Dear LHC Member,

We are looking at this year as one of consolidation and cautious growth, as the world slowly emerges from the worst recession in decades.

Over the Christmas-New Year holiday period the value of timeshare to individuals was truly evident. We experienced large numbers of members staying and enjoying the extra entertainment Laguna Phuket has laid on especially for you, such as the Family Festival at Canal Village.

Looking ahead we will be introducing new products such as the Laguna Advantage Card and the Laguna Discovery Day Tour for those not resident in Laguna Phuket to encourage them to experience our facilities.

We expect many of you will want to take advantage, so to speak, of the new card programme, which is the perfect enhancement to your LHC membership, offering free goods and services and hefty discounts throughout the resorts and restaurants in Laguna Phuket.

Shortly we will phase in our Corporate Social Responsibility program supporting disadvantaged Thai children in Bangkok.

Finally, in this newsletter we introduce one of our great supporters, Derek Murphy, who organizes the Murphy International Invitational Golf Tournament. We hope to bring you more such human interest stories about our members on a regular basis.

So there is much to look forward to. Meanwhile continue to enjoy the hospitality of LHC.

Kind regards

Gerard J.L.M. van Paassen [Jerry]
Assistant Vice-President
Laguna Holiday Club.

Laguna Advantage Card… to Your Advantage

The Laguna Advantage Card will be available to all LHC members for use throughout the Laguna Phuket facilities. It is certainly worth purchasing. For 6,500 Baht you will receive 80 gift certificates ranging from free goods and services to generous discounts. All the fitness centres in the hotels, for example, will be freely accessible by card holders between 10am and 4pm daily. Food and beverage discounts will vary from 50% for two guests, to 25% for four guests.

Other examples include: three nights in an LHCR junior suite at USD50+++ per night; three nights in a two bedroom suite at USD100 +++ per night and a free Sunday BBQ for two guests at LHCR. At the Golf Club, you can get free club hire and a free green fee for 18 holes [excluding caddy fee] plus a free bag of range balls. Laguna Tours is offering ‘buy one, get one free’ on join-in speedboat tours and a 25% discount on join-in speedboat tours.

Update: TimeshareWare, the sophisticated IT system designed specially for LHC to upgrade services, has now been rolled out to all LHC locations, including Bintan, in Indonesia.

For those who indicate Chinese as your preferred language, confirmation letters in both simplified and traditional Chinese language have been prepared.

Member Profile

Derek Murphy…A Great Friend of LHC and Golf Organiser Supreme

Derek Murphy is a big LHC fan: he owns five weeks and is thinking of getting more; he has also referred other members. Derek has run the Murphy International Invitational Golf Tournament for up to a 100 or so of his closest friends since 1991. LHC was a sponsor of the 20th tournament this year, along with the Phuket Gazette.

This year around 23 golfers played the tournament at the Phuket Country Club; Derek would have preferred Laguna Golf Club, but it was not available at the time. It was not exactly “the Augusta Masters,” as Derek, a retired barrister from Hong Kong and now busy company director, admitted.

“Anyone who’s good at golf is not invited,” said Derek with a smile. “It’s all about having fun with friends.” And fun they had, not only on Phuket, but also in Taupo, New Zealand and Hope Island and Sanctuary Cove in Australia where up to 100 people have been known to take part. In 2011 the tournament will be at the Wairakei International Golf Club in Taupo in New Zealand’s North Island.

Derek’s contribution to the tournament that bears his name is to organize it efficiently and without fuss, so his friends and their partners can enjoy themselves. That means not only trying to get the most stableford points, but there is also a prize for the golfer who earns the least points, known as the “Oxford Landing Trophy.”

This year it was won by Jennie Creasy, wife of Simon Creasy, a 71-year-old former Cathay Pacific pilot and one of the originals of the tournament. Simon has the distinction of being the only golfer to win both the Oxford Landing Trophy for the worst round, and the Murphy International Invitation Trophy for the best round, despite injuries sustained in an aircraft accident several years ago.

Commenting on the tournament, Simon, who now lives in New Zealand, says with a smile, “It is alcohol and friendship based.” Other winners of the trophy include Derek in 1997 and his son, Simon, who has won it twice.

And what does Derek say about LHC? In his own words: “It is a wonderful concept. I like the facilities which are modern and clean, the staff are fabulous and it is a turn key operation which means everything is ready when you arrive.” Derek also pointed to the new non-stop V Australia flights from Melbourne into Phuket, which helps also.

Clearly Derek is a satisfied customer who doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet. Observing him organize the event on 11 January, we can clearly see that it requires a person of great enthusiasm and energy to make it succeed.

Boat Tours Prove Popular

Going “first class” by speed boat to the Phi Phi and Bamboo Islands in the sparkling Andaman Sea off Phuket was a reality during the peak of the high season over 2009 and 2010. Laguna Tours hopes to repeat this very popular excursion again in some form in the future.

Laguna Tours “first class” tour from 15 December to 31 January, 2010, was designed for a small number of guests who want to “put on the Ritz.”

Commented the Senior Manager of Laguna Tours, Mark Breit, “This first class offering sets a new standard for visits to the Phi Phi Islands. We are constantly looking to innovate and offer new experiences to our guests. This tour is a typical example with many more to come.”

The first class speedboat tour offered a limited number of guests an exotic buffet lunch on the beach, including beer and wine. It is limited to 12 guests to maintain exclusivity.

Also this high season, Laguna Tours offered a Phi Phi Islands tour just for families. The adjusted itinerary still visited the famous locations but was designed to give children more time on the beach. All snorkeling equipment in kids sizes plus beach toys etc., were provided and this presented a great opportunity for kids to play with other kids to enhance their day out.

The Phi Phi and Bamboo Islands tour visited the soaring limestone cliffs and surrounding clear waters of the Phi Phi Islands area with visits to Viking Cave, Pi Lei Cove, Him Klang Reef, Monkey Beach and Maya Bay, where the movie “The Beach” was filmed.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback and input into this newsletter. Any comments should be directed to: newsinfo@lagunaholidayclub.com