Golf and business go hand in glove in South Africa.
Whether the occasion is an important business meeting, seminar, team-building getaway, incentive trip, product launch or conference, many of the country’s golf resorts offer facilities and services to ensure a successful outcome – with golf added in to add competitive fun to the business element.
While business deals are often sealed on fairways and greens, having the right environment and location to conduct meetings or conferences together with the latest equipment and wireless internet access is essential, and that is where South Africa excels.
Few destinations can match its business meetings offerings with golf in such inspiring settings, atop rugged cliffs overlooking the Indian Ocean, in the bush with safari experiences on your doorstep or on a wine estate surrounded by vineyards to name a few. Factor in on-site accommodation with spas and a host of other leisure activities and they are perfect for delegates’ partners, too.
Besides offering two Gary Player courses, Sun City is one of South Africa’s top meeting and conference venues. The sprawling resort boasts several hotels, including the five-star Palace of the Lost City, and a number of meeting rooms catering to groups from intimate to large. Companies and organisations can also take over its outdoor Amphitheatre, which seats up to 800 people, while cocktail parties can be held in its Cultural Village, Royal Baths and Shebeen venues. The Maze of the Lost City is ideal for team-building events, while event hosts can really make a splash by holding a beach-themed party for up to 1,000 at the Valley of Waves water park.
Delegates can also go on a game drive through neighbouring Pilanesberg National Park or take a hot-air balloon ride over it to spot the Big Five.
Legends Golf & Safari Resort is set in the Limpopo bush and offers golfers its “world-in-one” Signature Course as well as the infamous Extreme 19th hole, a par 3 where you take a helicopter to tee off from the top of Hanglip Mountain. The resort also offers seven group and conference venues, accommodating 30-320 delegates, and safari drives in neighbouring Entabeni Safari Conservancy.
On the Garden Route, Fancourt has a ballroom accommodating up to 400 people, boardrooms and meetings rooms, in addition to its three golf courses. The resort is well geared to hosting big events on its courses and across its manicured lawns, having staged the Nelson Mandela 46664 AIDS charity concerts in 2003 and 2008, the President’s Cup and South African Open, and the launch of the BMW 6 series. Nearby Oubaii has floor-to-ceiling windows in its function rooms, giving delegates stimulating views of the Indian Ocean and Outeniqua Mountains.
The Wild Coast Sun, on the Eastern Cape/KwaZulu-Natal border, has a convention centre with venues that cater to groups of up to 500 people plus other meetings spaces and cocktail party areas, together with a golf course by Robert Trent Jones Jr.
There are meetings facilities at golf resorts close to South Africa’s gateway cities, for when time is at a premium. The Fairmont Zimbali Lodge is close to Durban and specialises in personalised conference arrangements for groups of up to 90 with the latest audio-visual equipment and banqueting halls, besides its Tom Weiskopf golf course. The Fairway Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort is just outside Johannesburg and offers a conference centre with boardrooms, breakaway rooms and a ballroom alongside Randpark Golf Course.
Just half an hour from Cape Town, the beautiful Cape Winelands region encompasses several golf resorts with meetings and conference facilities. Among them are Erinvale, offering five venues that can seat up to 250 people, and Devondale Golf & Wine Estate, where meeting spaces include its wine tasting room and where gardens for conference delegates give magnificent views of the golf course and surrounding vineyards.
For conference and event organisers who want to include golf, South Africa really is the business.
