#1 – Friendship
After many years of growth, the golf industry clearly has challenges to adopt to the fast changing world. The members of the EGCOA have a big stake and therefore responsibility in the future of the European golf industry. The EGCOA’s national owners associations took the initiative for VISION 2020 to find inspiration for a more sustainable future for the golf industry. Owners, managers, European Golf organisations, & industry suppliers have all been involved.
Friendship is the first in a series of 5 sneak peeks of the EGCOA’s VISION 2020 project. The project outcomes have been categorised in 5 key areas of focus that will be presented at the 2014 European Golf Business Conference 4-6 November, Barcelona Spain.
In the increasingly complex society of 2020, golfers want to combine many activities. Playing golf is not primarily about sport, it is about spending quality time with people with whom you share more than a passion for the same sport.In an era where time is money and where loyalty is on the decline, time spent on leisure activities should yield multiple benefits. Feeling part of a tribe or community will be a strong motivator to be committed and to be loyal. In the end people are not loyal to an activity or venue: people are loyal to people. The golf world has seen a lot of change in the first one and a half decades of the 21st century and will continue to do so towards 2020. The number of golfers has shown an impressive growth rate that started to slow down from 2010 and onwards.
The average age has gone up to over 50, the baby boomers have taken over. The number of junior players and players between 18-35 are showing the biggest decline, which causes concerns about the future.
The type of commitment of the golfer is changing too: the number of memberships is on the decline, posing a threat to the fundamental business model of most golf courses that depend on membership and loyalty. With these industry and global trends highlighted, are friendship, social engagement and community golfs biggest challenge and opportunity?
From the 4-6 November at Real Club de Golf El Prat, a leading line up of industry speakers will answer this question, providing global insights into the underpinning trends, best practices and success stories.
Topics to be explored during the conference session on the key topic of Friendship:
- The Power of the Tribe
How can golf tap into the basic human need of tribal belonging? - The Challenge of the Tribe
Why is social engagement such a major hurdle for new golfers in a club environment?
