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n his capacity as Secretary of the Valderrama Golf Club, Ramn Dvila formed part of the group that presented the candidacy of San Roque to be headquarters of the 1997 Ryder Cup and who finally got to bring this event to Spain and Andalusia. Since 1993, Ramn Dvila dedicated himself heart and soul to the work of preparation and organization of the aforementioned sport competition, one of the largest held in Andalusia, and certainly the most important one held in the province of Cadiz. Afterwards, he was appointed General Secretary of the National Committee for the preparation of the 1997 Ryder Cup, whose Honorary President was HM the King Don Juan Carlos and that included senior representatives of the Central Government, of Andalusia, the Councils of Cadiz and Malaga and the City Council of San Roque. This Committee was able to carry out important infrastructure development that allowed the successful celebration of the great golfing competition that pitted the United States against Europe, held for the first time outside the British Isles. More than 700 million television viewers watched the event, thereby serving to promote andalusian tourism. Also, more than 150,000 people were on the golf course during the week of the competition, filling hotels in the area and in the entire Costa del Sol to capacity and even large vessels were used as hotels in the port of Algeciras. The Costa del Sol has since been called the Costa del Golf and it can be said that the celebration of the 1997 Ryder Cup has been a before and after in golf tourism for its positive effects in Andalusia. Ramon Davila distinguished himself in his management of the National Committee in its struggle in favor of the interests of Andalusia, both with regards to Andalusian suppliers and with regards to regional and local institutions. Also, Ramn Dvila has actively participated in the legal negotiation of contracts and in the procedures to allow the 1999 and 2000 Golf World Championships to be held in San Roque (Andalusia) with the presence of the most important players around the world and allowing our region to be seen by hundreds of millions of people on five continents via international broadcasters and allowing thousands of people to come and see it directly in Valderrama, again filling the areas hotels and encouraging profits, employment and tourism development in the area.

During the course of the Ryder Cup, the President of the European Union presented the European Green Flag to Valdarrama for its program of environmental sustainability, in response to Valderramas having acquired several pioneering environmental certifications and having developed the Committed with the Environment program. Ramn Dvila has also actively collaborated in the celebration of many editions of the Volvo Masters, also held at Valderrama and which for many years has been the closing of the European Tour, putting San Roque and our entire region in the spotlight for millions of people and showing the excellence of our golf tourism offer. Also, in the year 2000 Ramn Dvila was the Coordinator General of the World Congress of Golf tourism held in Montecastillo (Jerez), in collaboration with the Diputacin Provincial de Cdiz that managed to bring together hundreds of professionals and tourism operators in our region. Ramon Davila has been President and General Coordinator of six editions of the Golf and Environment International Conferences which have allowed Andalusia to assume the leadership in environmental sustainability of golf tourism in Andalusia. In the Presidency of PROMOTUR and in its representation of the sports tourism in the Andalusia Tourism Business Council, Ramn Dvila has been working tirelessly for the development of sustainable tourism in the golf sector, collaborating with institutions for that purpose and in particular with the Ministry of tourism in the preparation of the decree that regulates the construction and operation of the Andalusian golf courses. He has also collaborated in the drafting of tourism plans, such as the Pla Qualifica of the Costa del Sol and other tourist plans. Ramn Dvila is the only non-British professional who is part of the Golf consultants Association, is part of the international law experts Forum on tourism and of the Spanish Association of tourism professionals, is partner of the World Tourism Organization, has given numerous conferences, lectures and courses both in Spain and outside our frontiers, even in the Sultanate of Oman, and is considered an expert on sustainable tourism and one of the most recognized experts in international golf tourism.