It starts the same way every year. A club manager or greens committee chair stops by the pro shop and says some version of the same four words: "The Member-Member is coming." The PGA Professional smiles. Of course.…
When Landmand Golf Club put the tee times for 2023, its inaugural full season, it sold out for the year on April 10, just over a month before it opened that year. The following year, though, was rather…
Automated personalization is projected to be one of the most significant e-commerce trends in 2023. It is gaining momentum because it can save time for businesses like golf clubs while still providing customers with an individualized experience. With…
The tour operator sector is probably the most behind technologically. A recent survey by Arival of more than 3,500 businesses found that more than half of day tour operators are still not using an online booking system. This is not efficient for…
Recently, I bought Jonathan Cummings' book, The Rating Game. It made me wonder how the author sees the role and importance of various leading golf magazines' - Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and Golfweek -golf club lists. To what…
Consumer behavior has changed radically in response to the COVID-19 lockdown. They became more price-sensitive/conscious than ever before. As a result, direct bookings are clawing their way back up hotels' distribution mix. Golf clubs must rethink how and…
The current pandemic forced many golf clubs that they should start taking their golf operations’ (including tee time booking) digitalization seriously. If you have read John P. Kotter’s book Leading Change, you might say the COVID-19 pandemic could/is…
One would think that 2020 was a terrible year for almost all golf clubs. As I look at US statistics, then I see a boom in play that started in the summer continued through the end of the…
It is really surprising to find golf clubs in 2021 that are using the classic and outdated tee time booking method: telephone + paper + pen/pencil. In many cases I get answers to my question - why do…
We have long witnessed a battle in the hotel industry between hotels and OTAs. Some experts believe the Covid-19 crisis will lead to the victory of direct booking or at least a bigger share. I don't say we…
Golf club managers have already been thinking and trying a lot about how to sell more tee time and increase the revenue from it. Just think, for instance, of dynamic pricing or even yield management. Some of them…
The coronavirus crisis taught golf clubs to adopt various technology solutions to provide a proper response in the current business environment. We can experience that these solutions (e.g. WhatsApp for internal & membership communication or even to give golf lessons…
Almost a year ago, I composed the list of TOP10 online tee time booking solutions for Portugal and Spain. The article received many comments and feedback. Among the comments, I found a very legitimate one, namely, where are…
First of all, everybody is online today, even the local agencies are online and the tee time market in Europe and in many other parts of the world is bubbling. Golf Clubs experience tremendous growth in their own…
Golf tourism in the Algarve generated 500 million euros in 2017, creating 16,800 jobs (source: Algarve Tourism Association). This is why I thought it would be beneficial to determine the top 10 tee time booking solutions for Spain & Portugal. How many times have you realized…
One of my new year resolutions was to play more frequently golf (at least once a week) in 2018. I started to plan and prioritize my future activities to be able to achieve this goal. When I know…
For offline media planners dynamic bidding for GRP (Gross Rating Point: is a term used in advertising to measure the size of an audience reached by a specific media or schedule) is not a new thing. In the last 4 years in the…
Silversea's new tie-up with PerryGolf isn't just another shore-excursion add-on. It's a signal that ultra-luxury cruise lines are chasing a narrower, higher-margin traveler, one who wants a tee time at Royal Liverpool as badly as a balcony suite,…
AI has moved from a marketing buzzword to an operational layer across three distinct categories of golf technology, and it is worth separating them clearly because they solve different problems for course operators. All-in-One Platforms with Embedded AI…
The integrated resort's new Stay & Play packages solve a real booking problem, but the golf and the beds aren't new, and neither is the competition circling Phuket's fairways. Golf travel has always had an awkward middle step.…