Forward inquiries “about 50% down”

Gordon Berry, The Courier, 26 February 2009

The former chairman of Golf Tourism Scotland, Gary Wilkinson, was yesterday downbeat about prospects for this year, saying that bookings are already down.

Last year Mr Wilkinson, who annually brings around 900 golfers to the country, spoke of an industry “on the brink of disaster” and he predicted, apparently correctly, that this year would not be a good one.

Yesterday, he said the news from St Andrews, one of his visitor destinations, reflects similar developments elsewhere.

Mr Wilkinson said he was not surprised in the present climate to learn the Links Trust was to seek voluntary redundancies.

He added, “Overall, I would estimate that the golf tourism market from the USA is around 50% down on 2008, and 2008 was not a good year.

“Forward inquiries are also 50% down on where they should be.

“People have been talking about how the dollar is at a strong rate against the pound, but this isn’t making the slightest bit of difference.

“A lot of what we deal with are the ‘lads trips’ away, and they are the first thing that will suffer in the current economic conditions.”

He added, “Present trading conditions are worse than after 9/11, and I would not expect to see it pick up until 2010, or later.

“Courses around the UK and Ireland are starting to offer booking incentives to try to entice visitors, and these range from two for ones, second rounds free and straight rate reductions.

“Although business still has to come in for this year, we will not be looking at a sudden influx. There is just nothing out there.”

Mr Wilkinson said people should not be depending on a short-term fix, but at a new pricing policy in 2010.

“A lot of people in the golf industry will be assessing the way they go forward,” he added.

A more upbeat reaction came from Mark Rigg, the managing director of Links Golf in St Andrews, who said that so far, his figures are on a par with last year, but he is fighting very hard for the business.

He said, “As long as those involved with tourism work together we have a good chance of capturing what’s out there.

“The annual golf week in April is doing very well and is nearly sold out, with 80 golfers coming from 12 countries.

“We are having to be more creative. It’s very important for St Andrews as a town that all the small businesses work together.

“That includes hotels, restaurants, transport providers, and the golf courses.”

Mr Rigg said that it is not all doom and gloom, and that so far numbers of people intending to come to the Open at Turnberry are holding up.

A gloomy prediction for St Andrews’ golf tourism industry this summer is reflected among many businesses in the area, according to the St Andrews World Class initiative.

The project manager Patrick Laughlin said that the outlook echoed what he was hearing from specialist golf businesses.

He said, “It is expected it’s going to be a challenging year.

“St Andrews is much more reliant on overseas visitors than the rest of Fife.

“The higher-end clients are still coming through, which is good news, but it’s expected there will be an overall decline.

“St Andrews is historically immune to economic fluctuations, so this indicates quite what a challenging year it is going to be.”

Referring to the expectation that more Britons are expected to take holidays in the UK this year, Mr Laughlin said, “St Andrews in general can benefit from that, but a business like the St Andrews Links Trust or the golf tour operators doesn’t really see the benefit so much.

“For the specialist golf tourism market it’s going to be a case of belt-tightening.

“It’s slightly ironic that at a time when exchange rates - which make Scotland particularly attractive to Europeans and to some extent Americans - were going to be working in St Andrews’ favour, the economy in these countries is putting a dampener on travel.”

A more optimistic picture emerged from Fairmont St Andrews, however, one of the town’s resort hotels.

General manager Charles Head said, “We have had a very strong start to the year and do hope that this continues.

“We see the summer market as extremely dynamic, with a number of both positive and negative influences, and it is therefore difficult to predict at this juncture.”