Sustaining a World Class Golf Resort: A Conversation with Paul Wilson of Laguna Resorts & Hotels
Laguna Phuket
Last month, I shared the success story of Laguna Lăng Cô -- an “edible” and eco-friendly golf design that recently announced plans to spread its positive impact.
I was also able to get in touch with Paul Wilson (Senior AVP Group Golf and Destination Sales & Marketing at Laguna Resorts & Hotels) to dive deeper into the Banyan Tree philosophy that guides its three Laguna courses - Laguna Lăng Cô (Vietnam), Laguna Bintan (Indonesia), and Laguna Phuket (Thailand).
Laguna Phuket includes seven hotels and other attractions (golf among them), and recently announced that it was awarded EarthCheck Gold certification like its Vietnam counterpart. The golf course alone uses strictly water from the resort’s laundry effluent, which it treats on-site via irrigation lagoons.
Aside: in case you get confused by all the Laguna’s and Paul’s, you’re not reading a Russian novel where every character is the same: his name’s Paul, my last name’s Paul, and I’ve written two articles about Paul Jansen… so now we have that clarification out of the way.
Anyhow, what was supposed to be a 30-minute call with Paul Wilson turned into a two-hour jam session, but when you’re learning at that rate and the passion is flowing, time becomes an illusion.
The commitment and operational embeddedness of sustainability strategy at Banyan Tree and its Laguna golf courses is something I’m excited to share with a Western audience, as its principles are just as relevant and applicable across the pond.
Q. What called you to work in the golf industry and in Asia?
As a lifelong golfer, I turned pro in my early 20’s, completing PGA training and playing at the same time. In 2007, I made the decision to seek employment overseas from the UK to further my career in the golf industry. I aimed high, and after months of relentless pursuit, I secured a position with Troon Golf in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on the then-under-construction Saadiyat Beach project. A Gary Player-designed golf course, I held multiple positions in operations, tournaments, and instruction, gaining an invaluable skill set learning from some of the very seasoned industry professionals at Troon International.
After almost 4 years, I decided the time was right to spread my wings further, to travel and immerse myself in a new culture. Southeast Asia was the booming exciting place to be and somewhere I’d travelled in my spare time extensively. Eventually, in late 2012, I landed in Phuket, Thailand, and joined Banyan Tree Group in Jan 2013.
Initially, the attraction was the planned renovation project in Laguna Phuket, and my experience from Saadiyat certainly helped me manage that project. Following the successful launch of Laguna Golf Phuket in 2015, I then took on a group role that included Laguna Lang Co and Laguna Bintan.
By working for Banyan Tree Group, I have been very fortunate to gain experience and knowledge in the “non-golf” aspects of the wider hospitality industry. Inspired by our founders, Mr. Ho Kwon Ping and Mrs. Claire Chiang, our company ethos is to ensure everything we do has a meaning and purpose. Literally “rooted in sustainability” the entire Laguna Phuket history is built around regeneration of a previously-abandoned tin mine – which was declared by the United Nations Development Program as: “too environmentally damaged to have any development potential”.
Q. What's your perspective on the approach to sustainability of golf in Asia? Are most courses repeating mistakes of the West, or have you witnessed more of a "green leap" in which Asian developments are “leapfrogging” to more evolved practices than other parts of the world (especially developed economies)?
It’s a mix.
Some courses have millions of dollars and care more about satisfying the unrealistic expectations of golfers who expect to see August-like lush green grass all year, regardless of the environmental impact. However there are also a few golf courses in Southeast Asia that are world leaders in sustainability focus and environmental consideration.
The golf course that stands out to me is Sentosa in Singapore -- the first golf course to join the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Initiative. Another great example is Clearwater Bay in Hong Kong. In recent years, there has been more support, coordination, and sharing of best practices – facilitated by Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF).
Under Banyan Tree Group, we have been guided and supported by our partnership with EarthCheck – in which our golf courses actively participate.
Q. What sources of positive return have you seen from the various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-related projects at Laguna golf courses and Banyan properties (e.g., have sponsorship opportunities developed with brands more engaged in CSR)?
Sustainability is ultimately about care. When we care for our community, we create strong relationships with our people that benefit us through “returns” of employee loyalty, long-term service, cooperation, and support – particularly important during times of hardship such as COVID-19. Two keys to our success have been retention of employees and guests.
