The Quinta do Lago golf club in Portugal talks about its environmental practices, wildlife conservation, and water management. After a fire destroyed equipment, dealers stepped in with strong support to help rebuild.
So one of the unique parts about being in the Algarve, in particular in Quinta Delago, is we are working within the national park, namely the Rio Formosa. So we're very much disciplined and governed by what we do in pesticide control, water usage, etc. Because we're very much in touch with nature. So we do regular checks and bird counts and reptile counts to make sure that our population is increasing. We're also a host for the Rias Wildlife Park. So lots of wild animals that get injured in different parts, they go for rehabilitation and we later adopt them here into Quinta Delago and reintroduce them here into our golf courses and habitats that we've naturally created. We have boat hotels, we have birdhouses, bathouses, we have lakes that we use for irrigating the golf course, but they're all habitats for koi fish and different species. We are always conscious of the volume of water that we extract from the ground. It's not an infinite amount of water. So we have to be very, very conscious of this. The long term goal and long term strategy for us here in Quinta Delago. But Bey is to start using reclaimed and recycled water and building facilities that we can take this water and through reverse osmosis and different processes produce water that's acceptable and adequate for irrigating the golf courses and therefore not be relying on the aquifers that run beneath us. What makes one brand different from the other brand is very often the relationship with the dealer, the backup service and the overall feel good factor between the dealer and between us here in Quinta Delago. A story that I should mention is 18 months ago, unfortunately and tragically, we had a fire that happened just outside our maintenance facility where we lost quarter of a million euros worth of equipment. But namely, we lost eight tractors overnight. That was the full quantum of tractors that we had at the time. The fire happened at 12:30, just after midnight and 7am that morning I got a call from our local dealer to say, don't worry about the tractors, I'll get you more tractors. And it was that kind of tone and that backup of service that really cemented our relationship and made it something that we can really, really build on. Because that was above and beyond. And that's what sets apart one brand from another brand in the local.
