Developing Golf Tourism

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Developing Golf Tourism

• Claire Sanders
• Senior Product Marketing Executive
• Visit Wales

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Background pre Ryder Cup bid

• 2000 Wales Ryder Cup bid begins until then
• Very little detail on size of golf tourism market
  to Wales
• Estimated 30,000 golf visitors per year
• Very low awareness of Wales as golf destination
• Wales not seen to have a competitive advantage
• Good raw product but not geared to visitors
• Low priority for WTB priority given to other
  activities
• No dedicated golf team
• Annual budget circa 25k

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Background post Ryder Cup bid

• Ryder Cup bid awarded 2001
• Ten year golf tourism strategy launched by WTB
  end 2002
• Ryder Cup Wales 2010 established 2003
• Golf tourism strategy fully integrated
  marketing promotion, development training
• Target markets identified
• UK
• 
  Ireland and USA
• 
  Northern Europe

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Positioning Wales

• Positioning for Wales as a golf destination
  challenger, set us apart from UK competitors.
• What is unique about golf in Wales?
• Unhurried, unstuffy golf experience
• Warm, Welsh welcome
• Easy access to tee-times
• Value for money
• Courses set within outstanding natural landscapes
• Golf as it should be

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Wales golf as it should be
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Marketing Wales as a golf destination

• Consumer activity
• - TV ads
• - Ads in specialist golf magazines
• - Banner ads on golf travel web-site
• - Presence at UK, European, USA
  tournaments and
• consumer show
• - Direct marketing programme of
  activity
• - Golf Wales guide every two years

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Media Relations Programme

• Dedicated VW golf Media Relations Executive
• UK through PR agency BGB
• USA through golf PR consultant Maebeth Fenton
• Europe through VW appointed media agencies and
  VB
• Member of RCW 2010 PR Users Group
• 2007
• - PR value of UK press coverage -
  2,600,000
• - PR value of USA/Canada press coverage -
  5,550,000
• - PR value worldwide - 6,000,000
• - 66 media visits
• 2008
• - PR value to be evaluated
• - 57 media visits (20 from USA)

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Media Relations Programme
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Media Relations Programme
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Marketing Activity Trade/B2B

• Golf tour operator support (in and out of Wales
  based)
• Member of International Association of Golf Tour
  Operators
• Establishment of US Golf Tour Operators Advisory
  Board
• Expanding Wales programmes through NAGTOA
• Attendance at International Golf Travel Market
• Development of/support for in-Wales golf clusters
• - 2005/2006 five clusters funded
• VW funding - 44,000
• Cumulative cluster revenue - 280,000
• - Currently no VW cluster funding available
• Approx. 10 separate clusters exist

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Development Training

• Delivered by Claire Carew, Senior Golf
  Development Executive
• Maternity leave cover Rhys Jones
• Market research and Golf Tourism Monitor
• Attracting developers
• Capital investment schemes
• - On-site accommodation to create more resort
  style facilities
• - Improve clubhouse facilities dining, bar,
  reception
• changing rooms, pro-shop

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Training Opportunities

• Driving Change Programme
• - Golf specific training programme aimed at
  helping clubs
• maximise the benefits of golf
  tourism and generate
• revenue from effective
  marketing.
• - Over 70 clubs participated to date
• Customer Service Programme 2009
• - Launch 12th March,
  Aberdovey Golf Club
• North Wales course 30th April

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Business development support

• Golf toolkit
• IT development
• On-line booking systems
• National caddy programme for Wales
• - 100 caddies signed up
• - 20 from North/Mid Wales more required
• - Training courses Royal St Davids, Celtic
  Manor Resort
• Food initiative in conjunction with FMDD
• - Designed to encourage golfers to stay and eat
  at club
• - Golf section within food guide
• - Roadshows planned for 2010

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2007/2008 VW Golf Marketing Objectives

• Continue to raise the profile of Wales as a golf
  destination
• Continue to grow the golf database
• Promote advocacy among existing database
• Drive visits to Wales
• Utilise European Tour for brand awareness and
  datacapture

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Advertising But happy
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Advertising Welsh Rules
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Growing the database tournament exhibition
programme

• Tournament and exhibition programme allows us to
  build the VW golf database by approximately
  10,000 contacts annually
• 2008 Attendance at 14 tournaments/consumer
  exhibitions
• Targeted creatives to different audiences
  European and US flyer
• Acquisition activity successful with combined
  response rate of 84.45
• Allowed us to build database by 10,163 contacts
  in 2008
• Total database now 65,000

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Tournament flyer creatives
USA
Europe
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Promote advocacy among existing database contacts

• Seasonal Email campaign
• Our most successful tool for promoting advocacy
• eCRM programme of 4 seasonal emails
• First 3 emails delivered consistently high open
  and click through rates, indicating a core group
  of loyal email contacts
• Average click through 58 (industry average 4.6)
• Final email focused around member get member
  encouraging people to recommend a friend to be
  entitled to deals at Wales showcase courses
  such as Celtic Manor Resort
• Entrants had to play 3 golf courses in Wales
  (final winner had to send in score cards)
• Enabled us to measure number of visits made and
  revenue generated.

