2019: the year Vietnam changed everything

2019 was the year Asia moved from 'interesting alternative' to 'core proposition' in how we think about our portfolio. Here's why.

Vietnam in February: we ran our first full Da Nang group in February 2019, four couples plus two singles who'd been following our journal for two years waiting for us to formally offer Vietnam. The Montgomerie Links was in peak condition — dry season, morning sea breezes, greens fast and true. On the 14th hole, overlooking the South China Sea, one of the group video-called his wife in Edinburgh to show her the view. She said: 'Why aren't I there?' He came back and booked a couples trip for April.

Japan with 14 people: our May Japan group in 2019 was the largest we'd run — 14 people, two separate but coordinated groups through the same itinerary. The logistics of 14 people at Hirono Golf Club, where the member culture requires specific courtesies, tested our preparation thoroughly. It worked, because we had by then the relationship with the club management that makes the difference between a stressed visit and a seamless one. Building those relationships takes years. This was the return on five years of investment.

The Algarve: our tenth consecutive year running Algarve itineraries. It's easy to become complacent about a destination you've visited sixty times. In 2019 I made a deliberate decision to play three courses I hadn't visited since 2015 — Amendoeira's Faldo course, Espiche Golf, and Palmares — specifically to confirm or update my recommendations. All three had improved meaningfully. The Dormie journal piece on under-the-radar Algarve courses we published in August came directly from those rounds.

What 2019 meant for the company: we crossed 300 clients for the first time in a calendar year. That's not a large number by the industry's aggregate standards. But 300 clients who all spoke directly to a specialist who had played the courses, who all had confirmed tee times before paying a deposit, and the vast majority of whom came back the following year — that is the number that matters.