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A combination of existing golf courses and new developments is powering Barbados' drive to grow as a golf tourism destination
Golf is one of the most popular participatory sports in the world. According to the Golf Research Group, the world's 57 million golfers have 30,730 golf courses in 119 countries from which to choose when thinking about that next round of golf.
The sport is so popular that it has spawned its own sector of the tourism industry, a lucrative niche market that Barbados believes it must take advantage of far more fully. Property development, and the benefits it brings in terms of employment and long-term national revenues, is an integral part of modern golf course developments. The well-heeled golf enthusiast likes to have a home-from-home, whether through purchase, time share or rental, at his or her favourite golf course. However, it is important to golfers that there are other courses on which they can play whilst in the country, and Barbados' ability to increase its share of the golf tourism market will very much depend on increasing the number of courses it has to offer.
Fortunately, existing and new golf course owners and developers are busy making sure that Barbados has those courses and the associated housing and facilities in place.
Greg Schofield, resort director at Royal Westmoreland, a 24-hectare (60-acre), 18-hole golf course in St James, says: "Most golf tourists that come to play golf want four or five venues. Barbados is moving steadily towards that level after which it will be a question of effective marketing."
At the moment, most tourists come to Barbados for sun, sea and sand. "Some of them play golf when they are here, but they are not golf tourists as such. Most of the people who come specifically to play golf are experienced Barbados' visitors who have been coming here for many years and who generally own property on the island."
He says that Royal Westmoreland itself is dedicated to the "golfing experience, which means you don't cram people in seven days a week". The course became a members-only facility in November 2004. Many keen golfers take their families with them when they travel and, for this reason, membership at Royal Westmoreland means membership for the whole family. Family members can take advantage of all the course's facilities, including the clubhouse bar and restaurant, of course, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, a fully equipped gymnasium, two tennis courts and a driving range.
Mr Schofield says that one advantage Barbados has as a golfing destination is the fact that the weather is good all year round. "Barbados is becoming more and more popular as a summer destination, which has traditionally been the quiet period of the year for the island's tourism industry, because the weather and quality of life are much better than they are, for example, in the South of France."
Work and Opportunity
Claire Jordan, chief executive officer at the Barbados Golf Club, the island's oldest and only publicly owned golf course, is optimistic about Barbados' future as a golfing destination, but believes there is a lot of work still to be done and many opportunities to be exploited.
"We haven't even scratched the surface as far as golf tourism is concerned. At the moment visitors come to the island for sun, sea and sand. The golf enthusiasts among them will play golf here when they discover the excellent golf courses we have, but Barbados has not even begun to break through into the real golf travel market, where people travel specifically to play golf. There are huge opportunities there."
She says the drive to promote Barbados for golf is currently being led by "the private sector, the clubs themselves; but to get the job done we will need support from the wider tourism industry".
The Barbados Golf Club, in co-operation with other courses on the island and with the Barbados Tourism Authority, the country's tourism development body, are actively promoting Barbados as a golf destination under the "Golf Barbados" umbrella.
Building golf tourism as a niche within the general tourism sector requires a great deal of work and co-operation, Ms Jordan says. "Many things need to be in place, especially sufficient airlift from the major golf tourism markets and tour operators selling Barbados as a golfing destination.
Building Critical Mass
"We don't yet have critical mass in terms of courses, but what we do have are first class golf courses designed by top designers - and there are more coming on stream."
Critical mass is something that Barbados is expected to reach within the near future. Sandy Lane, the world-famous resort on the island's West Coast, has opened its new Green Monkey course, which joins the resort's existing 18-hole Country Club Golf Course and its original nine-hole Old Nine course.
Michael Davern, general manager at Sandy Lane Property & Golf, was involved in the development of golf tourism in both Ireland and South Africa and cites both as examples of tourism destinations that have taken advantage of the sport's popularity to build their own golf tourism sectors.
Golf has long been a popular sport in Ireland, but it was only in the 1990's, with the construction of the country's first American-style golf resort, the Kildare Town and Country Club, with which Mr Davern was involved, that golf tourism became possible. Growth since then has soared, with 500,000 golf tourists now visiting Ireland every year.
]"Golf tourism in Ireland took off in 1993-94. For the first time Ireland was able to target affluent Americans who had previously travelled to Ireland on business, but who would move on to Scotland or England to play golf when their business was done."
In South Africa, tourism only became possible after the end of apartheid. The country tackled its mainstream tourism industry first and then looked at the development of golf tourism. "We established a resort with 600 homes on the estate. Golf tourism in South Africa is now huge."
Sandy Lane's Country Club Golf Course, as well as being open to guests at Sandy Lane and to members, is also a public pay-for-play course. "This is important because it is a top quality, 18-hole resort golf club available to members of the public on the island. Therefore it is a tremendous asset not only to us but to other hotels and villas in the tourism business. It helps others to go after the golf market.
