During this year’s IGTM, GolfSwitch signed an agreement with the website Leadingcourses.com, Europe’s leading independent consumer golf review site. Golfers can look up independent and consumer lead information on golf courses they are intending to play or to find out which are the best rated courses in a region, which can influence their decision. Through this agreement, golfers that look at or post reviews on Leadingcourses.com can now also book a round of golf in real time through a ‘Book Tee Time’ link.
Jo Maes, Managing Director GolfSwitch International Ltd: “Signing agreements with the leading websites in Europe so they too can expose their clients to online and real time bookings can only be good for the industry. When we are able to process more and more rounds online, ultimately, the cost of booking a round of golf goes down. This will eventually trickle down into better facilities, better maintenance, better service or even better pricing. It will also make booking a round of golf easier and more straight forward for the golfer. We are extremely pleased to be associated with Leadingcourses.com and to provide them and their customer base with the best online tools available today.”
GolfSwitch has also installed its Yield Management System in some properties in the US and the first results after three to six months running the Yield Management Suite are absolutely staggering. Courses have reported between 20 and 40% rise in revenue just by effectively yielding their available inventory. The system dynamically and in real time alters pricing down or up depending on Yield Rules set by the course. These rules consider how many days out golfers’ book, the availability of tee times that day, hour, time block etc and even weather or special alerts. It allows golf courses to yield their own website differently than resellers. Courses can push single players into empty slots to fill up the tee sheet and maximize the revenue generated. Of course, Yield Management is not new and has been in use in the hotel, airline, and the rental car industry for years but the principles remain the same. Yielding your tee times allows you to effectively push perishable inventory to a demanding and differentiated consumer base.
Jo Maes, Managing Director GolfSwitch International Ltd added: “We knew that our Yield Management system would positively influence course revenue but we did not realize that it would make such a massive impact, in such a short period of time. Yield Management does require a shift in thinking how to manage and maximize course revenue. The traditional rate sheet goes out of the window. We are confident that this is just a matter of time and some education until golfers embrace it as they do with other industries. As a golfer you know that when you book in advance, you are likely to get a better deal and this benefits the golf club as they can plan further ahead.’
GolfSwitch has cemented itself as the world leader in online tee time technology and provides courses a number of engines that suit their needs. GolfSwitch’s business integrity very much separates them from competitors. They allow courses to dictate the green fee rate and availability shown.
For more information on the GolfSwitch Yield Management System and other course centric tools please contact GolfSwitch at 480.429.7280 or at sales@golfswitch.com, to be connected with your regional representative.
Information for journalists:
• GolfSwitch’s community platform Golfhub.com already covers a large part of Europe and, with more communities coming online in various countries, Golfhub is steadily becoming Europe’s largest online golf community.
• Golfhub is completely PCI compliant and has a Safe Harbor certificate.
• GolfSwitch is the world’s largest online real time tee time distribution network. With more than 2,500 connected courses and four-million transactions processed per year, GolfSwitch has become the go-to organization to market available tee times.
• Outside of the USA, GolfSwitch’s European network connects courses in GB&I, the Benelux countries, France, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Tunisia, Italy and Germany. It is currently developing the network to expand into Eastern Europe, North Africa and Scandinavia. Resellers include some of the biggest travel companies in Europe with TUI and all their brands, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, KLM Air France Flying Blue Golf and many other smaller tour operators.
• Golfhub International Ltd. is an Irish registered company – Tel: +353 1 44 290 16.
Contact:
Jo Maes (jmaes@golfswitch.com)
GolfSwitch International Ltd – www.golfhub.com, www.golfswitch.com
Office: +353.1.4429016
Skype Acc: jo_maes
Hannah Mall (hmall@golfswitch.com)
GolfSwitch USA – www.golfhub.com, www.golfswitch.com
Office: 480.429.7280
