Rome, Italy: This year’s International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) has been hailed as the biggest gathering of the golf travel industry in the show’s 25-year history.

According to Reed Exhibitions, IGTM’s organiser, over 1,000 participants, including 450 of the world’s top golf courses, resorts, hotels, tourist boards and destination management companies from 50 countries met with over 350 tour operators and travel agents, creating some 14,000 meetings over the course of the three-day show (October 17-20).

This year’s event also marked the biggest attendance by international golf travel media, who, for the first time, were able to take part in the pre-scheduled appointment system, meeting with exhibitors during the show.

Participants came from countries as diverse as Italy, Mauritius, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Slovakia, Spain and Qatar, representing thousands of courses with buyers from more than 40 countries.

David Todd, Event Manager, IGTM, RX Global, said: “We knew that the resilience, innovation, and community spirit that this industry has shown during the turmoil of the past few years would make for an event that has exceeded our expectations. Thank you to everyone that has taken part this week.”

Representatives from Troon International, Mauritius Tourist Office and Egypt Tourism Board presented their golf destinations to journalists at daily press conferences, while Richard Payne, Director of the newly-rebranded Sports Insights, formerly known as Sports Marketing Surveys, presented some informative data on golf tourism trends from around the world.

Troon (Executive) and Sports Inights (Full Business) are both members of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

Attendees took part in a variety of networking events throughout the week, including the annual official IGTM golf day where players experienced four top courses in Rome, including Marco Simone – home of the Ryder Cup 2023 – as well as Olgiata Golf Club, Golf Nazionale, and Golf Club Parco de’ Medici.

The show itself was held at the La Nuvola, a modern purpose-built convention centre located several miles south of the centre of the city, with bus transfers laid on between the various delegate hotels.

Exhibitors and buyers expressed positive reactions with this year’s event for their future business following what has been a particularly challenging time for the travel industry.

Alessandro Onorato, Councillor for Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion of Roma Capitale, said: “We are glad that the most important gathering of the golf travel industry took place in Rome just under a year before the 2023 Ryder Cup.”

Reed Exhibitions has announced that next year’s IGTM, and the one after, will be held in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.

Todd said: “After the biggest IGTM to date this week, we’re looking forward to spending not one, but two years of IGTM in Lisbon in 2023 and 2024. This will be the first time our attendees will be able to get to know the venue and its surroundings next year and then think ahead to also plan their own extended networking events for 2024 and maximise the number of business opportunities IGTM offers.”

IGTM Lisbon 2023 will be held from October 17-19.