It’s a great honour and privilege to be here, standing before you, on the gala dinner of the 25th edition of the World Corporate Golf Challenge.
My first words will go naturally for one person that I truly admire… both on a personal and professional level.
They will go for someone that doesn’t say no to a good fight, if he believes in it… they will go for the visionary that believed that something could go global 22 years ago… when it was just a small competition… that invested all his live savings, including his house, in one project that was about to go bankrupt… that even today, 22 years later, continues to believe that is possible to grow and to do even better every day. My first words will go to a driving force of nature… my dear friend José Guerra!! Chairman of the World Corporate Golf Challenge that I ask from you all a big hand of applause…
Congratulations for this 25th anniversary !!
We are honoured that It´s happening in Cascais.
My dear friends,
Here we are for the 4th consecutive year…
But this time I will have to apologize for a variety of things…
I will star to apologize for this weather, I know that most of you come from countries where the summer happens on a specific Wednesday… so I do apologize on behalf of Cascais for our amazing summer and for the 300 days of sun annually.
I also have to apologize for this tight schedule that you had, and this tight agenda didn’t allow you to visit not even one of our 14 museums!
This crazy agenda didn’t allow you also to experience how it is to be in a place that is as safer as Iceland… the safest country in the world. And I’m sorry for that!
This lousy agenda that José and his staff created for you, didn’t allow you also to experience the best fish in the world, that is exported every day for the best restaurants all over the world. Again… I’m sorry…
I believe that you should crucified the guy that put you on two golf courses for two entire days!!! with this decision they didn’t gave you the chance to visit the other 5 that we have in Cascais… I apologize on behalf of the organization this time.
With that agenda proposed for this World Final you didn’t had the time to mingle with our 200.000 warm inhabitants, and our beloved community of expats… they are 20% of our population from more than 100 different nationalities…. if you had the time to mingle with the expats I’m sure that they would have explained how great their life is in Cascais and how amazing are the 14 international schools and the 3 universities in our territory… if you had the time…of course…
But… I will not apologize for the natural park that you didn’t visit or the white sand beaches that you also didn’t visit, because most probably you have it in your one countries… just probably!!!
The one thing that this organization did really well besides the amazing tournament that they have produced, was the dinner at this amazing casino… the casino that everybody knows around the World as THE “ casino royal” because Ian flaming was a spy of MI 6 during the second world war based here in Cascais… he was based here as they were most of the exiled kings from Europe… and the first lines of 007 were made just here at the Palacio Hotel…
Ladies and gentlemen… Let’s stop the apologies and let’s go to business…
Cascais doesn’t sponsor events… Cascais invest in events…
We don’t only want the tremendous communication produced worldwide in a event like this… we invest in the World Corporate Golf Challenge because its corporate… companies are playing… CEO´s are Playing… Directors are playing… so we want you, when you arrive to your company’s to tell your board, your colleagues and to everybody that you know how amazing Cascais is… that we have thousands of bright minds coming out of our universities each year… that this is a city that invests in smart cities, that is perfect to start a business or even to move your office here…
We are ready for you… we have the best staff to help you to find the perfect opportunity for you… even the perfect house… and for sure everybody will be happy.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear ambassadors of Cascais,
As you may have heard we are the best place to live for one day or a lifetime, but because you didn’t had time to experience it in a proper way, you have to come back to live for a day a week or a lifetime!!!
Congratulations to the WCGC, congratulations to you all,
Thank you.
