GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT 1

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1 GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT 1

2 TO THE STAKEHOLDERS Dear Golf Industry Stakeholder, Golf Tourism New Zealand is the new industry advisory group formed to work alongside New Zealand s tremendous golf offerings. It is our pleasure to share the progress we ve made since our establishment. Many of you will be familiar with the setup of GTNZ and who is involved. Further details are available in here. In this report we ll update you on how we re working with others to attract more golf visitors to New Zealand including: Golf Tourism New Zealand s activities and objectives How we collaborate with Tourism New Zealand and the industry How we re working to attract international golfing visitors: New classifications for golf courses: Marquee and New Zealand Experience Courses Course assessments Chinese familiarisation visits in September Development of an online booking system Building a better golfing visitor profile by collecting more data during their stay in NZ We plan to provide regular updates to our stakeholders once a quarter feel free to circulate this to others you think might be interested. We ll send you progress reports as we work with specific golf courses and individuals who will help us create and develop a successful golf product. We d love to hear from you if you have questions or feedback for us. Feel free to give us a call or . Best regards, TOURISM NEW ZEALAND COMMITTED TO ATTRACTING MORE GOLFING TOURISTS We are very fortunate to have support with GTNZ s supply-side efforts from Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), who is undertaking specific marketing activity to raise the demand for a golf trip to New Zealand. Considerable investment has been made in media programmes, familiarisation trips (famils), trade shows in key markets, and above-the-line campaigns in the USA and Australia. In addition, we have achieved significant exposure from the New Zealand Open with a substantial financial contribution from central government. TNZ is leveraging this event to showcase the country and golfing infrastructure to key media. Results from this work have already seen equivalent advertising value exceeding millions of dollars. Tourism New Zealand has made a commitment to invest $2 million over three years and we all need to ensure we capitalise on and maximise the opportunities being created. NORM THOMPSON Chairman Golf Tourism New Zealand RYAN BRANDEBURG, PGA Executive Director Golf Tourism New Zealand ryan@gtnz.kiwi 2 GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT

3 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The following define the specific roles of Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) and Golf Tourism New Zealand (GTNZ), as well as Ryan Brandeburg s position as Executive Director of GTNZ and Golf Specialist for TNZ. TOURISM NEW ZEALAND Marketing board responsible for marketing New Zealand internationally as a visitor destination. Crown Entity, governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the Minister of Tourism. Assists the Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs), Golf Tourism New Zealand s Executive Director and local operators to develop golf trails and golf clusters. Markets New Zealand internationally as a golf tourism destination through: the delivery of marketing campaigns trade engagement public relations activity association with major events GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND (GTNZ) Advisory group responsible for working with the Executive Director to create GTNZ s long-term plan. Assists the Executive Director and Tourism New Zealand in identifying new golf-related, business development opportunities. Oversees the position of Executive Director and provides them with industry knowledge, contacts and advice. Liaises with the community including local investors, councils and iwi regarding golf tourism. Evaluates and assigns Marquee and The New Zealand Golf Experience status, and monitor ongoing development. Group Members: Norm Thompson (Chair) Peter Cutfield Dean Murphy Greg Turner EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (RYAN BRANDEBURG) Acts as the conduit for information between Tourism New Zealand, golf courses and golf tourism operators. Liaises with Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) to assist with the development of golf trails and courses. Develops course specific opportunities. Provides technical advice to Tourism New Zealand, assist with providing connections to the golf tourism market and provide input into Tourism New Zealand s golf marketing strategies. Works with Tourism New Zealand teams to develop effective familiarisation itineraries and assist with trade show/event attendance where required. Works with New Zealand s Marquee and The New Zealand Experience courses to gather data and support courses to be export ready meaning ready to fully satisfy the needs of our international golfing visitors and product that is ready for sale in the international market. Provide a link with NZ golf online booking, Web data. GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT 3

4 MARQUEE COURSES During the creation of the New Zealand International Golf Tourism Strategy document in 2013 (which can be viewed here) 12 courses were identified as marquee courses. A Marquee Course is of high quality, is aspirational with inherent international interest, has history and/or a particular identity and is accessible for visitor play. KAURI CLIFFS GULF HARBOUR TITIRANGI The Marquee courses are (listed from North to South): WAIRAKEI KINLOCH PARAPARAUMU ROYAL WELLINGTON CAPE KIDNAPPERS CLEARWATER THE HILLS MILLBROOK JACKS POINT GTNZ is in discussion with Royal Auckland Golf Club to be added as a potential 13th course. 4 GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT

