The recession has taken another bite out of the golf travel industry. Following on from the Liquidation of both Barwell Leisure and Rightclub, Inta Group ceased trading 23rd October 2009.
Inta Group comprised of 3D Golf, Bill Goff Golf Holidays, Longshot Golf Holidays & 4Golf.com, Teetimes Anywhere.com. It was considered to be the 3rd largest golf tour operator in the UK. This news follows the merger of the above brands in 2007.
The websites for Bill Goff, Longshot, 4golf.com and Teetimes Anywhere are all down. however 3D Golf appear to have struck an introducer agreement with Your Golf Travel.
YGT is considered to be the 2nd largest UK Tour Operator in the UK and following the acquisition of Rightclub and the 3D Golf - they will have Golfbreaks.com in their sights.
All of this may be good news for YGT and Golf Breaks.com, however it leaves a near monopolistic environment for the UK Golf Travel market place, with only mid-sized players such as Premier Iberian and Golf Kings still breathing.
In particular, Golf break reliant courses across the UK, Spain and Portugal must have concerns as their UK footfall suppliers shrink amidst recession and a strong Euro.
15 comments:
A little disinegnous to say that the demise of INTA only leaves Premier Iberian and Golf Kings. There are at least 40 golf tour operators still thriving of whom my company Greencard Golf is but one.
We have to realise that too many golf operators are selling at rock bottom prices, caused by predatory pricing by the big boys who are also failing to make any profit, since their conception. It is high time everyone looked at profit, rather than rolling cash flow and volume. The value of market prices has been eroded by penetration pricing in traditional markets, I see there being more casualties in the next 6 months with the weak pound being another major factor.
Richard, with great respect, your business is obviously in good shape - however the Golf Travel Industry is in real problems and as David says - the 2 big players Golf Breaks and YGT have shredded margins, placed an enormous amount of pressure on suppliers and are looking to monopolise the industry.
A backlash from suppliers is coming. INTA were in to 2 suppliers in Portugal for over 0.5 million - they will all look for direct customer acquisition. Intersting times and best of luck to both of you.
Why book via touroperators if you can book directly with the golf courses. This way you avoid extra fees, and the situation that just occured re. INTA Group.
If you have a booking with an Inta Group company, 4golf, teetimesanywhere, Bill Goff, Longshot, the Oceânico Group will be able to assist you with golf rounds & accommodation in the Algarve. www.oceanicogolf.com info@oceanicogolf.com - they are very helpful and understanding indeed.
Yes Monners we realise that YGT and Golfbreaks are going head to head to try and corner the market and good luck to them. They'll probably go bust in the process. Being in the business for 30 years I saw it all before when BA tried to do the same.
As soon as BA raised margins they lost their market share. The only thing that works in this business is delivering a great service to build up a loyal customer base.
That's what we have done and it enabled us to surcharge in the thick of the £'s free fall thus protecting margins.
But much more importantly we specialise in tournaments which you can't book on the internet. If you want to play in our event you have to book with us.
PS David I hope things work out for you.
Richard
Intersting times ahead of all Golf TO's. Your product looks like a niche within a niche so best of luck for all your events, and I may even be tempted to front up on one of them for next year!!
David, breat site and very good golf product. Its also interesting that Oceanico has appeared on this blog......
I'm sure these won't be the only ones that go under. I'm sticking with Nevada Bob's Golf Holidays (http://www.nevadabobsgolfholidays.co.uk/), they've been great. Even more reason to trust big brands, and avoid the greedy ones. Bite of more than they can chew.
Errr If you look at Nevada Bobs Golf Holidays its using an out of date TTA License and therefore trading illegally......
I would check your bookings immediately...
Dear Golfer,
You may have already heard news of the collapse of Inta Group, which traded under companies such as 3D Golf, 4Golf, Bill Goff and Longshot. Whilst this is not good news for their customers, golf courses and resorts throughout Europe, Your Golf Travel is committed to help those Inta Group customers who had already booked, or were looking to book, in the coming weeks and months. We are have set up a dedicated line to help all past Inta clients to help with any issues – please call 0207 336 5356 to speak with a member of our sales team.
YourGolfTravel.com is Europe’s No.1 golf travel provider as more golfers than ever are taking advantage of our great European special offers. Our price promise to golfers ensures you will receive the lowest price possible booking with Your Golf Travel.
We have a great selection of special offers available, with the added advantage of our Early Eagle promotion where you can get up to £300 off your golf holiday to Europe or further afield.
Click here to see all our full range of fantastic golf holidays.
Kind Regards,
Nick Bishop
Director of European Sales
Your Golf Travel Limited
Well it seems as some of this information is way out of date. since we released our golf GDS a few weeks ago we have seen over 1000 golfers book tee times.
As per our press release which we re-released again we are offering any golfer €100 of free tee time vouchers every time they book before the end of Feb
This is not driving prices down its called marketing and givign golfers a good deal www.okreserved.com
John what relationship did you have with INTA?
Thanks For blog with useful informations.
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Most golf clubs and resorts offer discounted packages during the off-season and increase the rates in peak season.Golfing Holidays
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