How Thinking Outside the Box Brought New Business to a Golf Resort in Florida
Florida has many great golf resorts. When you want to go golfing in Florida on vacation, chances are that you are going to end up staying at one of the popular golf resorts in the area such as TPC Sawgrass, Champions Gate, Sandestin or PGA National Resort and Spa. All 4 of these places are amazing, and honestly, I really can’t say anything bad about TPC Sawgrass.Who really say anything bad about them anyway?
The problem with these 4 resorts is that they are catering to the same individual all of the time, high class golfers making $150,000 plus a year. They don’t allow the real people such as you and I the time of day to come and play at their course, or stay at their resort. Can I blame them… no I really can not? People are paying the money to play and stay there and they are taking advantage of it just like any good business would do.
Now things have changed in the golf resort world, especially in Florida. When the economy started to slow down, the amount of golf being played, and the amount of people staying at Florida golf resorts also started to slow down as well. The 4 popular golf resorts I mentioned above probably haven’t changed their ways yet, but I can guarantee you that they haven’t changes their ways and are probably losing large amounts of money because they haven’t adjusted to this new economy.
In reality, what did this economy do to the golf world? How has it changed the golf world? Will it ever get better? To tell you the truth, I don’t have a truthful answer I can give you because a lot of golf resorts and golf clubs are not being honest with themselves or other professionals in our industry. The economy has started to slow down play in all areas of the country. The economy has made golfers start to play at cheaper courses, or look for special offers that are occurring at particular resorts. No longer can resorts rely on “regular” customers because a lot of those regulars have ditched their home course in search of the best deal.
What can they do about this growing problem? It is very simple; in fact it is really a no brainer. They need to come up with an astonishing promotion that drives traffic to their resort. Need an example? I thought you might want one.
Juliette Falls is a new golf resorts in Florida in Dunnellon. It is only about an hour away from both Tampa and Orlando and is roughly 15 minutes way from Ocala. It’s a very secluded place. Juliette Falls has a beautiful course and the nice golf homes are jaw dropping. So what does a Florida gated golf community do when the economy slows and homes stop selling? They came up with a strategic marketing plan that involved a promotion to make up for their lost income. Juliette Falls decided to start selling special packages that allow you to stay in a beautiful million dollar golf home and play a round of golf and enjoy all of the resorts facilities for $199 a night. What golfer in their right mind would refuse an offer to stay in a luxury golf home and play a round of golf for that price, I know I couldn’t. What this does is create a new stream of money using assets that they already have access to. If they sell only 2 stays for every night of that year, that’s $145,000 a year in pure profits! It also could supply a steady stream of potential home buyers! Why aren’t the other golf resorts thinking this way?
Golf Resorts need to start trying to think outside of the box. In this awful economy it may be one of the only ways to keep a positive flow of income if you not a “famous” golf resort!
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Very good points made here. I agree totally on where the go...