Skyscanner‘s multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Solheim Cup is just one of many sponsorship agreements. However, examining it closely can help us better understand Skyscanner‘s interests and motivations.
It’s worth noting that Skyscanner has recently signed its first-ever multi-year global sports sponsorship deal, which is quite an exciting development.
Women’s Sports Media supported the agreement with Skyscanner, a specialist sports marketing agency based in the UK focussing exclusively on Women’s sports media platforms.
Skyscanner‘s sponsorship agreement with the Solheim Cup has made it the official travel technology partner for the 2024 edition at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Sept. 10-15) and the 2026 European match at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.
IMG was appointed as the management partner of the European Solheim Cup for an initial commitment through to the end of 2038.
In partnership with Visit Scotland, IMG delivered a successful European Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in 2019.
Now, let me show you the exciting insights to help you understand Skyscanner‘s marketing team’s decisions.
Skyscanner in the billion-dollar business
Deloitte predicts that in 2024, revenue generated by women’s elite sports will surpass US$1 billion for the first time, with US$1.28 billion in total forecast revenues.
UNWTO found that sports tourism generates around 10% of the world’s tourism expenditures and has an estimated growth rate of 17.5% between 2023 and 2030.
Embarking on a journey that includes sports activities is becoming increasingly popular among tourists, whether it’s the main focus of the trip or simply an exciting addition to their adventure.
Just think of the popularity of The Body Camp in Ibiza.
Skyscanner’s analysis of travel booking habits shows that women are responsible for booking vacations in nearly two-thirds of households in markets such as Canada (55%), France (56%), Germany (60%), Spain (53%), Singapore (53%), USA (58%) and UK (59%).*
Let’s not forget that women control over $30 trillion in consumer spending worldwide, and that number is expected to bump to $40 trillion by 2030 alone. Source: Wise.com.
As we near the conclusion of this article, it’s worth noting that the LPGA doubled the number of brands it had as active sponsors between 2019 and 2023. In June 2023, the total number of sponsors surpassed 1,000 for the first time in the organization’s history.
Grant Slack, Executive Vice President and Managing Director Golf Events, IMG, added
“This is an important partnership for women’s golf and the Solheim Cup. Our goal when we went to market was to attract significant global consumer brands and for Skyscanner to make their first major sponsorship in the women’s game, is testament to the growing appeal of the Solheim Cup, which is one of the most exciting sporting contests of the year.
With a substantial international fanbase, Skyscanner is the ideal partner to support and enhance the travel experience for the teams, fans and officials, and we are extremely excited to have them as the latest addition to the Solheim Cup family of partners.“
These are just a few facts about how we need to think differently about women‘s golf, female golfers, and, of course, women’s golf tournaments. We also need to refine our attitudes and approaches to grow women‘s golf participation.
*Based on analysis of GWI consumer survey panel data Q3 2023 wave.