5 THE NEW ZEALAND EXPERIENCE COURSES There are a number of golf courses that complement the Marquee Courses and further define the diverse New Zealand golf product. You may have heard these referred to as Tier 2, a working term that did not accurately depict the quality and diversity of these courses. From now on, these courses will be referred to as The New Zealand Experience portfolio. MURIWAI KAITAIA GOLF CLUB KERIKERI WAITANGI WAIPU MANGAWHAI OMAHA REMUERA This portfolio is important to showcase crucial elements of the New Zealand golf brand such as value for money, local culture, community spirit and country charm. Crucially, these courses increase the yield from visitors, particularly from the Australian market, and repeat shortstay visitors with the potential to extend their stay by one day for each additional golf course included in their itinerary. This portfolio has varying quality of facilities that may not meet expectations of golfers from all markets, and we must accurately represent them to golf tourists to ensure that visitor expectations are met. Our inaugural New Zealand Experience portfolio includes the following 26 courses, (listed from North to South): GRANGE ROTORUA TAUPO GC MIRAMAR OHOPE BRIDGE PA MANAWATU TERRACE DOWNS PEGASUS HAREWOOD CHRISTCHURCH GC ARROWTOWN QUEENSTOWN CROMWELL OTAGO CHISHOLM PARK ORETI SANDS INVERCARGILL Currently, there are several New Zealand golf courses undergoing construction, renovation, or ownership changes. These courses, and additional courses, are under consideration and we see the portfolio as fluid in its makeup. GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT 5

6 COURSE ASSESSMENTS, VISITS, AND CRITERIA The GTNZ Group has visited and assessed over 60 golf courses to date. These visits allow us to meet with course management and decision makers, local RTOs, and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each location. During this first year, we would like each Marquee and New Zealand Experience course to be seen at least twice by a member of the GTNZ group. Criteria are in place to assess these courses, and a copy can be obtained from the Executive Director of GTNZ. The assessments have separate analysis for the course and the facility, with the ultimate goal being a measurement of how these courses are positioned for export readiness. Export readiness is the ability of a golf facility to fully satisfy the needs of international visitors. Even the most export ready courses in New Zealand can improve on the customer experience, and we will be sharing the results of our assessments privately with the courses to understand how they can put a continual improvement plan in place. CHINESE GOLF FAMILIARIZATION TRIPS Part of the marketing plan to increase exposure of golf as a special interest involves familiarization trips, also known as famil trips. These trips often include media, trade (travel agents and tour operators), and influencers from foreign markets. The influencers we are targeting are golf professionals, instructors, and general managers at clubs with a high proportion of wealthy, travelling members. In September, Ryan assisted TNZ with hosting two separate famil trips comprised of 18 individuals from China. They were taken to seven regions of New Zealand to play golf at 10 courses, with additional exposure to accommodation, activities, and dining experiences. As a special treat, one of the groups was treated with a chance to meet our Tourism Minister, the Rt Hon John Key, on the streets of Napier. This was an especially unique experience and highlighted the approachable nature of New Zealanders. While we realize that September is not the ideal time to show off the golf product in New Zealand, the representatives attending these famils will start selling their New Zealand product in October, so timing their visit beforehand was a critical factor. More information on how courses can prepare for the expectations of the growing numbers of Chinese visitors we are seeing, becoming China ready, will be available soon. ONLINE BOOKING In order to make courses accessible for potential visitors, we need to reduce the barriers to booking. With an increasing number of visitors booking activities online, we see it as a natural progression to work towards a centralised online booking platform for golf courses in New Zealand. In collaboration with Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Golf, we re developing a centralised online booking tool that builds on the current DotGolf technology and systems used by many New Zealand clubs. This tool will be live on the golf hub of newzealand.com, which can be viewed here and on It will enable international visitors to easily sign up for a free identification number, which can be used to book tee times at Marquee and The New Zealand Experience courses. While not every course will be part of the initial roll out, we will be encouraging courses to participate in the programme. It is envisaged that courses that do not currently use the DotGolf system (such as Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers that use Active Network), will be integrated into the centralised platform. A trial of the online booking system is scheduled for October, and we anticipate a live date before the end of DATA COLLECTION While writing the initial strategy paper, one area that was significantly lacking was good data on visiting golfers. For golf to continue receiving government marketing support, we must collect data to show the impact that visiting golfers have on the New Zealand economy. We have already engaged those courses who were not collecting data to begin tracking the origin of their international rounds. In addition to this, changes are underway with the International Visitor Survey (IVS) to gather more information about the movement, activities, and spend of visiting golfers. We re working on a methodology for our Marquee golf courses to collect a modest amount of data from their international visitors and we will provide the detail on this shortly. 6 GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT

7 EDUCATION The regional roadshows that took place in 2013 for the roll out the golf initiative were attended by hundreds of industry stakeholders. A second series of roadshows is being discussed to provide introductions to, and education for, the golf and tourism industry. A key objective of these roadshows will be to ensure the golf courses understand that they are not just part of the golf industry, but also part of the broader tourism industry. These roadshows will be a chance for golf courses to receive valuable information on relevant topics of concern to the industry, hear from tourism officials about available resources they can tap into and also hear from tour operators who will provide feedback on industry needs and the changing demands of consumers. We are currently evaluating the key objectives of these roadshows, and an option of hosting more regional roadshows, or having one large gathering on each Island. LISTINGS ON NEWZEALAND.COM Tourism New Zealand is working to send consumer traffic to the golf hub of newzealand.com. Once there, consumers should be able to easily find information on golf courses, surrounding activities, and accommodation, plus assistance on selecting an operator to book their trip. As a golf course, it is your responsibility to ensure you have a listing and that it is up to date. GTNZ will be working with you to ensure your listing is meeting its full potential. For more information on establishing or editing your listing, please contact ryan@gtnz.kiwi. GOLF TOURISM NEW ZEALAND PROGRESS REPORT 7

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