VietNamNet Bridge – Accor, a hospitality company, announced it will be holding its first golf tournament, “Swing for Smiles”, on October 11, 2008 in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province, to raise funds for Operation Smile Vietnam.

Accor’s fundraising initiative “Swing for Smiles” golf tournament is to be held at the historical Da Lat Palace Golf Course on October 11, 2008. The all-day fundraising event includes a memorable golf tournament at Dalat Palace Golf Club, one of the finest golf courses in Vietnam, alongside activities for non-players, and a truly special gastronomic gala dinner, prepared by visiting guest chefs, Jean Paul Hartmann, 1 Michelin Star chef from the South of France, and Chef Robin Ho, CEO and Executive Chef for the Marmalade Group Singapore, at Sofitel Dalat Palace.

Tony Chisholm, General Manager for Sofitel Dalat Palace and Novotel Dalat, said: “We invite everyone to contribute to the success of this event. Not only will it provoke our sense of social responsibility and raise money for a very worthy cause, but it is also a great opportunity to experience the distinctive atmosphere of Dalat, have fun with a round of golf on one of Asia’s nicest courses, enjoy a fabulous dinner, and perhaps do a little networking on the side.”

Accor has been involved with Operation Smile Vietnam for over five years and since 2007 Operation Smile has been expanded to become one of Accor’s global solidarity development projects.

Various fundraising activities have been initiated for the project by Accor hotels in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The funds raised have been expended on surgeries to repair cleft lips/palettes and have helped put a smile on thousands of children’s faces in Vietnam.

This year Accor has begun to strengthen its efforts to support Operation Smile with the new solid objective of providing medical equipment to complete an additional care centre in Ho Chi Minh City. The new care centre is currently under development and expected to accommodate more surgical operations on a daily basis and eventually reduce the number of children on the waiting list.

“In Vietnam, one in 500 babies is born with a facial deformity and over 15,000 children are currently awaiting surgery. Accor has substantially elevated fundraising efforts for Operation Smile Vietnam in its quest to reduce the number of children requiring this surgery. Accor hotels encourage involvement from our employees, guests, and local communities, to help make these great achievements,” said Patrick Basset, Accor Vice President – North and East Asia.

Operation Smile Vietnam provides free cleft lip and palate surgeries for children with facial deformities and conducts medical development programs through local and international teams of professional volunteers. It is the local organisation of Operation Smile International, a US based non-profit, which provides similar programmes in 29 countries.

PV