SURVEY TO FOREIGN GOLF PLAYERS

Transcription

1 SURVEY TO FOREIGN GOLF PLAYERS 2017

2 SURVEY TO FOREIGN GOLF PLAYERS INTRODUCTION Taking into account the relevancy of golf in the tourism promotion strategy of destinations, namely in the Lisbon Region, in 2004 the Observatório of Turismo de Lisboa has initiated a study about foreign golf players in the Lisbon Region, in order to draw their profile and gathering a deeper knowledge of this segment. Similarly to last years, the designed questionnaire was submitted by the company 2ii Informática e Informação, all throughout 2017, to a total of 618 foreign golf players within a representative sample of golf courses in the Lisbon Region. In this report we highlight the main conclusions drawn from the collected data. Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 1

3 MAIN RESULTS Survey to Foreign Golf Players PROFILE OF THE FOREIGN GOLF PLAYER IN LISBON REGION 19,3% of the interviewed golf players reside in the United Kingdom (23,1% in 2016). Following is Spain and Scandinavia, trading places from last year (8,7% and 10,4% respectively). France and Germany also switch the relative positions occupied in ,7% of the foreign golf players interviewed in the Lisbon Region were men (88,6% in 2016). Similarly to the previous years, the most relevant age group, both for men and women, was between 45 and 54 years old. In what concerns the academic level, 95,3% of the interviewed golf players holds at least a university degree (95,0% in 2016). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 2

4 The majority of golf players travels accompanied by friends, while 49,4% came with their companion; very close figures to the ones in 2016 (74,6% and 46,2%, respectively). ACCOMMODATION 52,4% of interviewed golf players chose an accommodation in Cascais and 22,3% in Sintra. In 2016, those percentages were 58,1% and 18,0%, respectively. The city of Lisbon almost doubled as an accommodation option comparing with 2016 (10,4%). As in 2016, the majority stayed for 8 nights in the Lisbon Region. Larger stays (7 nights or more) received the preference of 87,5% (88,8% in 2016) 88,2% in the case of Portugal; while short breaks, i.e. 6 nights or less were the option of 12,5% (11,2% in 2016) 11,8% in the case of Portugal. Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 3

5 MOTIVATION 47,1% of the interviewed players in this study came to the Lisbon Region with the sole purpose of playing golf (41,6% in 2016), while 52,8% took the opportunity of being in Lisbon for professional motives to play golf as well (58,4% in 2016) BOOKING 60,0% of the interviewed golf players did not book their accommodation taking into account the place where they would be playing golf (45,6% in 2016). Of those who did book, 98,0% made the reservation in their country of origin (97,9% in 2016). In what concerns the booking of the golf course, 76,5made the booking previously to their trip (66,3% in 2016) and in 6,0% of the cases the reservation was made already in Lisbon (12,2% in 2016). Of the ones who made the reservation still in their country of residence, 48,2% made it 5 to 12 weeks in advance. In 2016, 43,2% made this booking also 5 to 12 weeks in advance. 29,1% of the interviewed players used the services of a golf tour operator (21,2% in 2016). VISITED GOLF COURSES 31,1% of the interviewed players intends to visit only one golf course during their stay in the Lisbon Region (40,9% in 2016), while 43,4% opted to play in three or more different golf courses. 91,6% of interviewed golf players usually travel only to play golf (81,1% in 2016). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 4

6 PREVIOUS VISITS From the set of interviews, 19,4% had already visited the Lisbon Region previously (16,2% in 2016). Of those, 96,7% took that opportunity to play golf. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND DECISION-MAKING In 2017, the main sources of information in what regards the promotion of Lisbon Region s potential for the practice of golf were Golf magazines and Press articles, switching the places of 2016 (46,7% and 50,1%, respectively). Following, as in 2016, appears Family, friends or colleagues and Advertising. In what concerns the choice of the Lisbon Region for the practice of this sport, both the Weather and the Advice from family/friends kept top places (42,9% and 30,2% in 2016, respectively). Golf as second motivation and Golf magazines inversely occupy the positions from last year. The Price, Advertising and Advice from a travel agent remain as having the least weight in the selection process. Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 5

