An Ace In Jamaica
The 25th annual Canadian Travel Industry Golf Tournament wrapped up at Sandals Ochi Beach Resort in Jamaica on Dec. 1 following two days on the green complete with skill testing challenges, teamwork and generous helpings of Red Stripe and jerk chicken, reports Ann Ruppenstein in this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press.
Presented by Baxter Media and Sandals Resorts, the special milestone anniversary gave Gary Sadler, sr. VP of sales for Unique Vacations, Inc., the worldwide marketing company for Sandals and Beaches Resorts, the opportunity to reflect on the history of the event.
“The concept at the time, 25 years ago, was actually quite simple: recognize Canadian travel agents, take them to a Sandals resort, partner with the premiere travel publication in Canada and you will have some sort of a chemistry and a magic,” he said, addressing the nearly 100 travel agents, tour operators, airline reps and travel agency personnel who took part in the event. “I remember 25 years ago when we had our first golf tournament and we started something that we believed was the right thing to do for the Canadian travel industry, which is to get a bunch of people, take them down to Jamaica, they come down on a Thursday, they get drunk and disorderly. Travel agents continue to be the most important part of our distribution chain.”
The Canadian Travel Industry Golf Tournament is the longest running travel industry tournament hosted by Sandals Resorts, which now holds similar events for other countries.
“Both Sandals and Baxter know the value of travel agents and want to recognize that,” said Wendy McClung, executive VP of operations, Baxter Media. “Over the 25 years that we have been hosting the golf tournament at Sandals Ochi, we have been able to say thank you in person to all. We look forward to continuing to build on existing relationships and creating new ones.”
In addition to golf, the festivities included evening functions and cocktail receptions like an outing to Beaches Ocho Rios with special guests like Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby.
For the full story and lots of photos, check out this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press.
