Year

The five-star Fairmont St Andrews resort has cemented its position as a leading golf destination by being voted the International Association of Golf Tour Operators’ (IAGTO) European Golf Resort of the Year 2012.

The award is one of the most prestigious available to golf resorts, having recognised the quality of its facilities and service and been voted for by IAGTO’s 400 plus specialist golf tour operators in 58 different countries.

It is the latest in a long line of accolades for the luxurious Scottish resort and comes hot on the heels of Fairmont St Andrews being named Golf Tourism Scotland’s Resort Hotel of the Year for the third time in four years.

And it was a double celebration for the region, as Fife won the European Golf Destination of the Year category.

Fairmont St Andrews’ general manager, Garrett Turta, who accepted the award on behalf of the resort, said: “We’re very proud of all the accolades Fairmont St Andrews has amassed, but this really is one of the resort’s biggest achievements.

“To have been voted the best in Europe by industry experts is quite a coup and a testament to the investment the owners have put in and the hard work and high standards of all our staff.”

Former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance designed one of Fairmont St Andrews’ championship courses and had recorded a special video message at the resort which was played at the awards ceremony.

He said: “Congratulations to the Fairmont St Andrews for winning European Golf Resort of the Year. The facilities here are superb; I love coming to stay at the resort for golf, leisure, fun, a wee dram, anything you like, it’s all available here. I’ve been involved with the Fairmont St Andrews for 10 years, and I’m delighted with the way the resort and courses have matured.”

In recent years Fairmont St Andrews has benefited from a £17m investment which included extensive improvements throughout both The Torrance and The Kittocks courses, refurbishment of the entire hotel and an extension to the leisure facilities to create a luxurious spa and fitness complex.

Since then the resort has hosted numerous prestigious events including final qualifying for the 2010 Open Championship, as well as being the venue for the last three Scottish Senior Opens.

During its 10-year history Fairmont St Andrews has accumulated a host of accolades for hospitality, golf, spa and cuisine, as well as welcoming some of the world’s most powerful individuals as the venue for a G20 summit and Northern Ireland peace talks, while Prince William was a regular visitor and member of the spa and gym while studying at university.

For more information or to book a stay, call 01334 837000, email standrews.scotland@fairmont.com or visit www.fairmont.com/standrews.

GTS Annual Awards List 2011

The Scottish golf industry’s top honours have been announced at a glittering awards ceremony held in St Andrews. The annual Golf Tourism Scotland’s Gold Standard Awards is the sector’s blue-ribbon event where the very best of Scottish golf tourism is celebrated.

Hosted by Fairmont St Andrews, this year’s gala evening saw the presentation of 11 awards including the Special Achievement Award which was received by the former secretary of Prestwick Golf Club Ian Bunch. This year’s Young Industry Person of the Year was presented jointly to Simon Redmond from Macdonald Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews and Valerie Houston formerly of the Royal Golf Hotel in Dornoch.

The prestigious Golf Course of the Year award went to Kingsbarns Golf Links which beat off competition from the likes of Castle Stuart and North Berwick. In the accommodation provider category, this year’s hosts Fairmont St Andrews were named the country’s top resort, while Macdonald Rusacks Hotel was awarded the Large Hotel accolade.

Crail Golfing Society received the Golf Secretariat award and St Andrews Executive Travel was named Transport Operator of the Year. Elsewhere, Old Loans Inn at Troon received the Small Hotel/Guesthouse award while Meldrum House in Aberdeenshire was named Scotland’s best country hotel.

“This year’s awards reflect a busy year of events that have showcased the breadth and depth of Scotland ’s golfing sector,” noted GTS chairman Lee Derrick. “Many of the world’s leading amateur and professional players battled it out over courses across Scotland providing great opportunities to show the world what we do best. The industry as a whole benefits from these occasions, so with more high profile events scheduled for next year, including the Seniors Open at Turnberry, The Scottish Open returning to Castle Stuart and The Curtis Cup at The Nairn Golf Club these are undoubtedly exciting times for golf in Scotland .”

Other winners of the GTS Gold Standard Awards included Martin Roy of Carnoustie Golf Links who clinched the Caddiemaster of the Year accolade and Golf Scotland which picked up the Golf Tour Operator of the Year award.

