Golf tourism full of eastern promise
Tourism bosses are targeting wealthy Chinese golfers as they seek new ways to exploit Scotland's golfing heritage.
The Open at St Andrews welcomed golf fans from across the world.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 22.07.10
- Published online : 22.07.10 @ 08.11am
Last week's Open Championship at the Old Course in St Andrews has reaffirmed Scotland's position at the centre of the golfing world.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier, Dr Michael Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said that although golf tourism is already worth £220 million to the Scottish economy each year, there is still room to drive up revenues -- with the Chinese market potentially worth millions.
He said the increasing popularity of golf in China makes it an ideal, and largely untapped, market to target.
Despite decades of communism, economic reforms over the last 20 years mean wealthy Chinese tourists are now among the heaviest spenders.
Dr Cantlay said, "Scottish tourism is basically a £4 billion industry as a whole. Within that, golf is worth about £220 million pounds -- it's very significant. It supports 4400 jobs and for every pound spent on a green fee £5 is spent in the wider economy."
He added, "Golf is absolutely key -- the Open Championship alone was expected to raise about £84 million and more than that there is around £40 million of TV exposure that comes with it. It showcases Scotland around the world."
Dr Cantlay recently visited China to promote golf tourism and said there has been an explosion in interest there.
He said, "The week before last, the First Minister led a delegation to China to build relationships there and we went out specifically to focus on the golf side of promoting Scotland.
Highest spenders
"There are something like one million registered golfers. What is particularly exciting about it is that those Chinese customers who come to Scotland are some of the highest spenders we've got -- tourists are spending even more than American customers, who were traditionally our highest spenders."
He added, "We are just scratching at the market, which will be huge. They are excited about spending time on Scottish courses -- they can't believe the accessibility.
"Our links and inland courses are so extraordinary, they can't wait to come and try them for themselves."
The visit included the launch of a new golf brochure advertising Scotland, written in Chinese.
Although the Open and the Senior Open, which starts at Carnoustie today, lead to an upsurge in visitors at their host courses, Dr Cantlay said Scotland's golf heritage makes it an attractive destination to golfers all year.
He said, "At the end of the day, Scotland is a very small country and we have to play to our strengths and exploit where we have specific unique features -- and golf is one of those.
"If you want to play at the home of golf, you've got to come to Scotland."
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