England Golf joins forces with tourism body
Golf Tourism in England should get a boost after the newly-formed body tasked with increasing the number of visitors joined forces with England Golf.
Since its launch in July 2014, the membership body has enlisted almost 100 golf properties and tour operators, with support for the initiative already having been offered by visit England, the national tourist board.
Founder Andrew Cooke said: “We are delighted that England Golf has given its backing to Golf Tourism England and I believe that this partnership will allow us to establish stronger working relationships between the many individual bodies which have a stake in English golf tourism at present.”
The tourism body is hoping to identify opportunities for these groups to work together, such as the creation of cross-marketing strategies.
Cooke added: “In recent times, England has been guilty of resting on its laurels, while others around us, particularly our neighbours in Scotland and Ireland, have greatly benefitted from a joined-up approach, which has yielded excellent returns in terms of inbound tourism.
“With six Open championship venues, some of the world’s best links courses, parkland, heathland and cliff top golf, we are confident that a similar approach can establish England as a prominent destination for golfers worldwide.”
‘England has been guilty of resting on its laurels’ The partnership supports the aim of England Golf to create a brighter future for the sport. Its ‘Raising Our Game’ strategy was launched last summer to create stronger clubs, increase the number of regular golfers and to halt the decline in club membership.
England Golf’s chief executive, David Joy, said: “We are working at the heart of a network of partners to build stronger golf clubs. This new partnership offers an excellent opportunity to support and educate clubs to promote themselves as tourists from home and abroad and increase their visitor income. It will also encourage local partnerships, with groups of clubs working alongside tour operators and accommodation providers for the benefit of themselves and their communities.
“We will be working closely with Andrew and his team in the coming months to encourage clubs to join GTE and benefit from a more harmonised approach to golf tourism.”
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