A Strategic Review of Golf Tourism in Northern Ireland 2015 - 2020

5
Executive Summary
Northern Ireland is experiencing unprecedented
success and status as a golf destination, with two of
the top golf courses in the world, Royal County Down
and Royal Portrush, the triumph of Northern Ireland
champions - Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Rory
McIlroy - and the highly successful hosting in 2012 of the
Irish Open at Royal Portrush. This success will be capped
in the next few years by decisions for the Irish Open to be
hosted by Royal County Down in 2015 and Lough Erne
Resort in 2017 and Royal Portrush being once again on
the roster for The Open Championship from 2019.
This phenomenal success underpins Northern
Ireland’s energised reputation as a country that
delivers great golfers, great courses and great events.
But while globally golf tourism is estimated as a
$32 billion per annum market, its value to Northern
Ireland is estimated at only £33 million in 2014, leaving
Northern Ireland trailing neighbouring destinations.
The importance of golf tourism lies in attracting
high-spending visitors and dispersing their spend
throughout the visitor economy. Research suggests
that for every £1 spent on green fees, a further £4
is spent elsewhere in the economy. Golf tourism
also contributes to the visibility and appeal of a
destination for events.
This golf tourism strategy is designed to provide a
cohesive and coherent rationale and call to action; to
promote the destination and capitalise on Northern
Ireland’s visibility and success in golf; and to generate
more real economic value. Plans are in place to grow
Northern Ireland’s overall tourism to £1 billion per
annum by 2020. The golf tourism strategy is designed
to support this aim by orchestrating the components
that make Northern Ireland attractive to golf visitors;
building on Northern Ireland’s reputation and
visibility; and addressing areas of weakness and, of
course, potential.
Vision and Objectives
The vision for golf tourism is:
To grow the value of golf tourism from the current
estimate of £33m p.a. to £50m p.a. by 2020 and, in
doing so, to remind golfers worldwide that “Northern
Ireland is where golf champions are born and play”.
The objectives of the strategy are:
1. Develop stronger clubs to participate in a dynamic
quality assurance scheme (helping them focus on
excellent service for visiting golfers).
2. Clustering and collaboration – to encourage and
support local golf clusters to promote collaborative
marketing and learn from each other.
3. Stimulate demand through a focused marketing
campaign aimed at targeted golfers and
geographic segments.
4. Optimise golfing events - maximise opportunities
from golf events up to 2020 and position Northern
Ireland as able to accommodate major golf tour
events post-2020.
5. Leadership, advocacy and champions - stimulate
industry leadership to encourage engagement
and commitment to the shared vision.
The Market Context
This is explored in detail in the main report but the
substantive issues lie in the continued growth in
competitor destinations, investment (worldwide) in new
courses, and golfers’ interest in deciding where to play
golf based on price, quality of courses and accessibility.
The strategy has been developed over the autumn/
winter of 2014, with extensive stakeholder engagement
and consultations, detailed in the main report.