Leading sports research agency Sports Marketing Surveys has announced plans to run a new survey targeted at the golf tourism industry.
Along with the rest of the travel industry, golf tourism has been hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus in 2020. Customers have been forced to abandon or postpone trips – citing cancelled flights, lockdown regulations, or fear of quarantine. However, with prospects for 2021 looking better and safer as vaccine work proceeds, many consumers will now be starting to plan for long-awaited breaks in 2021.
To help the industry prepare to take advantage of what will hopefully be a resulting surge in bookings, SMS is launching a new insights programme. The survey will operate among core golfers in at least five countries: UK, France, Germany, Sweden and USA. There is also potential to expand the research into Asian markets, a new area of focus since the appointment of Eric Lynge as SMS’s special advisor for the region.
In each market, a minimum of 1,000 core golfers will be targeted. These are golfers who play at least once 12 times a year, and are consequently a cross-section of those most likely to consider taking a golf break at home or abroad.
Fieldwork will run in early December 2020, in order to make reports available in January, in time for stakeholders to incorporate them in their marketing plans for spring and summer 2021.
These reports will seek to understand the new landscape for golf travel and tourism. What do golfers plan for 2021? What impact will Covid-19 and travel disruption have on decisions such as how to travel, where to travel, and how long to stay? How are golfers researching and booking golf trips? What factors will ultimately shape booking decisions for golfers across the world?
Where appropriate, the findings of each report will be split by gender, age, and playing ability within each market.
Consequently, the results of the survey will be of interest to tourist boards, federations, and commercial operations like hotels and golf resorts. Several clients have already committed to working with SMS on the research.
SMS is an experienced provider of sports tourism research. Previous operations include pioneering monitors of the economic impact of golf tourism in Wales and Northern Ireland, the latter of which has supported the successful strategy to grow golf tourism to £50m by 2020.
Interested parties can purchase the results from £3,000 for a single market, with discounts available for those purchasing multiple reports. There is also the potential for clients to add bespoke questions to the survey at additional cost.
To learn more about the golf tourism research programme, please contact Richard Payne at Richard.payne@sportsmarketingsurveys.com