The full list of winners is as follows:

GOLF COURSE OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any golf course in Scotland that offers tee-times to visitors. And the winner is:

Kingsbarns Golf Links

GOLF SECRETARIAT OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any golf club/course whose administration provides a service to visitors and/or the travel trade. And the winner is:

Crail Golfing Society

CADDIEMASTER OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any caddiemaster providing a service to visitors and/or the travel trade. And the winner is:

Martin Roy, Carnoustie Golf Links

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Small hotel/guest house category). Nominations for this category were open to accommodation providers with 20 or fewer bedrooms that provide services to golf visitors. And the winner is:

Old Loans Inn, Troon

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Country house hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to hotels and exclusive-use properties operating in rural areas that provide services to golf visitors. And the winner is:

Meldrum House County Hotel, Aberdeenshire

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Large hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to hotels with more than 20 bedrooms which provide services to golf visitors. And the winner is:

Macdonald Rusacks Hotel, St Andrews

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Resort hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to resort hotels with golf course(s) attached. And the winner is:

Fairmont St Andrews

GOLF TOUR OPERATOR OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any tour operator bringing golfers to Scotland . And the winner is:

Golf Scotland

TRANSPORT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any business providing transport services in Scotland including rail, road, air and sea. And the winner is:

St Andrews Executive Travel

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. And the winner is:

Ian Bunch

YOUNG INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE YEAR. And the winner is:

Simon Redmond, Macdonald Rusacks Hotel and Valerie Houston, formerly of the Royal Golf Hotel in Dornoch

Winning Through Innovation Workshop

We've been forwarded the information below on a key Scottish Enterprise event which we hope will be of interest to you and some of your industry contacts.

Winning Through Innovation - ‘Digital Marketing for Scottish Tourism - Learning How to Shine Online'

Wednesday, 16th November 2011, Perth Concert Hall, Perth, 9.30am-2.30pm

Cost: £40 (plus VAT)

The theme of the event is digital (or online) marketing - a theme which is attracting a great deal of interest and is becoming a key focus of marketing by tourism businesses. The aim of the event is to help companies learn from leading experts on how to ensure they are 'found' by potential tourists in all the right places online by making best use of recent and emerging developments in online marketing and social media tools, techniques and behaviours.

Hosted by Kaye Adams, the keynote presentation will be by author and tourism marketing consultant Daniel Edward Craig. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Daniel is a former hotel general manager whose areas of expertise include website content, social media best practice and online reputation management. As well as being a frequent speaker at industry events and authoring numerous articles on the topic, Daniel also writes a blog that attracts a worldwide following. We are also delighted to confirm that Karen Plumb, Commercial Director of TripAdvisor (EMEA) will also be speaking.
In addition to hearing the latest hints and tips from the speakers, delegates will also be able to participate in individual speaker workshops and have the opportunity to discuss their specific digital marketing or social media concerns with Scottish Enterprise ICT advisers.

Places are likely to be filled quickly so please reserve your space early by booking online at www.scottish-enterprise.com/shineonline.

Nominees unveiled for golf industry oscars

Nominees for this year’s golf industry awards have been announced by Golf Tourism Scotland , the industry’s national trade body. The annual GTS Gold Standard Awards celebrate the very best in Scottish golf tourism by recognising leading transport and golf tour operators, golf secretariats, caddiemasters and accommodation providers, as well as naming the year’s top golf course.

With 11 awards up for grabs, the GTS Gold Standard Awards gala dinner has become one of the golf industry’s most eagerly awaited annual events. The recipients of the Special Achievement Award and the acclaimed Young Industry Person Award will also be named.

Spela Golf at the 2009 Awards

“There is always a great deal of anticipation in the run-up to the Gold Standards Awards,” commented Lee Derrick, chairman of GTS. “We receive nominations from every sector of Scotland ’s golf tourism industry, which demonstrates some of the fantastic work done this year across the country. By the time the winners are announced at the dinner, the sense of expectation in the room is palpable, and that makes for a wonderful night. I think this year’s awards will be one to relish because of the range of entrants that have been nominated for the awards.”

