The President of the North American subdivision of the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO-North America), Mr. Claudio DeMarchi, considered Dominican Republic as an appealing golf destination and recommended to strengthen the Marketing strategies with North America and Europe to keep attracting golfers from these parts of the world.
The executive from IAGTO, an organization that sells more than 85% of the world’s golf packages, said that the two main sources to promote the country to that specific market niche are through The Golf Channel and the various magazines that specialize in golf, specifying that the 80% of golfers are over 50 years-old and that 80% of the players are men from North America.
These were expressed by DeMarchi during a specialized seminar that included the Dominican Republic Golf Travel Exchange 2016, titled: “The golf tourism in Dominican Republic and global marketing strategies”, in which such strategies were assessed and different strategies were suggested.
This event also included lectures from Russell Kirk, a photographer and videographer who specializes in golf, with a conference titled “Winning/succeeding in the art of photographing golf courses and playing the game of drones”, and Theresa McCann, Director of Strategic Alliances from the NBC Sports Group and The Golf Channel, who gave a presentation on the subject of “A multimedia strategy for reaching customers with more influential and acquisitive power”.
In his speech, Russell Kirk emphasized the significance of the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”, saying that good pictures of a golf course are key for getting golfers make a decision, also indicating “mediocre pictures do not attract people”.
On the other side, Theresa McCann said that Dominican Republic has the formula for success regarding the development of golf, because there are four regions in the country where players can go and live new experiences.
She emphasized that the golfer is a big consumer of complementary offers, such as tasty gastronomy, living different cultural experiences, good cigars, among others.
The executive from The Golf Channel, when speaking of multimedia strategies, said that 26% of consumers from this channel are millennials, being the segment that will represent the future of golf.
The 3rd edition of DR Golf attracted the participation of 97 delegates representing 37 tour operators and agencies as well as 34 international media, showing a 20% in total attendance in relation with 2015 2nd edition.
The countries that attended for the first time were Australia, Mexico, and the Arab Emirates. These countries joined returning countries that have participated on previous editions, which includes: United States, Canada,Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Russia, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, and the Czech Republic.
This event contained a workshop, a business meeting where participants reached significant agreements among themselves, and local agencies and suppliers. Likewise, it included a golf tournament that lasted three days, celebated in Iberostate Golf courses from Iberostar Grand Punta Cana, Bávaro; in Dye Fore in Casa de Campo Resort, La Romana; and in The Lakes from Barceló Bávaro Palace Deluxe.