Reaching the ten-year mark is a huge achievement in itself. For the Asia Pacific Golf Summit (APGS) to have made it through ten years is a milestone for the golf industry in Asia. So, how do you celebrate an event that has made it through a decade – a decade in which the industry was rocked by massive business challenges that saw golf’s equipment behemoths cut down in size and the sport’s heroes toppled from the pinnacles of success. It has been a decade that has seen more golf courses go out of business and a time when more people have given up playing the game. If one was to read the performance of golf like that of a corporation’s annual profit and loss statement, golf’s report card would look like a sea of red ink! While spin doctors have tried to paint a stoic face for golf, in reality, golf is a challenged industry. It is more gloom than confidence. It is an industry that seems to be trapped in a time warp and one that clings on to tradition and stubbornly resists change.
While this may be the overarching dilemma faced by the golf industry, do we just retreat and like a wounded animal cower in defeat and seek the cover of protection. No! We think that time is upon us to look for solutions, not quick-fix solutions but solutions that will be sustainable. The solutions are out there and we need special heroes – men and women with vision to provide the golf industry with a new shining beacon to guide the industry along on a pathway of growth.
That beacon of hope is right here in our neck of the woods – right here in Asia! It is Mission Hills China!
Mission Hills China today ranks as the largest golf establishment in the world with more golf courses under its charge than any other facility. Its projects are located in Shenzhen and Dongguan on the Chinese mainland and its newest development is on the Chinese resort island of Hainan. These three massive facilities have soaked up investments which add up to a monumental US$10 billion! Has it ever dawned upon any one of us in Asia that an Asian organization within our very midst has put so much faith and trust in golf to have invested so heavily and more importantly, has gone on to make it all work!
It is this success that has motivated and inspired the Asia Pacific Golf Group (APGG) to build the 2016 Asia Pacific Golf Summit (APGS) on Mission Hills’ proven template of success. “We have been very keen Mission Hills watchers for many years and we believe that the time has come for all of us in the golf industry to look at this mammoth Chinese business empire and follow the examples set by it to grow the game of golf in Asia,” said Mike Sebastian, chief executive officer of APGG, the owner and producer of APGS 2016.
The theme for APGS 2016 is “Golf And More” which was first keynoted at the 2013 Asia Pacific Golf Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is a business platform espoused by Dr. Ken Chu, chairman of the Mission Hills Group that essentially works on a holistic concept of combining golf, entertainment, food, life-style and leisure into a holistic package that addresses practically everyone’s recreational needs.
It’s a tried and tested business model and it works! Golf clubs in Asia don’t need to look West – Asia has all the answers embodied in Mission Hills China and the time has come for the golf club industry to begin looking East. “It’s not about an us versus them mentality – it’s simply a case of adopting and engaging with business ideas that work,” Sebastian emphasised.
Given the success of the Mission Hills Group in China, Dr. Chu will be delivering the keynote address on “Golf And More”. The visionary Chinese billionaire feels that Mission Hills is in a position to share ideas and programmes with clubs in the region and he declared, “We have the right mix of business, golf and entertainment and it is a blend that is successful and will continue to be successful for a long time to come.”
To complement the “Golf And More” theme, APGS 2016 will be featuring two other world class thought leaders who will speak about the importance of service and marketing to ensure that the “Golf And More” business philosophy works. The first is the Emmy award-winning speaker and actor David Webster who could not make APGS last year. “I am delighted that I will make the cut for 2016 and I am absolutely blown away by the theme – what Dr. Chu has achieved in China with the Mission Hills Group is an achievement of universal proportions and I am honoured to share the stage with him.” Webster is fired up about his speaking engagement which will focus on the training of manpower resources to deliver quality service at all levels in a club environment. “David is a spell-binder and we are delighted to have signed him on because there is no one better than David when it comes to addressing service,” said Sebastian. “For ‘Golf And More’ to work, service has to be an integral part!” declared Sebastian.
As part of the total package to make “Golf And More” work, the importance of marketing cannot be overlooked and this is where the “Legendary Guru” of club marketing enters the picture. Dr. Andrew Wood, widely recognized and acknowledged as the “best brains in the business of club marketing” has been booked. Wood, who is a firm believer in marketing said, “Ours is an industry where very little is done about planning and budgeting for marketing and I am glad that Mission Hills has paved the way to demonstrate to the industry why marketing is important for the very survival of the golf club industry.”
“There has never been a better-suited and timely theme for APGS 2016,” said Sebastian who added, “We have the world’s best thought leaders on ‘Golf And More’ and collectively, these men will set the platform to help propel golf clubs in Asia to reach new heights in delivering an all-round quality experience to golfers and their families and friends.”
Just remember that APGS 2016 is all about content and substance drawn from real world success stories and if you want to be part of a progressive and forward thinking generation of club owners, operators and managers, don’t miss the “Golf And More” spectacle!
The host city is Hua Hin, Thailand and the dates are October 29 and 30, 2016.
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