ao link

 

Step 1
Golf is played by 80 million people worldwide

Some, though, believe selling golf holidays to Saudi Arabia could have a positive impact on the country, such as by forcing Saudi Arabia's rulers to open up and liberalise its hard-line stance on many issues around diversity, equity and inclusion.


“I think tourism and sport can play a part in opening the world to Saudi and hopefully have a positive impact on these human rights issues,” George Sparks, founder and director of Somerset-based agency Keyhole International, told TTG.


IGTM has instead chosen to remain neutral, leaving agents to make up their own minds. “We’re not here to judge," said Griffiths. "We’re providing a platform for people to learn, network and understand what is happening in different places around the world.

 

"The decision about whether they want to sell travel to that destination is entirely up to them.”

Knowledge is key

According to the experts, agents keen to sell more golf breaks firstly need to stop being afraid and invest time in learning more about how golf works if they want to unlock the myriad business opportunities the market offers.


“It's not too complicated," said Travel Designed's Field. "It's just a case of learning a little bit about the sport and why people go away on golf holidays.” 


Agents also need to advertise and market their golf tourism offering more prominently. “We produced some marketing material for agents that just says, ‘I can help you with golf’,” said Tee The World's Park. “A lot of agents will have golfers among their clients, but they won’t know they’re golfers.


“Agents will book all their cruises and family holidays, but they won’t necessarily know they’re golfers unless they say, ‘Hey!, we can do golf too!'."


Griffiths said IGTM's annual show, which will this year be held in Lisbon over 16-19 October, would serve as a good opportunity for agents to earn more.

 

“It’s very much about networking, it’s about building your network and really getting an understanding of what their clients can expect if they were to go to one of these properties for a golf holiday,” he added.

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Ilaria Grasso Macola

Ilaria Grasso Macola

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