Golf Vacation Insider, the leading independent source for golf travel references on the Internet, recently conducted an online survey among its 350,000 active subscribers to gain more information about how travel decisions are made and what factors are important when deciding where to go.
The following survey results offer information on the decision-making process of these 350,000 golf travelers:
The number one factor when deciding where to go is value (defined as the intersection between price and quality), with 58% of respondents considering it the most important aspect.
22% choose to play on high-quality TOP courses.
Only 5% consider weather or ease of access as the main reason for choosing a destination.
“These results confirm what we suspected: our travelers look beyond the ‘price’ factor and carefully consider what they get for the amount paid”.
The survey also helped define the profile of golf travel buyers, revealing a market with high purchasing power:
65% have a family income between $100,000 and $500,000+.
81% enjoy two or more golf trips per year.
82% spend between $500 and $5,000+ per person on each golf trip.
The estimated collective purchasing power is 6 billion dollars.
The survey, conducted through SurveyGizmo and completed by 2,697 Golf Vacation Insider subscribers, did not offer incentives to encourage participation, thus ensuring a statistical confidence level of over 95% with a margin of error of less than 5%.
After the vortex of offers in recent years, where “anything goes” has been the norm for some intermediaries and operators in the search for the lowest price, the question arises: Is the era of the “Golf Deal” coming to an end?
The sector seems to be evolving towards a focus on value and quality, beyond simple price reduction. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity for operators and destinations seeking to attract these demanding and high-purchasing-power travelers.