Rather than sponsorship from other brands, we see the positive return more towards our own brands – whereby we build trust and loyalty, with guests believing in us as a company. When choosing which brands to work together with, we seek to partner with like-minded people who share the same values. Examples of this include Paul Jansen, Faldo Design, and Singha Corporation (in Thailand).
Q. Obviously COVID has been a challenge for anyone in hospitality, but many have reported silver linings, including a lot of people in golf. What positives have come out of the crisis for you?
In hospitality, I think “multi-skilling” is going to be big coming out of COVID-19. For example, an electrician at a resort could also be the recreational manager, and the employer would support them to become fully qualified in both areas. In doing this, you improve that person’s sense of meaning and purpose to work, by allowing people to express more of their full range of skills and passions. At the same time, the employer benefits from a more resilient and flexible workforce that can adapt as and when required.
With lower occupancy rates, we’ve also been looking more closely at solving our energy costs. One solution has been decentralized cooling systems in large hotels, which allows us to isolate areas of the property not in use, thus reducing our overall consumption.
Q. Speaking of multi-skilling, let’s talk about multi-purpose design… should more golf courses adopt an "edible" approach akin to Laguna Lang Co's use of out of play areas for rice paddies? How has this model affected costs, revenues, and profitability whether through direct or indirect means?
Yes [more courses could adopt a similar approach], but there are certainly limits to how “edible” a golf course can and should be. Ideally, you would build it into design (via designated areas), however some crops aren’t always the best looking pieces of landscape design, and chemical leaching around greens and tees would obviously be a challenge.
In comparison to other regions of the world, there is not so much of a food scarcity issue in Southeast Asia, as much of the region enjoys a relative abundance of food due to fertile landscapes and the tropical climate. Our food production in Laguna Lăng Cô, whilst very well appreciated, is more than simply giving away rice. There are deeper more meaningful purposes linked to celebrating the local culture and trying to make best use of the golf course landscape areas. All of our Laguna destinations are currently working to increase food production – utilizing golf course landscapes and dedicated “farm” areas. All produce will be consumed within our hotels and given away to the community.
We are taking guidance from another Banyan Tree Group initiative called Ori9ins, which is our joint venture organic farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Q. A lot of this begs to ask: why aren’t others doing the same? Are typical golf resorts missing out on operational, strategic, or financial benefits that can result from CSR investment? If so, what prevents wider adoption of a stakeholder-driven approach to golf course management and sustainability strategy?
Attitude from golf business owners is gradually changing towards CSR investment as education (awareness) improves and the consumer market demands more. Environmental sustainability is quite complicated with golf courses, and initiatives depend on geography and context – all courses have very different natural environments to work with (temperature, humidity, water quality, insects…).
I think you’re always going to have to compromise between championship quality and [ecological] impact. Everyone’s path will be different, but it’s about identifying small steps, compounding those improvements, and ultimately closing the loop as much as you can.
A greening event at Laguna Phuket.
Q. Who or what drives the sustainability ethos of the Laguna golf courses? Which stakeholders are most responsible? Who has the greatest input in terms of driving sustainable change?
Our entire company culture [Banyan Tree Group] is deeply engaged with sustainability and it is driven from the top! This filters down through the levels of management and is continuously reinforced by all concerned. Education is vital and all our CSR events are very much family targeted within the communities. The most important thing for us is that senior leadership literally gets their hands dirty. We have to “walk the talk” from top to bottom. We often conduct community-involved beach cleanup events because we know that we can’t have a beach resort without a pristine beach.
Q. Is it possible for the golf industry to have a regenerative impact (that is, to enhance the health of the planet as a whole, and provide greater net benefits than costs)? What are the biggest barriers to making this happen?
Yes, providing we choose the right sites to regenerate in the first place! Like choosing an abandoned old tin mine (in the case of Laguna Phuket), not an untouched piece of natural outstanding beauty. Golf is never going to be the most natural use of the land, and we’ll always have some tension between sustainability and golfers’ expectations – that is, to have world class quality and preserve the natural environment.
It’s interesting that we never choose the location of a golf course based on environmental impact or capacity for regeneration, but there is a lot of potential in the design phase.
