With Golf holding the mantle as the highest participation sport in the country, for over 18s, with over 482,000 Kiwis playing the game, Choice Hotels Australasia is driving into 2015 as the official accommodation provider of New Zealand Golf.
New Zealand Golf, the governing body of golf in New Zealand, represents 395 clubs across the country and runs over 20 national golf events with a total of 2,800 event participants and over 130,000 registered members.
The new partnership will enable Choice Hotels to provide exclusive accommodation offers to the golfing community and really cements Choice Hotels as the golfing industry’s accommodation partner across Australasia, following last year’s resigning with the PGA of Australia.
One of the programs that will be available for golfing clubs all across the country to tap into is Choice Hotels Choice Sports programme. Choice Sports provides up to a 15 per cent discount off the best available accommodation rate to numerous sporting clubs across New Zealand whilst also providing a seven per cent rebate that goes directly back to the club each time a member or associate of the club stays at a Choice Hotel. This helps raise important funds for the club and supports their continual growth and success.
For keen golfer and Choice CEO Trent Fraser, the opportunity to align the 34 hotels in New Zealand across its Econo Lodge, Comfort, Quality and Clarion brands made sense given the geography of the hotels and the sheer number of golf enthusiasts travelling to play.
“We’re really excited about the opportunities to work with Golf NZ as we found a number of our properties were located in close proximity to the country’s top courses,” he said.
“With over 8 million rounds of golf being played on New Zealand soil per year we are really excited to provide an accommodation offer that enables all levels of players and supporters to access the game nationwide.”
In addition to the 20 national golf events that includes the competitive Charles Tour, there will be 36 district events that will also benefit from the two-year partnership.
New Zealand Golf CEO Dean Murphy notes the partnership reflects the body’s vision, and will benefit each of the 395 affiliated clubs by providing accessible, reputable and valuable accommodation offers to players and spectators alike.
“We are committed to growing the game of golf both recreationally and professionally and are looking forward to the partnership with Choice Hotels that will assist our goal of providing more value for our golf club members,” he said.
As part of this year’s partnership launch, Choice Hotels Marketing Manager Matt Taylor also announced that golf enthusiasts across the country will have the opportunity to enter a draw to win the golf trip of a lifetime to play at the World Cup golf course in Mission Hills, Shenzen, China.
“This is an amazing opportunity for an avid golfing enthusiast to experience one of the most amazing golfing resorts in the world. We will have some exciting announcements and more details on this over the coming weeks,” he said.
Choice has over 34 hotels dotted across New Zealand. Conveniently located in city centres, metropolitan areas and regional centres, Choice offers a variety of options ranging from the entry-level Econo Lodge, to the convenient Comfort, full-service Quality and the premium Clarion brand.