"People will spend a lot of money to stay in the right hotel for one night so they can play on the golf course of their dreams. They know it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience so they come to a destination for seven nights, for instance, stay for six nights at a hotel, but spend one night at a venue like Sandy Lane so they can play at the Green Monkey. The power of golf to drive the general tourism product is often underestimated," Mr Davern says.
The Hills Are Alive...With The sound Of Golfers
That golf tourism has a bright future in Barbados is witnessed by two major developments, one at Apes Hill in St James and a second at Sugar Hill in St Joseph, both at much higher elevations than is traditional for golf courses in Barbados. Both developers believe that golf can act as a driver for the tourism industry more generally.
David Staples is the president of Fairway Developments, the development arm of the Williams Group, Barbados' largest construction and development company, which is responsible for the Apes Hill project.
Apes Hill is unusual in that it will provide facilities for golf and polo. The first phase of the two-phase development is well underway. It includes a polo field, which is already complete and in use, and 70 single-family and multi-family townhouses, construction of which was due to begin before the end of 2004.
The second phase will include a golf course, another 200 properties and probably another polo field. Phase two was expected to get underway in early 2005.
Mr Staples says: "Golf will act as a driver for tourism. We think the difficulty with golf in Barbados at the moment is that there is not enough choice. So we encourage the other golf courses because it's good for everybody, especially as golfers spend relatively high sums and it is a sector we are missing."
There is real promise for golf tourism in Barbados, he says. "The potential is huge for corporate and incentive groups, for instance. Then there is the family market, where often only one member of the family wants to play golf. The other partner and the children need something to do while the golfer is playing."
He says that as far as property sales are concerned, as well as looking at the traditional second-home market the company will also be looking at another part of the market: golfers looking for a "family place".
"In North America, the traditional family home is not so common now, and what families are doing is creating places where they can get together at certain times; we see a trend developing where families own a property or a share in a property and year after year that's where they come to reconnect. We see that as a big market, families looking for somewhere to come together as a family."
Mr Stapes says initially the UK market is the primary market, but the wealth and proximity of the USA - and the prominence of golf as a tourism-driver there - are factors that cannot be ignored.
Given the troubled times in which we live, Barbados has one advantage of particular importance in the US market. "Americans are wary of foreign travel and Barbados is seen as one of the safest places in the world."
Another new development is soon to get underway at Sugar Hill, where David Lloyd Associates Barbados plans an 18-hole, designated-target golf course with 115 properties. The course will be unique in Barbados because it will be the island's only desert-style course, usually only found in places like Arizona.
Peter Curtis, the company's managing director, says: "We think Barbados can be a major golfing destination with a couple more courses onboard, one of which will be ours. With the developments that are going on, Barbados will become a viable destination."
The company expects 80% of golf visitors to come from the UK, the country's largest tourism market and one with good airlift, but believes that USA can grow into a very successful market when the additional courses are in operation. Is golf a driver for the general tourism product? "Absolutely. We are thoroughly convinced of that," Mr Curtis says.
Carving The Niche
The Barbados Golf Club's Claire Jordan also believes that golf tourism growth will initially come from existing tourism markets.
"Barbados has to carve out the niche from existing markets like the UK, where we already have airlift, there is market awareness and where there is heavy golf penetration. Canada is a good avenue for the Barbados Golf Club itself because Canadians are middle-income golfers - golf is a very democratic game in Canada - so it's a good source of business for us. We are trying to develop the USA through operators; we establish relationships with specialist or sports tour operators in target markets."
Awareness of Barbados as a golf destination needs to be raised amongst tour operators and consumers in the target markets and the country needs to continue to work with overseas sports marketing organizations.
Scandinavia is an example of the kind of market with great potential, but which Barbados cannot target until a later date.
As Sandy Lane's Michael Davern says, the Swedish alone spend US$400 million on outbound golf travel, and Ms Jordan points out: "Scandinavia is a tremendous opportunity for a course like Sandy Lane, but the airlift isn't there at the moment."
Travelling to Barbados from Stockholm, for instance, means flying via London, not an easy route. This is true for most of Scandinavia and so, Ms Jordan says, "Although there's a good golf tourism opportunity in terms of per capita penetration of the game in Scandinavia, one of the highest in the world, it is difficult for Barbados to go into that market actively until the island can offer complete packages that include travel and accommodation."
However, the fact remains that the sport offers great opportunities for every golf course - and the entire tourism industry - as the new courses come into play, and if the industry works together to win visitors for the country as a whole.
Ms. Jordan says: "It all comes down to the number of golf courses available for play. We must work with each other to create attractive golf packages."
Whatever section of the golf market the individual courses and developers seek to address, there is no doubt that, as far as golf tourism is concerned, they all believe there is everything to play for.
Reproduced from Business Barbados 2005 with the permission of Caribbean Business Publications
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