Nick Tarratt appointed Director of The European Tour International Office

The 49 year old Englishman - who became well known to European Tour Members through his staging of the Dubai Desert Classic in the 1990s - will head up the purpose-built facility which is situated at the main entrance to Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai's leading residential golf development.

The Office will open to coincide with the first $10m Dubai World Championship on the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course from November 19-22, 2009, which will be the final counting event in the inaugural Race to Dubai.

It will include The European Tour Performance Institute, providing a unique base for European Tour Members to practice and train at any time of year as well as a state-of-the-art fitness and physiotherapy service, and will act as a focal point for the Tour's increasingly global schedule.

"I am very excited with this new role," said Tarratt, who has been steeped in golf administration for the past 25 years "To be involved in pioneer projects such as the Dubai World Championship and The Race to Dubai as well as helping establish The European Tour International Office will be an enjoyable challenge. I have lived in Dubai for over a third of my life and look forward to working with our partners here, in the UAE and in the region as a whole."

Tarratt joined the Professional Golfers Association at The Belfry in 1983 and was involved in the staging of The 1985 Ryder Cup there as well as several other PGA and European Tour events before becoming involved in the running of the Bell's Scottish Open at Gleneagles in the late 1980s.

He moved to Dubai in 1990 to work at the Emirates Golf Club before setting up the Dubai Golf and Racing Club, home to the Dubai World Cup - the world's richest horse race.

In 1996 he was appointed General Manager of the UAE Golf Association where his responsibilities included overseeing the running of the Dubai Desert Classic before he undertook a two year sabbatical in Egypt and a return to Dubai in 2004 for a role as Golf Advisor for Emaar Properties.

Keith Waters, Director of International Policy for The European Tour, said: "We are delighted to welcome Nick Tarratt as Director of our International Office. He has vast experience in the world of golf as well as intimate knowledge of Dubai and the workings of the UAE and is unquestionably the ideal person to head up this new and exciting chapter in the history of The European Tour."