Verdura Resort has cemented its position at the forefront of European golf after appointing experienced industry professional Blair Harvey as its new golf sales and marketing director.
Harvey took up his new position with the luxury Sicilian resort at the start of this month as part of a wider remit with Rocco Forte Hotels.
Sir Rocco Forte commented: “I am delighted that Blair Harvey will be joining the team at Verdura. He is a qualified and avid PGA professional and brings with him a wealth of experience in the golf business and travel worlds having worked for some of the biggest names in golf in the UK, Europe and the Middle East”.
As well as expanding Verdura’s presence in new and existing markets, Harvey will also seek to develop new opportunities within the golf sector for other Rocco Forte properties.
He said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to work with one of the world’s premier luxury golf resorts and the wider Rocco Forte Hotels brand. Verdura is a spectacular golf destination and I believe that my background in sales, commerce and business development across multiple sectors is ideally suited to the resort’s aim of expanding its presence across a range of different markets.”
Harvey’s appointment comes after another strong year for Verdura and follows in the wake of the resort bolstering the luxury experience it offers to golfers after undertaking a further upgrade of its award-winning golf facilities – including a major new investment in its golf academy.
A new fitting and coaching centre with advanced technology is at the forefront of an array of improvements that the award-winning venue has made this year as part of an overall investment of more than €1 million in its golf offering.
Verdura Resort is continuing to undertake a major remodelling of its East Links and West Shore courses and a significant investment in a course maintenance programme, which features a new sustainable irrigation system. In addition, it has carried out several additional new upgrades to the facilities and services it offers to all visiting golfers, including building a new cover at its double-ended driving range to allow for practice in all conditions, and constructing two studios for club-fitting and swing analysis using the latest state-of-the-art technology.
Home of the European Tour’s Rocco Forte Sicilian Open, Verdura Resort is nestled in 230 hectares of stunning Mediterranean landscape on Sicily’s southern coast and features two 18-hole links-style championship golf courses – the West Shore Course and remodelled East Links Course – a nine-hole executive course also designed by acclaimed golf architect Kyle Phillips and outstanding practice facilities including Italy’s only European Tour-approved Performance Institute. The courses and facilities combined have established Verdura as one of the world’s elite golf and lifestyle destinations.