7 EVALUATION The criteria most valued by foreign golf players were the Golf course technical quality, the Offer of other activities and the Green Fee cost. In 2016, the lead belonged to, in decreasing order, the Quality of the equipment, the Golf course technical quality and the Easiness to book the golf course. With lower evaluations were the Access to golf course from place of accommodation and Restaurant and Accommodation quality. GOLF PRACTICE EVALUATION CRITERIA (from 1 to 10) United Kingdom Spain Scandinavia France Germany Golf course technical quality 7,82 7,81 7,86 7,94 7,93 7,98 7,94 7,97 7,97 8,17 7,89 8,09 7,93 7,92 Golf course landscape environment Switzerland The Netherlands 7,57 7,43 7,73 7,82 7,61 7,50 7,44 7,76 7,20 7,24 7,39 7,78 7,80 7,57 Golf course service quality 7,55 7,43 7,48 7,50 7,63 7,45 7,56 7,55 7,63 7,59 7,46 7,52 7,60 7,53 Equipment quality 7,66 7,70 7,59 7,50 7,71 7,80 7,61 7,64 7,90 7,97 7,68 7,70 7,47 7,68 Easiness to book the course 7,74 7,76 7,74 7,73 7,71 7,78 7,72 7,82 7,63 7,69 7,82 7,91 7,53 7,73 Golf practice costs 7,73 7,55 7,76 7,79 7,80 7,65 7,78 7,76 7,67 7,69 7,79 7,74 8,00 7,71 Green Fee value 7,69 7,72 7,88 7,65 7,76 7,70 7,75 7,91 8,00 7,97 7,79 7,91 8,07 7,77 Access to golf course from place of accommodation 7,14 7,07 7,47 6,85 7,05 7,05 7,28 7,45 7,13 6,93 7,32 7,35 7,07 7,08 Accommodation quality 7,54 7,42 7,77 7,38 7,56 7,63 7,58 7,67 7,53 7,62 7,39 7,30 7,60 7,52 Accommodation price 7,70 7,72 7,79 7,64 7,69 7,65 7,67 7,67 7,63 7,76 7,64 7,65 7,93 7,70 Offer of other activities 7,79 7,77 7,88 7,83 7,64 7,83 7,56 7,94 7,80 7,93 7,68 7,65 7,93 7,78 Restaurant quality 7,26 7,32 7,47 7,42 7,37 7,43 7,44 7,48 7,30 7,52 7,43 7,35 7,33 7,37 AVERAGE VALUE 7,60 7,56 7,70 7,59 7,62 7,62 7,61 7,72 7,62 7,67 7,61 7,66 7,69 7,61 Sweden Austria Italy Ireland Belgium Luxembourg TOTAL The golf players who, on average, gave the highest score to their golf experience in the Lisbon Region were the Swedish individually, the Scandinavians in general and the Luxembourgers. GLOBAL EVALUATION OF THE STAY IN THE LISBON REGION (from 1 to 10) United Kingdom Spain Scandinavia France Germany Switzerland The Netherlands Sweden Austria Italy Ireland Belgium Luxembourg TOTAL 7,79 7,80 7,94 7,91 7,92 7,78 7,86 7,97 7,93 7,90 7,68 8,17 8,13 7,88 The global evaluation of the Lisbon Region as a golf destination is of 7,88 on a scale from 1 to 10 (7,96 in 2016). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 6

8 Regarding the expectation previous to their visit to the Lisbon Region, 59,1% of these golf players saw their expectations exceeded (50,6% in 2016). PROBABILITY OF RETURNING All of the interviewed golf players considers to be likely or very likely their return to the Lisbon Region to play golf (96,3% in 2016), with 89,8% considering it also likely or very likely the return for other leisure purposes 91,3% in 2016). RECOMMENDATION In what concerns the recommendation for playing golf, 41,1% of the sample of foreign golf players places the Lisbon Region in the Top 5 destinations to be visited (49,0% in 2016), while 53,2% include Lisbon in the Top 10 (48,6% in 2016). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 7