With three categories sporting over 10 hopefuls and a total of 82 nominees vying for the 11 coveted awards, the GTS Gold Standards Awards evening will be once again hotly contested by the leading golf tourism businesses. As before, GTS members have been able to nominate the contenders and are able to cast their votes online. As a result, the GTS Gold Standard Awards are the only Scottish golf industry honours to be nominated by, and voted for by the industry itself.

And the nominees are…

GOLF COURSE OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any golf course in Scotland that offers tee-times to visitors. And the nominees are:

Balcomie Links (Crail), Carnoustie Championship,
Castle Stuart Golf Links, Gullane No 2, Kingsbarns Golf Links, Machrihanish Dunes, New Course (St Andrews), North Berwick West Links, Pitlochry, Old Course (St Andrews), Torrance Course (Fairmont St Andrews), Turnberry Ailsa and Western Gailes.

GOLF SECRETARIAT OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any golf club/course whose administration provides a service to visitors and/or the travel trade. And the nominees are:

Brora Golf Club, Carnoustie Golf Links, Crail Golfing Society, Gullane Golf Club, Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muirfield), Kingsbarns Golf Links, North Berwick Golf Club, Prestwick Golf Club, Royal Dornoch Golf Club and St Andrews Links Trust.

CADDIEMASTER OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any caddiemaster providing a service to visitors and/or the travel trade. And the nominees are:

Sam Fox (North Berwick Golf Club), Malcolm Gibson (North Berwick Golf Club), Davie Gilchrist (Kingsbarns Golf Links), Kenny McLeod (Fairmont St Andrews), Doreen Mayes (Crail Golfing Society), Martin Roy (Carnoustie Golf Links) and Robert Thorpe (St Andrews Links Trust).

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Small hotel/guest house category). Nominations for this category were open to accommodation providers with 20 or fewer bedrooms that provide services to golf visitors. And the nominees are:

Aslar Guest House (St Andrews), Dunvegan Hotel (St Andrews), Glenderran Guest House (St Andrews), Glenmorangie House (Tain), Greyfriars Hotel (St Andrews), Hazelbank Hotel (St Andrews), Highgrove House (Troon), North Berwick Golf Lodge, No 12 Quality Street (North Berwick), Rocpool Reserve (Inverness), Old Loans Inn (Troon), Sandown Guest House (Nairn) and Ugadale Cottages (Machrihanish).

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Country house hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to hotels and exclusive-use properties operating in rural areas that provide services to golf visitors. And the nominees are:

Culloden House Hotel (Inverness), Fenton Tower (East Lothian), Greywalls Hotel (Gullane), Inn at Lathones (St Andrews), Lochgreen House (Troon), Meldrum House Hotel (Oldmeldrum), Rufflets Country House Hotel (St Andrews) and Udny Arms Hotel (Newburgh).

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Large hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to hotels with more than 20 bedrooms which provide services to golf visitors. And the nominees are:

Kingsmill Hotel (Inverness), Macdonald Marine Hotel & Spa (North Berwick), Macdonald Rusacks Hotel (St Andrews), Marcliffe Hotel & Spa (Aberdeen), Royal Golf Hotel (Dornoch) and St Andrews Golf Hotel.

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Resort hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to resort hotels with golf course(s) attached. And the nominees are:

Fairmont St Andrews, Gleneagles Hotel, Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa (St Andrews) and Turnberry Resort.

GOLF TOUR OPERATOR OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any tour operator bringing golfers to Scotland . And the nominees are:

Adventures In Golf, Executive Golf & Leisure, Haversham & Baker, Hidden Links, Golf Scotland , Golfers Scotland , Grasshopper Golf, Links Golf St Andrews, Morton Golf Holidays, PerryGolf, Pioneer Golf, Spela-Golf.com and Travelling the Fairways.

TRANSPORT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any business providing transport services in Scotland including rail, road, air and sea. And the nominees are:

Charlton Chauffeur Drive, Executive Travel Company, George Malcolm, McLaren Travel, Mac-Mur Tours,
St Andrews Executive Travel, West Coast Motors (Kintyre Express) and Woods Coaches