Luis Angarita . General Manager of the Velas Vallarta Hotel

Mr. Angarita, the Third Vallarta Golf Cup will take place this year, so we’d like you to tell us how you came up with the idea of creating this golf cup and how the first two tournaments turned out.

First of all, I appreciate your time for this interview to talk about golf, a topic that’s going to play a major role in the development of a destination like Puerto Vallarta for forever more.

Back in 2002, on the eve of the world golf championship organized by the PGA, a bunch of trade and tourism professionals came up with the idea of organizing a golf tournament, because we’re all amateur golfers and we all love golf.

I remember we said, “let’s organize the Vallarta Golf Cup.” We gave it that name to embrace the seven golf courses in the future and we thought up a trophy that features four whales and a swinging golfer. The trophy was created by Octavio Gonzalez, a sculptor who has made many other trophies for other clubs in the U.S. Everybody likes our trophy very much and we call it the Swing Vallarta Trophy.

Then came the logo design. We wanted a logo that would never lose its publicity zip, and eventually we came up with this golf ball and the stars and the name Vallarta splayed on it, saving the upper portion to engrave the tournament year.

This time around, we’re going to have a PRO AM with a view to play more golf with pro players because when professionals go back to their clubs or their courses where they get in touch with other amateur golfers, then they’ll be telling them about this wonderful experience they had in Puerto Vallarta.

We believe golf is very important to Puerto Vallarta, it’s a key player if we truly want to have access to better markets, higher prices and put this place on the map as a travel destination for golfers, not only as the great sun-and-sand spot it is. Here you can find spas, hotels, lovely cuisine, great shopping malls, a seawall dotted with stores, in short, all the things that Vallarta has to offer.

The tournament date is also important. We’re going to make it happen together with the gourmet festival. That’s why we always hold the Vallarta Cup in the month of November because that gives us the possibility of luring well-to-do golfers for three or four nights and let them make the most of the gourmet festival.

This combination has paid off to such an extent that the Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta-Bahia de Banderas trusteeships understood our point of view and have chipped in funds of their own for the promotion of the Cup. This effort, conducted by seven successful businesspeople from different sectors, has made the Cup a credible and reliable sport event. I must say there are plenty of businesses involved in this endeavor.

We learned from the two previous Cups that the support of the trusteeships also requires the endorsement of all hotels. By doing so, we guarantee that each and every resort has its own team and sponsors that team and roots for it. This also gives hotels the possibility of showing off their ability and their expertise to sell this wonderful thing called golf.

So, the publicity we’re carrying out includes all participating hotels. The idea is not to have them pay a single dime, but just let them bring in their teams made up of one pro player and three amateur golfers. The amateurs have to pay their own signup fees, their hotel bills and breakfasts. Pro players are invited to come and swing their clubs.

What about the prizes, especially the Hole-In-One Grand Prize and the $550,000 apartment at the fabulous and fancy Shangri-La Building?

We’ve pieced together a very interesting array of prizes for this year’s event that, as a matter of fact, is one of the reasons that makes players move from one place to another. This time around, we’ll be giving away cars, golf carts, a $10,000 hole-in-one cash prize, watches, RCI weeks, computers and an assortment of gifts that our sponsors have given us to make the Cup twice as much attractive and show that Vallarta is taking part in this event with all of its hotels, with all the restaurants involved in the gourmet festival.

How do you see the future of the Vallarta Golf Cup?

I believe we’re making a pretty good synergy and a good effort. We’d like to be stronger, but this is only our third Cup. We the cosponsors of the gourmet festival have noticed that it has taken us ten long years to make connoisseurs understand that the Puerto Vallarta Gourmet Festival is the only event of its kind all across Mexico.

We’re the pioneers, but it has taken us a whole decade. That’ll also happen with the golf cup. The endeavor of each and every hotel, of each and every one of us involved, of each and every hotel and business in town will definitely make the Vallarta Golf Cup grow. As the name indicates clearly, this is not a hotel’s own golf cup but rather the tournament of a huge 18,000-room resort called Vallarta.

Who can sign up for the Cup and how they can do it? When will the signup deadline expire?

We’ve got this sensational website, www.vallartagolf.com, where you can find all the information pro players and amateur golfers need to know. That’s the best way to get a hang of what the Cup is actually all about. As to the expiration date, it closes approximately five days before tee-off due to organizational reasons. Since this year’s event will be on November 12 and 13, then we’ll be closing, say, on November 7 or 8. However, if somebody makes a last-minute decision to join the show, well, you know, we’re all hoteliers and tour operators, so we’ll always welcome them with open arms. Those who like golf and want to play golf are welcomed to come aboard.

How will you cheer someone up to enroll in the tournament and what’s so different about Vallarta compared to other golf destinations?

In addition to magnificent prizes and cash –they tally up $150,000 for professionals and $50,000 for amateurs- we’ll dish out honors to the top-five players. The fifth-place contestant will have enough in his hands to cover his expenditures. As I said at the top of this interview, we’ll give away cars. And don’t forget the gourmet festival, the huge shopping spree you can get on, and the closing ceremony on November 12 that will feature singer Juan Gabriel in concert at the Seawall. All this comes along with the kindness and good-heartedness of our travel industry personnel. Quite a drive to come here!

That’s why I appreciate this interview because I now take advantage of this opportunity to invite everybody, whether golfers or not.