Golf has taken a back seat while we're all trying to get a grip on the COVID19 pandemic. The immense sacrifices by the health care and other essential workers is not going unnoticed and it’s their hard work and the general public's diligence (in most cases) that has made a society restart in the near future possible. We have to thank them for it.
This restart will also include golf, the game we all love and the industry that brings employment, prosperity and joy to so many people. However, there will be conditions attached to this restart, the social element of golf will remain suppressed for some time with distancing measures to continue for the foreseeable future. The challenges that this will bring to our industry will require solutions, many of them technological, to allow us all to go back and play golf on courses worldwide.
The relationship between the golfer and the golf course and that particular tee time will change and in our opinion for the better. The 'rocking up' days are over. To play the game, golfers will have to book their tee time online and pay in advance. This allows golf courses to manage these tee times efficiently but will also bring the industry into the 21st century like hotels, flights, rental cars and others have done before them and will give golfers choice and access.
Golf courses will be looking to get in front of as many customers as possible in an efficient and cost effective way and will have to rethink their market reach with changing travel habits.
At Zest.Golf we are at the heart of the technological change that will power that relationship between golf course and golfer. Our tee time channel manager solution allows golf courses to manage the various distribution channels all in one place. Courses will regain control of their availability and price and can get in front of both a local and international audience all via one platform.
Online connectivity for tee times has always been a difficult nut to crack in Europe given the number of software providers in the various markets. Some systems are commercial, some are federation driven ... all with vastly different technology specs. This has not given the golf travel industry an easy ride and it wasn’t able to move with the times.
Zest.golf takes away that issue as we are able to interface with all these different software systems and provide access to all sales channels. We are able to provide a cost effective solution for the courses and different channels who now have access to many more markets all from one platform.
The COVID19 crisis and the sudden closure of the golf markets at the start of the season made it very clear that operators/channels with live access to their booked tee times were able to manage changes quicker and more efficiently on behalf of their customers. Operators that still booked the conventional way, were struggling to get through to a golf course that was swamped by emails and phone calls.
Golf sales channels like Conventional Tour Operators, Online Travel Agents, media sites, DMC's, golf playing apps, local hotels, neighbouring courses and anybody that has a golf audience will now be able to sell tee times across various destinations. The connection between golf course and channel works via a simple (either way) invitation process. Golf courses approve a channel connection by allocating booking conditions and a rate structure. The relationship between course and channel is then managed online and bookings get posted directly and in real time into their own software system.
During the CV19 lockdown, our staff has worked tirelessly (from home) and have continued to improve the platform that will redefine the relationship between course and partner sales channels. We already have courses in various destinations connected and showing live tee times. We have close to 40 channels also working hard on solutions to be able to book live tee times for their customers. We are a Business Partner member of Global Golf Tourism Organisation IAGTO (International Association of Golf Tour Operators) to provide the best solutions for their members going forward.
Sign up is free of charge and can be done via this link. This allows us to set you up in our system. You will then have visibility on the platform and will be able to connect seamlessly to courses and channels and get ready to receive bookings.
We are ready for #golfpostcorona ... we want you to be ready as well.