We sometimes tend to pigeonhole our establishments into the star segments they were originally conceived for: sun and beach, city hotels, etc. Specialisation is the right approach; differentiation is what positions us with customers and against competitors. Unfortunately, though, a single type of customer rarely guarantees us business all year round. So we have two options: one is to accept that there are certain seasons when, year after year, we will have to survive with few customers or close (in financial terms, living off high-season profits). The other is to carve out a place in one or more other segments that allow us to keep up a certain level of activity.

One of the segments that can bring us business, and to which we can bring something, is golf. And here we can distinguish between golf destinations and destinations with golf.

Golf destinations

These are destinations with a high concentration of courses and complementary offering (accommodation, shops, bars and restaurants) focused on this segment. Spain has many: the Costa del Sol, the Costa Brava or the Canary Islands, among others.

The mistake is to think that golfers only stay at resorts or hotels right next to a golf course, sleeping beside the fairways and hardly going out during their stay. That kind of customer exists, but there is also another kind who prefers to stay in central areas that let them enjoy the city’s leisure offering, or in areas with good access for getting to the different courses they plan to play.

So those hotels and apartments on the seafront, in city centres or near leisure areas are very attractive propositions.

I have heard colleagues say: yes, we get some golfers, because we see them arrive with their clubs. They usually book through an OTA. That customer wanted a hotel in the golf destination, but not a golf hotel, and found you through a search. How many more would come if your property were in the portfolio of specialist agencies?

Destinations with golf

A golfer’s life is not all golf. Sometimes the reason for the trip is something else (culture, food, visiting family…) but the destination may well have golf courses. Think of cities like Seville, Bilbao or A Coruña, among many others, with great courses on their doorstep. Sadly, we rarely see offers that use these excellent courses as a draw.

We may not be in a golf destination, but we are in a destination with golf: let’s offer customers looking for golf a good plan so they can enjoy the area and play golf. Bearing in mind that many of these courses are members’ clubs with limited visitor tee times, the exclusivity factor will undoubtedly make the package more attractive.

What can golf bring to your hotel?

It doesn’t matter whether we are in a golf destination or a destination with golf. Working with this sector will help us diversify and improve our property’s profitability, give it greater visibility (in other segments) and even reach potential customers for our main segment (a golf customer in October may be a holiday customer in summer).

What’s more, hotels play a very important role in golf destinations, so much so that sometimes it is very hard to market a golf course because there is no accommodation nearby or, worse still, there is, but it has never noticed this segment. Sometimes, simply through not knowing the potential or how the sector works, we are so focused on our core operation that we don’t exploit other avenues.

Knowing this, perhaps you can look at your hotel or apartments differently and see whether they have potential for the golf segment. What might at first seem a weakness of the property or destination can, from the right perspective, become an opportunity to sell in the golf segment.

In short, it is about diversifying to optimise our room inventory and offset high fixed costs. We all know the saying an unsold room is a lost room. Do you know how many you have failed to sell this year? Work it out here and let’s work together so that next year it is as few as possible.

Compartir