SURVEY TO FOREIGN GOLF PLAYERS

Transcription

1 SURVEY TO FOREIGN GOLF PLAYERS 2018

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 2018, to a total of 604 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 PROFILE OF THE FOREIGN GOLF PLAYER IN LISBON REGION 19,2% of the interviewed golf players reside in Scandinavia (in third place in 2017 with 10,7%). Following is the United Kingdom (in first place in 2017 with 19,2%) and France (10,7% in 2017). 81,6% of the foreign golf players interviewed in the Lisbon Region were men (71,7% in 2017). Similarly to the previous years, the most relevant age group was between 45 and 54 years old. In what concerns the academic level, 89,9% of the interviewed golf players holds at least a university degree (95,3% in 2017). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 2

4 71,9% of golf players travels accompanied by friends, while 40,1% came with their life partner. In 2017 those percentages were 74,9% and 49,4%, respectively. ACCOMMODATION 52,8% of interviewed golf players chose an accommodation in Cascais and 28,1% in Sintra. In 2017, those percentages were 52,4% and 22,3%, respectively. The city of Lisbon was an option for 3,1% of these golf players (19,9% in 2017). As in the two previous years, the majority stayed for 8 nights in the Lisbon Region. Larger stays (7 nights or more) received the preference of 66,2% (87,5% in 2017) 71,2% in the case of Portugal; while short breaks, i.e. 6 nights or less were the option of 33,8% (12,5% in 2017) 28,8% in the case of Portugal. Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 3

5 MOTIVATION 49,3% of the interviewed players in this study came to the Lisbon Region with the sole purpose of playing golf (47,1% in 2017), while the rest took the opportunity of being in Lisbon in leisure to play golf as well (52,8% in 2017). BOOKING 67,7% of the interviewed golf players booked their accommodation taking into account the place where they would be playing golf (40,0% in 2017). Of those, 97,1% made the reservation in their country of origin (98,0% in 2017). In what concerns the booking of the golf course, 79,6% made the booking previously to their trip (76,5% in 2017) and in 9,4% of the cases the reservation was made already in Lisbon (6,0% in 2017). Of those who made the reservation still in their country of residence, 48,3% made it 5 to 12 weeks in advance. In 2017, 48,2% made this booking also 5 to 12 weeks in advance. 19,7% of the interviewed players used the services of a golf tour operator (29,1% in 2017). VISITED GOLF COURSES 31,6% of the interviewed players intended to visit only one golf course during their stay in the Lisbon Region (31,1% in 2017), while 37,7% opted to play in three or more different golf courses (43,4% in 2017). 86,1% of interviewed golf players usually travel only to play golf (91,6% in 2017). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 4

6 PREVIOUS VISITS As in 2017, 19,4% had already visited the Lisbon Region previously. Of those, 97,4% took that opportunity to play golf as well. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND DECISION-MAKING In 2018, the main sources of information in what regards the promotion of Lisbon Region s potential for the practice of golf were the same as in 2017: Golf magazines, Press articles and Family, friends or colleagues. Last year those percentages were, respectively 60,0%, 57,8% and 29,8%. In what concerns the choice of the Lisbon Region for the practice of this sport, the three top places are also kept from the previous year: weather, the advice from family/friends and golf as second motivation. In 2017, the values were 85,6%, 33,8% and 16,7%, respectively. Advertising and the 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 Easiness to book the course, the Quality of the equipment and the Golf course service quality. In 2017, the lead was held, in decreasing order, by the Golf course technical quality, the Offer of other activities and the Green Fee cost. With lower evaluations were the Restaurant quality, the Access to the golf course from the place of accommodation and the Price of accommodation. GOLF PRACTICE EVALUATION CRITERIA (from 1 to 10) Scandinavia United Kingdom France Germany Switzerland Golf course technical quality 8,08 8,02 8,00 8,08 8,13 8,15 8,37 8,06 8,00 8,11 8,04 8,00 7,96 8,00 8,05 Golf course landscape environment Sweden The Netherlands Spain 8,30 8,24 8,50 8,40 8,28 8,46 8,45 8,35 8,19 8,07 8,44 8,50 8,08 8,08 8,35 Golf course service quality 8,32 8,23 8,41 8,40 8,38 8,38 8,61 8,58 8,41 8,30 8,64 8,54 8,60 8,04 8,42 Equipment quality 8,44 8,36 8,44 8,29 8,45 8,26 8,71 8,55 8,74 8,74 8,68 8,42 8,52 8,40 8,45 Easiness to book the course 8,74 8,54 8,59 8,58 8,34 8,82 8,58 8,81 8,44 8,96 8,56 8,96 8,68 8,12 8,59 Golf practice costs 8,35 8,30 8,21 8,37 8,38 8,31 8,24 8,48 8,30 8,33 8,40 8,42 8,16 8,36 8,34 Green Fee value 8,38 8,30 8,28 8,19 8,23 8,33 8,45 8,23 8,44 8,26 8,20 8,42 8,44 8,56 8,36 Access to golf course from place of accommodation 8,04 7,76 7,69 7,75 7,47 8,08 7,95 7,45 7,67 8,19 7,84 7,81 8,28 8,08 7,80 Accommodation quality 8,15 7,95 7,94 7,98 8,11 8,10 8,11 7,94 7,93 8,19 8,12 7,96 8,28 8,36 8,04 Accommodation price 7,94 7,95 7,79 7,85 7,96 8,05 7,89 8,00 8,07 7,96 8,12 7,73 7,60 7,96 7,89 Offer of other activities 7,99 8,15 8,09 7,92 8,19 8,23 8,24 8,13 8,04 7,93 8,12 7,81 8,08 7,88 8,10 Restaurant quality 7,74 7,59 7,81 7,75 7,77 7,67 7,79 7,77 7,70 7,70 7,72 7,73 7,72 7,88 7,74 AVERAGE VALUE 8,21 8,12 8,15 8,13 8,14 8,24 8,28 8,20 8,16 8,23 8,24 8,19 8,20 8,14 8,18 Austria Finalnd Belgium Denmark Ireland Norway TOTAL The golf players who, on average, gave the highest score to their golf experience in the Lisbon Region were the Dutch, the Belgians and the Swedish. GLOBAL EVALUATION OF THE STAY IN THE LISBON REGION (from 1 to 10) Scandinavia United Kingdom France Germany Switzerland Sweden The Netherlands Spain Austria Finalnd Belgium Denmark Ireland Norway TOTAL 7,95 7,78 7,93 7,81 7,96 7,92 8,03 8,06 7,85 8,00 7,96 8,00 7,92 7,88 7,93 The global evaluation of the Lisbon Region as a golf destination is of 7,93 on a scale from 1 to 10 (7,88 in 2017). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 6

8 Regarding the expectation previous to their visit to the Lisbon Region, 45,2% of these golf players saw their expectations exceeded (59,1% in 2017). PROBABILITY OF RETURNING 99,5% of the interviewed golf players considers to be likely or very likely their return to the Lisbon Region to play golf (100% in 2017), with 94,4% considering it also likely or very likely the return for other leisure purposes (89,8% in 2017). RECOMMENDATION In what concerns the recommendation to play golf, 42,1% of the sample of foreign golf players places the Lisbon Region in the Top 5 destinations to be visited (41,1% in 2017), while 52,3% include Lisbon in the Top 10 (53,2% in 2017). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 7