Travel

On a day in May that felt like winter was not leaving Sweden, World Sport & Media helped the golfing professionals in Stockholm think a little about the upcoming summer season. They held the kickoff event for the 2010 Grand Open, to be held at Vidbynäs Golf Club on August 20 this year.

According to press release, the Grand Open "is an exclusive corporate golf event which affords companies the opportunity to network and profile at the executive level. It is also an excellent occasion to extend corporate hospitality to your most valued customers."
The sponsor for this year's event is the Old Course Hotel in St.Andrew's, Scotland. 2010 is the 150th Anniversary of the first Open held at the St.Andrews Old Course in 1860. The Old Course Hotel is the Official Host Site for the gala event, and why wouldn't it be? The hotel sits adjacent to the 17th fairway of the Old Course links.

Swedish Golf Online had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Iain Marr, a Golf Development Manager with The Old Course Hotel. We asked Iain about the importance of the Swedish market to the hotel's marketing plan.

"The Hotel is looking to open up its elite markets, and certainly Sweden is one of them," said Marr. "As one of the top 5 golf resorts in the world, and the most luxurious in Fife, we think that The Old Course Hotel is an excellent value for Swedish guests."

The recent economic conditions have caused distress in all aspects of the golf travel industry over the last 18 months. The Old Course Hotel has also seen a slight downturn in the number of guests. However, their strategy has not been to go the discount route and dilute the excellent quality and services at the Hotel.

"The guest at the Old Course Hotel expects a certain quality of service.  Our goal is to continue to exceed those expectations," explained Marr.

In fact, while other resorts worldwide are contracting plans, the Old Course Hotel has invested in its spa and The Dukes golf course. For those who have visited the Hotel, they may wonder what could be done to improve what is already a five star destination. Yet, the Hotel has found a way. "We always are striving to find ways to deliver better service and amenities," Iain emphasized.

Sweden has always been an important market to the Old Course Hotel directly and St. Andrews in general. Swedish golfers have always taken advantage of the spring and fall months, as either a season's kickoff or a way to extend their golf play a little more. Iain thinks that a particular type of golfer would enjoy the extra benefits that the Old Course Hotel could offer, such as the excellent food and drink served in the Road Hole restaurant and the Road Hole Bar. And the opportunity to enjoy"the town's best 19th hole" the Jigger Inn, shouldn't be missed. You never know the friendships you could develop. The pub is a favorite for the many celebrities who visit the links.

Iain let us in on a little known fact about The Old Course Hotel. The Duke’s St Andrews has been crowned the best Golf Club in the UK in the inaugural “Golf Club of the Year Awards” 2010, by Awards for Business. The Golf Club of the Year Awards measures the complete golf experience as voted for by the people who play the courses that being members, guests and societies.The Dukes golf course members enjoy the benefits of not only the golf at the Dukes, but the amazing spa located in the Old Course Hotel.

The Old Course Hotel has no special access to the St. Andrews Links Trust, who are in charge of the eight golf courses in St. Andrews. The golf courses under the Trust's management, including the Old Course, are public access, by law. However, the resort does have the special advantage of being located right in the heart of the Home of Golf.

"There is something special about waking up overlooking the fairways of the Old Course in St. Andrews," says Marr. "I guess you can say that I promote the most iconic golf resort in the world." When he said this, it was hard for him to hide a grin.

Put together by some of Sweden's best golf writers and photographers, "Sweden's Golf Destination #1" is a perfect start for anyone interested in learning what golf in Sweden is all about. If you're planning a trip to Sweden to play some golf, inside this magazine you'll find some of Sweden's best places to play golf, as well as contact information and course descriptions.

Golf Trip Marketing AB, a company that works with golf trips to Sweden, golf tournament packages and selected trips to golf locations abroad, opens its first office in Stockholm with, according to their website, an open house on Friday, February 19th.

Susanne Graf, Golf Trip Marketing CEO, said, "We believe in expanding golf tourism. To get there, we must be professional in our meetings with the client. We have great golf courses in Sweden, with different character and it is not easy to find what you are looking for. When you book your trip or event through Golf Trip marketing, you will encounter a golf knowledgeable staff with the skill to guide the customer to exactly what they want. There are many companies working today selling golf events and golf trips without the knowledge of what sells. Some without being golfers themselves. We work according to the maxim, "A satisfied customer will return."

Graf continued, "For the Swedish market, we believe that there is value in being able to collect all golf purchasing in one place. We offer the customer a unique service with the purchase of golf packages in Sweden, corporate events and, even travel trips abroad through our sister company, Travel Graf.

We work in cooperation with some select partners and destinations that want to see new opportunities within the golf industry. Destination like Skane, Northwest Golf and Golflust of Sörmland are some of the destinations that cooperate with Golf Trip Marketing now we will be soon be adding more. We are just beginning cooperation with golf clubs in Stockholm and Uppsala.

Eventually, GTM will develop a web portal that will include an online booking system associated with the golf club's GIT system. The GTM system will allow online booking of golf packages with preferred tee times and accommodations.

For more information contact:
Susanne Graf
Golf Trip Marketing
Lugnets Allé 49
Hammarby Sjöstad
tel: 070-221 25 67
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Visit Sweden, which is sponsored through the Ministry of Industry and the Swedish hospitality industry, operates Sweden's official site for tourism and travel information (www.visitsweden.com). Their mission is to promote the international brand of Sweden and Swedish destinations and experiences. The site has about 4,000,000 visits per year and over 200 000 subscribers to its newsletter.

In 2010, the Swedish Golf Federation initiated a collaboration with the tourism site and created a golf department at www.visitsweden.com. There will be a booking site for golf and accommodations to be launched under the trademark and domain of Swegolf (www.swegolf.se).

"This initiative is a unique opportunity for Swedish golf to hook on to Swedish tourism and show that we seriously want to welcome foreign golf tourists to Sweden. By joining Visit Sweden, we now can reach an annual four million  foreign parties who have expressed an interest in going to Sweden. Thanks to this cooperation, we need not develop our own international version of Golf.se or My Golf. All clubs that participate in this effort becomes a so-called POI (Point of Interest) on the Swedish tourist map," says Per Svensson, Tourism Manager for SGF.

On visitsweden.com, the member golf clubs can sell both individual tee times and package plans together with nearby hotels and other venues and experiences. 

"The price of a POI (Point of Interest) on the Visit Sweden web site is 7,900 kronor (about €772) for the individual golf club. This cooperation also means that we will make use of social media such as YouTube, Facebook and Sweden's official travel community, CommunityOfSweden.com, to reach international golfers, "says Svensson.

"Our ambition is to work more towards the foreign market and see if we get, after a year of meetings, it there are more bookings than last year. In 2009, we had almost 150,000 reservations in the GIT (the booking system of the SGF). The vast majority came from Denmark and Norway. We will now turn to England, Finland, Holland and Germany. It is important to understand that even if the tourists can book online, some might choose to call directly to the clubs to make their reservation by phone. So this is also a window into the international market.

When asked about the interest being shown from the golf clubs, Svensson said, "There is great interest, not just from metropolitan area clubs. Many club owners reserve accommodation on their own sites and they seem to understand that this is a positive thing. We expect between 50 and 100 clubs to participate, and the site will launch in mid-March.

With contributions from CM Hellsten - Golf.se