SURVEY TO FOREIGN GOLF PLAYERS 2015
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 2015, to a total of 649 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
MAIN RESULTS Survey to Foreign Golf Players - 2015 PROFILE OF THE FOREIGN GOLF PLAYER IN LISBON REGION 44,4% of the interviewed golf players reside in the United Kingdom (35,4% in 2014), with Germany being the second most frequent nationality (6,4% in 2014). Scandinavia, which took second place in 2014 with 11,7%, goes down to fifth place in 2015. 82,3% of the foreign golf players interviewed in the Lisbon Region were men (52,7% in 2014). Contrary to 2014, when the most relevant ages were from 55 and 64 years old, in 2015 the majority of golf players, both men and women, were between 45 and 54 years old. In what concerns academic level, 87,8% of the interviewed golf players holds at least a university degree (93,9% in 2014). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 2
The majority of the golf players travels accompanied by friends (10,3% in 2014), while 46,2% came with their companion (92,6% in 2014). 37,6% travelled to Lisbon with work colleagues (3,4% in 2014). ACCOMMODATION 34,5% of interviewed golf players chose an accommodation in Sintra and 32,2% in Cascais. In 2014, those percentages were 27,3% and 28,6%, respectively. The majority stayed for 5 nights in the Lisbon Region (7 to 8 nights in 2014). 55,6% preferred short breaks, i.e. 6 nights or less (17,8% in 2014) 53,9% in the case of Portugal; while larger stays (7 nights or more) received 44,4% received of the answers (82,2% in 2014) 46,1% in the case of Portugal. Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 3
MOTIVATION 37,0% of the interviewed players in this study came to the Lisbon Region with the sole purpose of playing golf (79,6% in 2014), while 19,6% took the opportunity of being in Lisbon for professional motives to play golf as well. Survey to Foreign Golf Players - 2015 BOOKING 48,2% of the interviewed golf players did not book their accommodation taking into account the place where they would be playing golf (65,8% in 2014). Of those who did book, 27,1% made the reservation already in Lisbon (31,0% in 2014). In what concerns the booking of the golf course, 43,8% did no booking previously to their trip (66,9% in 2014) and in 18,3% of the cases the reservation was made already in Lisbon (10,9% in 2014). Of the ones who made the reservation still in their country of residence, 39,5% made it 1 to 2 weeks in advance (57,5% in 2014). 45,5% of the interviewed players used the services of a golf tour operator (67,5% in 2014). VISITED GOLF COURSES The vast majority of the interviewed players intends to visit only one golf course during their stay in the Lisbon Region. In 2014, that percentage was 36,3%, with 50,5% opting to play in two different golf courses. 73,0% of interviewed golf players usually travel only to play golf (81,5% in 2014). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 4
PREVIOUS VISITS From the set of interviews, 28,2% had already visited the Lisbon Region previously (79,4% in 2014). Of those, 74,3% took that opportunity to play golf. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND DECISION-MAKING In 2015, the main sources of information in what regards the promotion of Lisbon Region s potential for the practice of golf were Family, friends or colleagues (in second place in 2014), Golf association and Golf magazines (in first in 2014). At the bottom of the table came Press articles, Advertising and Travel agents. 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 the first two places. The Price, which in 2014 was placed in fourth, comes up to second, pushing the Previous visit (in third the previous year) to the middle of the chart. Advertising and Advice from a travel agent repeat the last positions. Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 5
EVALUATION The criteria most valued by foreign golf players were the Restaurant quality, the Offer of additional activities and the Price of accommodation. In 2014, the lead was taken by the Green Fee value, the Accommodation quality and the Restaurant quality. The least valued criteria in 2015 were the Golf course technical quality, the Landscape environment and the Easiness to book the golf course. GOLF PRACTICE EVALUATION CRITERIA (from 1 to 10) United Kingdom Germany Spain Italy Scandinavia Golf course technical quality 6,04 5,78 5,35 5,26 7,12 5,59 6,23 6,90 7,37 7,64 6,85 6,75 5,58 6,07 Golf course landscape environment France USA 6,27 6,00 5,60 5,55 7,27 5,95 6,38 6,95 7,47 7,57 7,15 7,33 5,67 6,30 Golf course service quality 6,38 6,36 5,87 5,72 7,35 5,95 6,62 7,05 7,68 7,79 7,23 7,58 6,08 6,46 Equipment quality 6,44 6,38 5,97 5,81 7,18 6,24 6,46 7,00 7,47 7,71 7,62 7,08 6,25 6,50 Easiness to book the course 6,35 6,17 5,82 5,74 7,08 6,00 6,62 7,00 7,16 7,43 7,31 6,75 5,83 6,38 Golf practice costs 6,47 6,25 5,87 5,91 7,33 5,97 6,65 7,30 7,26 7,71 7,54 6,92 5,83 6,49 Green Fee value 6,93 6,75 6,20 6,32 7,69 6,54 7,08 7,40 8,32 8,36 7,85 7,33 6,33 6,94 Access to golf course from place of accommodation 6,70 6,52 6,12 6,08 7,59 6,32 6,54 7,50 6,84 8,14 7,54 6,83 6,58 6,69 Accommodation quality 7,01 6,88 6,43 6,43 7,75 6,49 7,12 7,60 8,05 8,21 7,92 7,42 6,50 7,02 Accommodation price 7,05 6,97 6,77 6,58 7,55 6,57 7,19 7,45 7,26 7,79 7,38 7,42 6,83 7,05 Offer of other activities 7,81 7,66 7,60 7,60 7,94 7,51 7,85 8,15 7,16 7,86 7,69 7,50 8,33 7,74 Reataurant quality 8,42 8,23 8,22 8,25 8,29 8,22 8,15 8,65 7,68 8,00 8,00 7,75 9,08 8,31 AVERAGE VALUE 6,82 6,66 6,32 6,27 7,51 6,45 6,91 7,41 7,48 7,85 7,51 7,22 6,58 6,83 Denmark Canada Sweden Switzerland Norway Ireland TOTAL The golf players who, on average, gave the highest score to their golf experience in the Lisbon Region were the Swedish, the Swiss and the Canadian. GLOBAL EVALUATION OF THE STAY IN THE LISBON REGION (from 1 to 10) United Kingdom Germany Spain Italy Scandinavia France USA Denmark Canada Sweden Switzerland Norway Ireland TOTAL 7,86 8,14 8,07 7,92 8,10 8,35 8,23 8,25 7,68 7,93 7,62 7,83 7,67 7,96 The global evaluation of the Lisbon Region as a golf destination is of 7,96 on a scale from 1 to 10 (7,65 in 2014). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 6
Regarding the expectation previous to their visit to the Lisbon Region, 73,0% of these golf players saw their expectations exceeded (38,4% in 2014). PROBABILITY OF RETURNING 84,4% of the interviewed golf players considers to be likely or very likely their return to the Lisbon Region to play golf (98,9% in 2014), with 96,5% considering it also likely or very likely the return for other leisure purposes (97,3% in 2014). RECOMMENDATION In what concerns the recommendation for playing golf, 42,5% of the sample of foreign golf players places the Lisbon Region in the Top 5 destination to be visited (14,6% in 2014), while 52,7% include Lisbon in the Top 10 (67,8% in 2014). Observatório do Turismo de Lisboa 7