Tee off for new $3 million golf and country club in Port Stephens including 200-seat conference and function centre

The leaders of the Altogether Perfect campaign tasked to promote the Hunter Valley, Newcastle and Port Stephens as corporate event destinations have welcomed the beginning of construction of a $3 million golf and country club at the Pacific Dunes championship golf course in Port Stephens, with the venue to include a 200-seat meeting and function centre.

An official ceremony, headed by Port Stephens Mayor Bruce MacKenzie, will mark the beginning of the eco-friendly project at 10.30am on Thursday, July 16.

Scheduled for completion in the Christmas–New Year period, the six-month project will see the extension and complete renovation of the existing Pacific Dunes Summer House. The new-look facility will boast a 200-seat function centre, suitable for segmentation into smaller spaces, as well as landscaping and a new reception area, restaurant, bar lounge and golf-view terraces.

Delegates using the new club will also be able to play on the championship, 18-hole Pacific Dunes golf course, designed by Greg Norman’s lead Australasian designer, James Wilcher, and ranked the fourth top public access golf course in NSW, with its scenic backdrop of woodlands and wetlands.

Pacific Dunes also features a 25m swimming pool, tennis courts and walking trails and is only 5km from accommodation at the 95-room Mercure Newcastle Airport, to open on August 1, 2015, and 25km from both Newcastle and the heart of Port Stephens at Nelson Bay.

The rebuilt club will be one of the most environmentally-sustainable buildings in the Port Stephens region, with hi-tech, low-energy systems cutting costs and its environmental footprint.

Altogether Perfect spokesperson, Rebecca Morley - Meetings, Incentive, Conference and Events Manager for Destination Port Stephens – said the new Pacific Dunes Golf and Country Club would provide welcome new infrastructure for the region’s growing business events industry.

“It’s hard to beat the appeal of a meeting or corporate function on a sweeping, championship golf course so this exciting new facility will certainly help grow our region’s appeal to business event organisers,” Ms Morley said.

Launched in 2014, the ‘Altogether Perfect’ campaign is the name for the collaborative marketing efforts undertaken by regional partners in the Hunter Region to attract and secure business events tourism. Backed by Newcastle Convention Bureau, Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association and Destination Port Stephens and supported by dynamic industry operators, the joint marketing group attends trade fairs and sales missions and host visits to the region by key conference organisers and media to build the appeal of the Hunter region as THE number one business tourism destination. The campaign received funding through the Regional Visitor Economy Fund (RVEF) which is managed and administered by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia