More than 150 tee off at ACTA's 30th annual golf tournament

Yesterday morning, under a clear blue sky, travel partners and sponsors trickled into the Royal Ontario Golf Club in Milton, Ontario, for ACTA's 30th Ontario Travel Industry Annual Golf Tournament.

By 9:00 a.m., the sun was already beating down, and as the day grew hotter, PAX's ice cream cart proved to offer up a cool solution for those hitting the green, with ice cream sandwiches, strawberry popsicles, and chocolate-covered frozen treats.

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As the day got hotter, PAX helped golfers cool down with a range of frozen, tasty treats! Pictured: Karine Lefebvre, Vice President, Media; Christine Hogg, Journalist; Nancy Benetton-Sampath, Associate Vice President, LogiMonde media.

Having recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, ACTA has been hosting golf tournaments in Ontario for 30 years now, as a way of saying thanks to partners and sponsors who continue to support ACTA's mission and underlying committment to travel agents across Canada.

"People work very hard, and many of the people here are senior managers, or running their own businesses, and when they're working long hours, sometimes even seven days a week, it's always business first," explained ACTA President Wendy Paradis, in an interview with PAX. "This is really a time for the industry to come together and spend the day in a relaxed environment, having fun with the people you probably haven't seen in a while."

Wendy Paradis, President, ACTA.

A well-attended event

More than 150 golfers attended yesterday's tournament, and on the putting green, all 18 holes were devoted to sponsors. In total, more than 200 people were present.

Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada Cargo, and Air Canada were the title sponsors, while Manulife was the major sponsor, and the Hawaii Tourism Canada sponsored the breakfast, Myrtle Beach sponsored lunch, and Enterprise Holdings sponsored dinner.

"This year's tournament was completely sold out and pretty well all of our partners and travel supplier members are here," Paradis said.

Cesar Mendoza, regional director, Mexico Tourism Board, tees off.

ACTA gives back

Tournament attendees had the opportunity to try their luck in several raffles, including the 50/50 draw, where all money raised went towards Tourism Cares, an organization ACTA actively supports.

During dinner, Paradis announced that as a result of ticket sales, $950.00 was raised by Blue Cross for The Children's Wish Foundation. Several prizes were handed out over the course of the evening, including two round-trip Economy class tickets to Europe with Air Canada.

ACTA raised $1,035.00 in support of Tourism Cares.

"Air Canada and Manulife Insurance are true partners, and we work with them all year-long," Paradis said. "They are very supportive of the travel agency community and they really understand what travel agencies and travel advisors are looking for. Both are tremendously supportive of the association and all that we do, and they want to work together to shape the industry, which I think is a really great thing."

Paradis closed out the evening by thanking all of the travel industry partners for their continued support.

List of winners

• Top Men’s Team - Winning Team (score of -12) - Sponsored by Air Canada -Don McPhail – Enterprise Holdings, James Ware – Enterprise Holdings, Ian Race – Vision Travel, Danny Murray – Vision Travel

• Top Ladies’ Team - Winning Team (score of +15) - Sponsored by Air Canada -Lynne Ray – BrokerLink, Cathy Baleck – BrokerLink, Frances Donato – BrokerLink, Maria da Cunha – da Cunha Voyages

• Top Mixed Team - Winning Team (score of -7) - Sponsored by Air Canada -Robert Needs – Sabre, James McNair – Uniglobe Travel, Carole Burnes – Sabre, Mitch McClung – Baxter

• Most Honest Golf Team - Sponsored by Carlson Wagonlit Travel -Kim Clarke – Globus, Pam deHaan – Tripcentral.ca, Patrice Geske – Globus, Earl Lince – Baxter

• Ladies’ Closest to the Pin - Sponsored by Air Canada -Kristina Rigby, Enterprise Holdings

• Men’s Closest to the Pin - Sponsored by BrokerLink Insurance -Ian Tillson – Myrtle Beach CVB

• Ladies’ Longest Drive - Sponsored By Softvoyage -Lori Patterson – Holland America

• Men’s Longest Drive - Sponsored By Softvoyage -Steve Goodfellow - Air Canada

• Best Photo Award - Sponsored by Allianz Global Assistance -Rob Stockman – Transat, Donna Glover – Transat, Anita Spier – Myles TravelPlus Dundas, Valerie Sagar – Myles TravelPlus Dundas

Raffle prizes

• VIA Rail Business Class tickets for 2 from Toronto to Ottawa with one night accommodation at the Ottawa Marriott Hotel. -Carmine Calderaro – Gareri Travel Agency

• Two round-trip Air Canada economy class tickets for travel within Canada. -Denise Luciani – Marlin Travel

• Two round-trip Air Canada economy class tickets for travel within Canada. -Al Budhwani – Travel Nation Canada

• Two round-trip Air Canada economy class tickets for travel to Europe. -Dan Prior – Transat