Press Release

 

The ESF Masters Circuit has had another record breaking season (Sep’17-Aug’18). 14 tournaments with 1,568 entries (20% increase over the last season) were held in all corners of Europe. Most tournaments are welcoming more entries and the new season is starting off like a rocket with 264 entries in Germany in October 2018.

 

Larger numbers of entries are however causing more work for the local organisers especially in relationship to hotels. In the “good old days” players needed to be offered hotel-packages, so they could just arrive and play. In the “modern times” of internet, hotel booking portals and AirBnB, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find hotels which are prepared to block rooms with cancellation options. This is also a cost risk factor, because of the conditions hotels dictate. The problem is, that the local organisers cannot estimate what will happen. Three examples from tournaments in 2018

• One very large tournament reserved 50 rooms, only sold 37 and had to pay for 13 rooms for 2 nights, which were not used
• Another tournament, with over 100 participants, only sold 8 rooms
• Yet another tournament had to ask local players, who came by car, NOT to book the tournament hotel, so that the foreign players, without transport, could benefit from the package and shuttle. They used all of their 65 rooms, mostly occupied by 2 people.

 

The Masters Committee has therefore decided to react to this to reduce the financial risk and simplify the work for the local organisers.  The local organiser can, if they wish, still offer complete packages (hotel & shuttle & meals) just as in the past. As an alternative the local organiser can instead offer

• one or more “tournament-hotels”, which the players can book themselves
• A fixed price Shuttle package which covers transport from and to the airport/central train station AND between this hotel / these hotels and the centre. (Whereby if within walking distance, then parts can be omitted.)
• A fixed price meals package for 5 meals (2 Friday, 2 Saturday, 1 Sunday)
• (Optional) one or more further recommended hotels, to which no shuttle will be offered

 

The responsibility for booking the (tournament) hotel or any accommodation in this case would lie solely by the players.

 

We hope with this step to reduce the financial risk and amount of volunteer work of the local organisers, so that they can concentrate their efforts on the event itself and find themselves acting as a travel agency.

 

This change goes into effect immediately but will only affect tournaments after December 2018, as the invitations for tournaments before December have already been published.

 

August 2018

Alan Hathway  alan.hathway@europeansquash.com

Director ESF Masters Committee