London, England: The 23rd edition of International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) went virtual this year with a one-off IGTM Links that took place over a three-day period.

The October event hit a record number of attendees, with over 1,400 buyers and suppliers engaged in one-to-one meetings to help plan 2021 golf tourism and beyond.

IGTM Links, was a state-of-the-art online meeting platform that gave golf courses, golf resorts and destinations access to almost 10,500 flexible meetings with international golf tour operators and media.

During the three days there were also content sessions that helped analyse and debate issues that gave an insight into how the revival of golf tourism was going to be different following this year’s lack of travel and also a look at how to lure the US golfer overseas.

A discussion about ‘what the revival of golf tourism will look like’ and also the emergence of ‘safe destinations’ featured IAGTO’s Peter Walton, Sam Barker from Golfbreaks.com, and Clinton Norris from Troon International, an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

“We are seeing the growth in popularity of private islands in the Maldives, which are performing better than last year because they are family friendly. It gives guests their own private space and seclusion and we see the same with Seychelles and Mauritius,” said Norris.

The session on ‘how to attract the US golfer’ included insights from Protravel’s Melissa Porzak and Distincte Golf & Travel’s Sean Winton.

More than 35 international golf travel writers, publications and contributors also took part, while 650 exhibitors in total attended IGTM, showcasing 68 countries.

David Todd, IGTM Event Manager, said:“With restrictions impacting travel across the world, we made the decision to launch the first ever digital IGTM. We’re delighted to see the industry come together, demonstrating the desire and demand is still very much there for golf tourism despite a very challenging year.

“IGTM Links hasn’t been a direct replacement for IGTM. We could never replicate the energy and the passion of the live event. It has been a free networking platform for the industry to come together and share ideas. I look forward to reconnecting with everyone face to face in Wales in 2021.”

Organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions, IGTM 2021 will take place from October 18-21 at the ICC Wales and Celtic Manor Resort. It will be first time the event will take place in the United Kingdom.