South African Gary Player to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at third annual industry event
Gary Player, one of golf’s true legends, will be the special guest of honour at the third annual KPMG Golf Business Forum on 8-10 June in Cyprus. Player will be awarded the first "Golf Business Forum Lifetime Achievement Award" at the KPMG event.
Considered an international sporting hero, Player turned professional in 1953 and has won more then 163 tournaments in a career spanning five decades to become one of the most respected golf course designers worldwide.
"It is a tremendous honour to have Gary present at our Golf Business Forum," said Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG’s Travel, Leisure and Tourism Department in Central and Eastern Europe.
"His experience and passion for the game make him a true ‘international ambassador’ of golf and we very much look forward to his key-note speech at the forum."
KPMG’s Golf Business Forum has quickly established itself as the foremost golf industry event in Europe, Middle-East and Africa and is a must for all companies interested in the business of golf.
The annual event has created a unique atmosphere, gathering influential international figures from the golf industry (participants from over 26 countries were present at 2005’s Forum in Prague). Key industry companies including Nicklaus Design, Toro, Club Car and Robert Trent Jones II partner the event, which receives extensive media coverage.
Sartori added that the forum, to be held this year at the exclusive InterContinental Aphrodite Hills Resort Hotel, provides a precious opportunity for all individuals with an interest in the business of golf to meet and explore matters of mutual concern.
"For 2006, we are putting together an informative and thought provoking agenda that covers the current issues facing the golf sector in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMA) region. We are also lining up first class speakers representing the entire spectrum of the industry from around the world."
It is no coincidence that the event will be held in Cyprus this year according to Sartori, who founded the Golf Business Forum.
He added: "Building on the success of the previous two events in Budapest and Prague, we felt it was timely to take the Forum to the Mediterranean, where golf course development is currently booming.
"Countries such as Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Italy as well as North Africa offer great potential from a golf development perspective and with its central Mediterranean location, Cyprus seemed like an obvious setting for our third forum."
Sartori also cited Cyprus’s Golf Development Policy as a key factor in the decision to host this year’s Golf Business Forum there. In 2005, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus took a landmark decision to support the development of 14 new golf courses.
This year’s Golf Business Forum promises to bring together major stakeholders in the business of golf including developers, investors, tourism officials, designers, suppliers and operators and will have the theme "A Blueprint for Successful Golf Development, Operations and Marketing in Emerging Countries".
To find out more, please visit the website at www.golfbusinessforum.com, or contact Mark Sandilands at mark.sandilands@kpmg.hu
KPMG International is the coordinating entity for a global network of professional services firms, providing audit, tax and advisory services, with an industry focus. The aim of KPMG member firms is to turn knowledge into value for the benefit of their clients, people and the capital markets. With nearly 94,000 people worldwide, member firms provide audit, tax and advisory services from 717 cities in 148 countries.
Established in London in 1986, the KPMG Travel, Leisure and Tourism Group (TLT) is now represented on all five continents. In 1999, TLT formed its first advisory team in the CEE in Budapest, while building on the successes of the Budapest group, the team expanded to Prague in 2002.
KPMG in Hungary employs 450 staff, with KPMG Hungária Kft. offering audit services and KPMG Tanácsadó (Advisory) Kft. offering comprehensive advisory services for Hungarian and multinational companies, government entities and inward investors.
Contact:
Scheibelhoffer Miklós
Media Relations
Tel: 887-6536
Fax: 887-6531
e-mail: miklos.scheibelhoffer@kpmg.hu
