The story
The tour was introduced in 1986, when the national tours of Sweden, France and Italy became open to foreign players, and was initially called the Satellite Tour. The Order of Merit was introduced in 1989, with the top five players on it winning membership of the European Tour for the following season. The following year the tour was renamed the Challenge Tour, a name already used in 1989. Up to 1993 the Challenge Tour rankings were based on each player's best several results, but since 1994 it has been a straightforward money list, with all results counting.
Players who are successful on the Challenge Tour qualify for membership of the European Tour the following year. Twenty players earn direct promotion to the European Tour. Players finishing 21–45 may also gain qualification for occasional low-prize-money European Tour events, but can improve their status through European Tour Qualifying School. Players who win three Challenge Tour events in a season are fast-tracked onto the main tour immediately and are fully exempt the following season, similar to that of the US-based Korn Ferry Tour.
In January 2025, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with HotelPlanner, being renamed as the HotelPlanner Tour.
From Wikipedia’s article on Challenge Tour, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4