Article by Kevin Markham for the Irish Examiner explains the 3-part problem for golf tourism in Ireland.
In a nutshell:
- Since the 24 June Brexit vote, UK golfers wanting to play in Ireland are finding all components of their trip more expensive, because of the plunge taken by the GBP.
- Golfers from the UK make up about 50% of all golfers playing in Ireland, and spend 1200 euro per trip on average.
- No immediate fall in business (likely because 2016 trips already planned), but there's concern for 2017 and outyears.
- Courses near the border with NI will likely suffer loss of day-trip business because of the weak GBP.
- Economic uncertainty in the UK over the next couple of years is the big problem.
- Irish golfers wanting to play in the UK are now finding courses in England, Scotland and Wales much more attractive than in the past: the other side of the sliding-pound coin.
- The reduction of the Irish VAT rate to 9% in 2011 brought a lot of tourists from the UK; the 15% discount at which UK golf is now available to the Irish will surely be a big temptation - bad news for Irish courses.
- However, even with the 15% UK discount, golfing prices are still lower in Ireland.
- Like Irish golfers, North American and European golfers will be tempted by the lower post-Brexit-vote prices in the UK. The GBP is at a 30-year low against the USD, and Scottish courses are better known in the USA than Irish ones. The same things are true to a lesser extent for European golfers.
Irish golf managers are taking a wait-and-see attitude for now.
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I'm thinking that everyone in the Irish golf industry should be targeting New England, New York and the rest of northeastern USA with marketing and advertising promoting Irish golf. This region if full of people of Irish heritage, and many others who've been to Ireland one or more times before and appreciate the friendliness of the Irish people, and the quality of the golf courses. And it's the closest US point to Ireland, making for lower airfares.
I see that "Golf in Ireland" is prominently featured on the Tourism Ireland site, and that's a step in the right direction.
