Las Vegas (March 1): Golf Course Industry, the award-winning publication that’s become the top information source for many U.S. superintendents, will hit the international marketplace in April.
With the launch of Golf Course Industry International, the new publication will reach out to the new growth markets of golf in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
The international edition is a collaboration between the Asia Pacific Golf Group (APGG) and GIE Media, Inc., the parent company of Golf Course Industry. APGG is a leading force in the Asia Pacific region and publishes industry focused magazines like Asian Golf Monthly, Asian Golf Business, Asian Golf Tourism and is also the owner and producer of the highly acclaimed Asia Pacific Golf Summit. GIE Media is the leading Green Industry publisher in the U.S., with titles including GCI, Lawn & Landscape and Greenhouse Management magazine.
Pat Jones, editorial editor of GCI and GCII said, “Readers and advertisers have been urging us to give GCI a global focus for some time now to bring more turf management content to superintendents and others in the business in Asia. We’re thrilled to be working with a partner like APGG which shares our commitment to advancing the game, the profession of golf course maintenance and the turf industry at large.”
Jones added that GCII will launch as a bi-monthly e-zine, website and regular e-newsletters. The new publication will not merely be a reproduction of the U.S. version. It will feature relevant current and archived articles from GCI but at least half the content will be original material developed specifically to support superintendents, greenkeepers, course managers and others in the Asian golf business.
Mike Sebastian, chief executive officer of APGG and the publisher of GCII said, “This is a partnership which has tremendous synergies in that we are very focused on addressing the needs of golf course owners and operators with vital and area specific information on a timely basis.”
The distribution of GCII will kick start with the coverage of close to 2000 golf courses located in Southeast Asia, China, Australia and New Zealand and South Korea. “Efforts are currently on-going to map golf courses in Japan and it is expected that some 2000 golf courses in that country will be brought on stream within the next few months,” Sebastian explained.
“All things being equal, our target is to have some 5000 plus golf courses in our database by the end of 2012 – our launch distribution of GCII is projected to register at 30,000 made up of golf course owners, operators, maintenance staff and the golf trade,” Sebastian said.
The publication will include or link to articles in various languages to enhance education and information opportunities for non-English speakers. The first to come on stream will be Mandarin, followed by Korean. “Eventually, we expect to be able to offer translations in Japanese, Thai and Bahasa Indonesia,” Sebastian said.
“We have two goals: support the information needs of our brethren in Asia and provide a better platform for companies to share product information in nations where golf is developing rapidly,” said Jones. “We know that with our partners APGG, we will be able to offer our clients a reliable and effective to bring their products to market in Asia.”
The launch issue of GCII will hit inboxes on April 30.
Contact:
Asia
Mike Sebastian
Tel: 65-63232800
e-mail: mike@asiapacificgolfgroup.com
USA
Pat Jones
Mobile: 440-478-4763
e-mail: pjones@gie.net