Friday, March 14, 2014

Update: Golf Tourism Leadership Report



The Scottish Golf Tourism Development Strategy “Driving Forward Together” is being delivered by a number of public and private partners, who form the “Golf Tourism Development Group”. The group brings together Golf Tourism Scotland, VisitScotland, EventScotland, the Scottish Golf Union, Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association, Scottish Enterprise, SDI, Highland & Islands Enterprise and the PGA Scotland to deliver the Scottish Golf Tourism Development Strategy “Driving Forward Together”. The overall goal is to foster closer working relationships within the industry and realise the ambition that “by 2020, Scotland will be the world’s leading golfing destination”.

The strategy launch in September 2013 was attended by more than 170 Scottish Golf Tourism Industry figures. Work on the strategy began in 2012, with a series of workshops held in Aberdeenshire, East Lothian, Fife, Ayrshire, Perthshire and the Highlands, designed to ensure that the industry had a say in setting the strategies.

“Driving Forward Together” is unique and innovative for many reasons:
1.       It is the first time that a national golf tourism strategy has been developed by the golf tourism industry and public sector working together to benefit Scottish golf tourism businesses
2.       It is unique in that it makes sustainability a key part of the strategy by enhancing courses, reinforcing the quality of the Scottish golf product and creating opportunities for new messages and audiences
3.       The strategy has been developed to ensure that all involved work together towards the common goal of realising Scotland’s potential as the Home of Golf

The strategy has already delivered the following:
·         The creation and launch of the “Scotland, the Home of Golf” toolkit
·         Improved market information for clubs via the enhanced golf monitoring site, Scottish Golf Intelligence
·         Launch of a pilot Visitor Data Gathering project, so that clubs can more readily access visitor feedback
·         Golf Tourism Scotland’s three year business and action plan, which sets out a clear and robust approach to guide and lead the industry
·         Three New Regional Golf Development Groups have been established to increase collaboration and improve the marketing of regional golf destinations
·         Three Scottish Golf (SGU & SLGA) Club Development Officers have been appointed to support clubs and help them to strengthen their offering – thus benefiting their business
·         Eighty Scottish golf clubs are now part of SGU & SLGA Business Planning Process
·         Ninety one club representatives attended Management Development Programme (MDP)
·         Twelve clubs have already benefited from SGU and Scottish Enterprise support with Tee Time Booking and over 130 clubs are now using Tee Time Booking
·         Five Regional Golf Tourism Seminars took place in November and December 2013, attracting over 200 businesses
·         Thirty clubs have already benefited from the support of Scottish Enterprise’s On The Tee Visitor Experience Programme – support that will continue until at least 2015
·         A Destination Golf Marketing Activity Plan is in place which has already resulted in the following:
·         VisitScotland 2013/14 consumer golf campaign, which targets key markets in North America, Sweden, Germany and UK & Ireland, has generated more than 40,000 responses in its first two months
·         The development of dedicated golf creative content, which supports wider VisitScotland “Brilliant Moments” and “Meet the Scots” creative in key golf markets
·         Improvements to VisitScotland.com/golf and RyderCup2014.com have led to a significant increase in website traffic – with 500,000 visits in 2013
·         The Golf Tourism Development Group has already attended two industry events to promote Scotland as the Home of Golf - IGTM November 2013 and PGA Merchandise Show 2014. At the PGA show they also hosted a Scotland Golf networking golf day supported by industry partners and SDI, which targeted Golf Tour Operators, PGA Professionals and the golfing media

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