Executive Chairman and President of Aegean Airlines S.A., Theodore Vassilakis, has received the Confederation of Professional Golf Special Recognition Award at the Association’s Annual Gala Awards Dinner at Gloria Hotels & Resorts in Turkey.
The award is given each year to an individual that has done much to promote golf and the activities of the Confederation of Professional Golf, and the head of the company voted best regional airline in 2015 is a thoroughly deserving winner.
“I feel very proud and I am very thankful to the Confederation of Professional Golf,” said Vassilakis. “…Because after so many years they have recognised our contribution both as a person…and with the contribution of my companies.”
Vassilakis’ involvement in golf stems from his great love for the game and his introduction of the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am in 2006, along with his friendship with the late ‘Captain’ Vassilis Constantakopoulos who built the Costa Navarino resort in the Messinia region of Greece.
Golf has been a growing sport in Greece and the introduction of the Confederation of Professional Golf-sanctioned Aegean Airlines Pro-Am was a huge step in bringing both amateur and professional golfers to the region to experience what the country has to offer.
Aegean Airlines has always been a strong supporter of the golf tourism market, with a dynamic role in the strategic development of Greek tourism in general. The Pro-Am has acted as a verification of Vassilakis and the company’s commitment to increasing the levels of tourism in the country by both aiding the logistics of getting people to the country and its courses, promoting the event and the game in general, supporting the national PGA and Federation, as well as helping in the development of the facilities available to golfers throughout the whole region.
In 2015 the Pro-Am reached its 10th anniversary and is now consistently sold-out in a matter of weeks; a key indicator that Vassilakis’ passion for golf and the event has helped the sport to grow in the country and will continue to do so in the future.
“For the event to have reached such a milestone is a huge feat,” said Confederation of Professional Golf Chief Executive Ian Randell, during the 10th anniversary of the Pro-Am earlier in 2015. “It is a product of a vast amount of effort from Mr Vassilakis and his Aegean Airlines team and their dedication to the sport has proven itself across the past decade.”
Vassilakis and his team certainly do not plan to rest on their laurels when it comes to growing the sport. Building on the legacy of the aforementioned Vassilis Constantakopoulos, and now working with his son, Achilleas Constantakopoulos, there are big plans ahead:
“For us golf is a new thing in Greece but along with my friend, Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos, we have started ‘scouting’ for golf in Greece,” added Vassilakis.
“We are now in the stages of being proud of what we have done and we won’t stop there. We are going to make another effort in making an excellent country club next to Athens. We have finished the master plans and are at the end of acquiring the land that we want, so we are looking at the future with optimism.”
For more information on Aegean Airlines visit www.aegeanair.com.
For More Information On All of 2015’s Award Winners Visit http://eur.pe/2015AnnualCongress
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For more information and news visit the Annual Congress Hub Page (http://eur.pe/2015AnnualCongress), follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AnnualCongress’ or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.
The 2015 Annual Congress and Gala Awards Dinner are supported by Rolex and the Ryder Cup European Development Trust and hosted by Gloria Hotels & Resorts – for more information on the event partners visit http://eur.pe/2015AnnualCongress.
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