Multi-course owners must embrace change to
continue to grow portfolios
Multi-course owners must be willing to
readjust their management style, adopt new-age marketing techniques and ramp up
their service levels if they expect to continue to grow in today's market.
Those were among the suggestions some of the nation's largest course owners and
operators heard Wednesday during educational sessions aimed at multi-course
owners at the NGCOA's Annual Conference.
"You will not be able to scale your operations
until you make the necessary changes to become a leader as opposed to an
entrepreneur," said Tarun Kapoor, CEO of Kapoor & Kapoor Hospitality, one
of the nation's most respected hospitality consulting firms. Entrepreneurs,
Kapoor said, are accustomed to "making all the decisions." But as the size of
their portfolio increases, they must relinquish some decision-making authority
and "think more strategically in order to lead versus direct."
Kapoor went on to suggest that multi-course
owners consider forming a holding company and centralizing many of their
business functions, including accounting, human resources and marketing, to
take advantage of economies of scale.
Citing results of a recent national survey,
Jim Woodring, vice president of marketing and golf operations for Myrtle Beach
National Company, a leading golf and management firm, noted that 89 percent of
people planning a golf-specific trip for business or pleasure use the Internet
to help them make their destination decisions. "It's a myth that golfers are
not comfortable making reservations online," he said, adding that Myrtle Beach
National facilitated $4 million in online tee time bookings in 2007.
"Online booking is moving at a very rapid
pace, and one of the best things you could do is create a centralized
cooperative system that would serve the overall interests of a destination
market," Woodring said.
Rethinking traditional notions is also a
requirement these days, said John Easterbrook, executive vice
president-operations for Troon Golf Worldwide. "We've had to reinvent
ourselves. A few years ago, we would have never thought about building an event
lawn. But last year we did $200,000 in business because of an event lawn we
built at one of our properties."
Regardless of what motivates golfers to choose
one high-end course or resort over another, they probably won't return unless
they receive exceptional service, according to Craig Reid, senior vice
president of operations (Americas) for The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
"People are looking for the wow factor," he said. "They want the one-of-a-kind
experience that leads them to say, 'I can't believe you thought of that.'"
To deliver on that expectation, Reid said,
Four Seasons prioritizes service and personality over all else. "We don't
believe our palaces give us a sustainable competitive advantage. The service
sequence and the ability to deliver give us our edge. … We prefer attitude
to qualifications."
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