Why GGTA was founded
Golf travel is an industry worth billions that still runs, to a remarkable degree, on business cards, personal address books and three days of meetings once a year. A tour operator who needs a reliable ground partner in a new destination has no dependable way to find one. A resort with allocation to fill has no direct line to the operators who could fill it. Trust is transferred by word of mouth, and it does not scale.
GGTA was founded in 2026 to fix that with infrastructure rather than another event: a permanent, always-open network where companies prove who they are, publish what they need, and find each other on the merits.
What the association does
Verifies its members
Companies are checked against published criteria before they carry the GGTA Verified mark. It cannot be bought.
Runs a live marketplace
Members post real requirements with budgets and deadlines, and receive proposals from verified suppliers.
Sets standards
Every member commits to the association's code on honesty, responsiveness and fair dealing.
Publishes intelligence
Member surveys power industry reports on rates, demand, and where the trade is heading.
Who runs it
GGTA was founded by Christopher Paul, who has spent his career in travel and golf travel distribution. The association is operated from the United Arab Emirates and is open to companies worldwide — the founding cohort already spans 36 countries across Europe, the Gulf, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia.
How GGTA is different
Trade bodies in this industry have traditionally been built around an annual convention: valuable, but concentrated into a few days and limited by the size of a room. GGTA is built the other way round. The network is the product, it is open every day of the year, and the association's events exist to serve the members already trading with one another — not the other way round.
Read more about how membership works, what verification involves, or the standards every member signs up to.
Join the network
Membership starts free. The first 200 companies to join become founding members. 110 of 200 founding places are claimed.
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