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Seasonal email campaign creatives
Email 1 and splash-page animation Open response
26.4 Click/open 60.5
Email 2 and splash-page animation Open response
29.6 Click/open 66.8
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Seasonal email campaign creatives
Email 3 and splash-page animation Open response
25.7 Click /open 66.0
Email 4 and splash-page animation Open response
24.4 Click/open 40.2
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Drive golfing visits to Wales

• DM activity
• Identified two types golfing visitor that we
  wanted to attract to Wales and this led to two DM
  creative routes.
• Golf trippers. DM pack targeted dedicated and
  frequent golfers who take golf only holidays.
  Mailed in Autumn 08.
• Holiday golfers. Aims to encourage more
  occasional golfers to play one or two games while
  they are on their main holiday. To be mailed
  March 09

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Golf Trippers DM pack
Live date September 2008 Response rate 11.65
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Golf Trippers DM pack
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Holiday Golfers DM pack
Live date March 2009 Print run 20,000
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Holiday Golfers DM pack
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Utilise European Tour - europeantour.com

• As part of the European Tour rights fee benefits
  package, utilise europeantour.com for brand
  awareness data collection
• Display advertising banners and MPUs
• Interaction competitions
• Direct Mail database emails
• Destinations section Wales features
• Consistently good results that exceeded targets
  set

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europeantour.com display advertising
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europeantour.com display advertising
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europeantour.com - online response campaigns
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europeantour.com database emails
Competition email 1 Deployed 30.05.08 Open Rate
26.3 Click Through Rate 12.9
Database email 1 Deployed 16.07.08 Open Rate
16.0 Click Through Rate 6.8
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europeantour.com database emails
Competition email 1 Open rate 26.3 Click
through 12.9
Database email 1 Open rate 16. Click through
6.8
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USA CAMPAIGN 2008

• Working with Visit Britain to leverage budgets
  combining leisure and golf budgets
• Exploiting cross-over between golf enthusiasts
  and regular independent explorers
• Audience 8.8 US outbound leisure travellers
  take either specific golf holidays or regularly
  golf while on holiday audience of 4.2 million
  people.
• Key proposition Wales is the Real Alternative
  to more conventional destinations

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USA CAMPAIGN 2008

• An online campaign launched around 2008 Ryder
  Cup
• www.beabritdifferent.com
• Ian Woosnam as face of Wales
• An epic journey www.acartacrossWales.com
• In addition 3 key media partners
• - The Golf Channel on air and online
• - Golf Digest ads, online, dm
• - American Express Publishing ads, online, dm
• Travel Leisure
• Travel Leisure Golf
• Executive Traveller

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www.acartacrossWales.com
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Measuring Growth Golf Database

• 2001
• No dedicated golf database
• 2008
• Golf database 65,018
• Email addresses 28,000
• Annual increase of approx. 10,000 contacts
  through tournament programme alone.

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Measuring Growth Golf Tourism Monitor

• 2000
• No accurate figures - golf visitors estimated at
  30,000
• Golf Tourism Monitor
• Accurately measured annual programme
• End of year 2007 results showed
• Golf visitors to Wales 164,600
• Increase of 13.4 on 2006
• Total expenditure - 26,100,000
• Increase of 7.4 on 2006
• End of year 2008 results to be received 24th
  March 2009

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2009 Marketing Activity

• Budget reduction
• Working with Visit Britain to include golf/Ryder
  Cup within their work programmes
• Focus on developing communications with/support
  for tour operators in key target markets
• Targeting lifestyle/leisure media with a golf
  inclusive message
• Wales Ryder Cup 2010 branding

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Restructure Marketing Department

• Marketing Networks
• Media Marketing Promotions
• Product Marketing
• Campaigns
• Off-line campaigns
• On-line campaigns
• Champion Roles
• Product/themes/segments
• Geographical markets

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Marketing Department
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Campaigns
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Networks
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Thank you for listening