The UK golf travel industry is witnessing a sea change that is good news for golfers. Seven established golf travel specialists with a shared desire to offer quality holidays at the best possible price, have formed a Golf Tour Operators Consortium (GTOC). They act as a single negotiating body to secure more favourable contracted rates from overseas golf courses and hotels which are then reflected in their holiday prices.
The seven members are Driveline Golf, Exclusive Golf, Golf Escapes, A Golfing Experience, Golf Amigos, Leisure Link and Premier Iberian.
According to GTOC’s Paul Cowgill, “Even as competitors, we have seen the value in utilising significant buying power to secure deals from hotels and golf courses allowing us to offer extraordinary value for our customers but still retain our high service levels and independence.”
All are adamant they will not sell cheap golf holidays – believing cheap invariably goes hand in hand with substandard. But they are equally adamant there is a big difference between a cheap holiday and a bargain holiday.
By securing better contracts based on their combined buying power of over €10 million, GTOC members have already obtained advantageous hotel and green fee rates from numerous venues in France, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain. They can now reflect these savings in their holiday prices. Not to be confused with cheap golf holidays, their aim is to provide genuine bargains – quality golf holidays that would, in the past, have cost significantly more.
GTOC also provides marketing and advertising opportunities for companies and brands wishing to reach a highly segmented target audience of over 100,000 active golfers.
Golf Tour Operators Consortium www.gtoc.co.uk