Vercelli partners with Nation Golf Classic

Some interesting prizes will be up for grabs during the fourth leg of this year’s Nation Classic Golf series scheduled for Nyanza Golf Club Kisumu next weekend, thanks to Vercelli Tours and Travel, who Thursday signed a partnership deal with the Nation Media Group to co-sponsor the event.

A fairly new company in the market having been started in 2015, Vercelli offered two fabulous prizes of three nights full board accommodation at a four-star hotel in Diani, including flights and transport for the overall winner of the tournament and staff winner.

This will be in addition to the usual prizes being offered by Nation, while the tours and travel company also donated 15 return air tickets from Nairobi to Kisumu for Nation’s golfers and staff.

Speaking after signing the deal at Nation Centre on Thursday, Osborn Tiema Omucheyi, a director of Vercelli, said he had been following the Nation Classic series for some time now, and realized it was a good avenue from where he can grow his business.

“This is a great opportunity for us to grow the game of golf along with the Nation Media Group. It will also be a great opportunity for us to promote domestic tourism to the great city of Kisumu," said Omucheyi.

He said the partnership was the beginning of a long term relationship with NMG, which has been running the Nation Classic series since 1985, making it one of the longest running golf series in the country.

Besides Tours and Travel, the company also deals with air ticket booking for local and international, travel vans, and conferencing.

“Our goal is to make travel much easier for both domestic and international and all one needs to do, is to visit our website: www.vercelli.co.ke, and we are ready to offer some discounted tickets for golfers wishing to travel to Kisumu for the Nation Classic.

Speaking on behalf of the Nation, NMG Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Clifford Machoka and NTV 's Broadcast Managing Director Alex Kobia thanked Vercelli for agreeing to partner with the company on the golf series.

“Golf is a sport we use to network with our clients. It gives us the opportunity to interact with our clients in the various regions where we have held our events, and are truly grateful for Vercelli’s decision to come and join us," said Machoka.

He said besides the Nation Classic Golf series, NMG has been supporting the game of golf for many years, including Kenya’s premier golfing event, the Kenya Open.

“This is our way of not only growing the game of golf in the country, but also supporting sports and golf tourism for that matter, and together with Vercelli, who are in the tourism industry, we can only take it even further," added Machoka.

Kobia said besides a broadcast interview of Vercelli’s representative on tNTV's sports show “Top Sport’’ on the date of the tournament, NTV will run a road show in Kisumu.

“As a company we real appreciate and welcome Vercelli. This is a win-win situation for both partners and I can only hope that this is just the beginning of a long term partnership," said Kobia.

The Nation Classic series has since visited Nakuru, Nyahururu and Mombasa, with the last event set for October 13 at Vet Lab Sports Club.