Texting while driving…golf carts
Posted On August 14, 2014
Golf courses have a problem. Young professionals simply aren’t hitting the links with the same regularity as their Xer and Boomer predecessors. The New York Times reports that in 2013, only 22 percent of travelers under 33 played golf when they stayed at a resort, compared with 42 percent of baby boomers. And resorts are working hard to determine the best way to attract them. From the article:
Resorts are … making changes that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago, adding speakers to golf carts and Wi-Fi access on the course, building high-tech training centers and miniature golf putting courses, and peppering corporate golf events with tangentially related activities like using golf clubs to hit marshmallows or throwing Frisbees around the course.
The challenge for any traditional business is to balance the need to attract a new demographic without alienating the proven customer base. And the jury is still out on the golf course, but it looks like they are leaning toward ruling in favor of the youngsters. Case in point: the article share that California’s Rosewood CordeValle has allowed cell phones on the course since 2010 and began offering course-wide wifi in 2012. And their age demographic has dropped four years over the last two years. It doesn’t say if that is due to attracting more Millennials or fewer Boomers, but the resort clearly sees it as a win.
Boomers turn to golf to get away from it all, but it seems that may be getting harder and harder. Have you experienced this trend? Good for business or losing your business