UPEI School of Business and Tourism Research Centre receive research award
The Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) recently selected a paper written by Dr. Sean Hennessey, Dr. Dongkoo Yun, and Dr. Roberta MacDonald for a SIRC Research Award. The paper, ‘The Economic Impact of Golf to a Tourist Destination,' won the ‘Impact of Sport on a Community' category. The award includes a cash prize of $2,000.
'This is great news for both the School of Business and the Tourism Research Centre,' stated coauthor MacDonald, Dean of the UPEI School of Business. 'This is research that supports Tourism PEI's decision in recent years to support and promote our golfing industry and it ties University research directly back to the community.'
In 2005, a study was commissioned by Golf PEI and surveys were distributed to visitors at 24 golf courses which are members of Golf PEI. Over the 2005 golfing season, 3,397 surveys were completed by golfers. The paper focuses on golfing visitors, mainly profiling dedicated golfers, those who played more than 25 rounds annually.
'This is the group of visitors that PEI wishes to attract,' said Hennessey. 'They have higher disposable incomes, and are much more likely to golf, stay, and eat at the more expensive locations. The average amount they spend is also much higher than the amount spent by the average visitor to PEI.'
One interesting result is the importance word of mouth has in the process of gathering information about golf in PEI or for particular golf courses. Almost half of the respondents relied on friends, relatives, or coworkers for this type of information. Less than seven per cent of respondents relied on TV ads and the visitor information package to gather information about golfing in PEI.
'The PEI golf product is viewed very favourably by our golfing visitors,' explained Hennessey. 'Over 95 per cent of survey respondents said their golf experience in PEI met or exceeded expectations, while 80 per cent of golfers were likely to return to PEI to golf in the future.'
For more information, please contact Dr. Sean Hennessey at (902) 566-0523 or hennessey@upei.ca.
About SIRC
SIRC is a not-for-profit amateur sport organization with the mandate to provide information and serve the educational needs of organizations and individuals involved in, or responsible for the development of, sport and fitness in Canada and around the world.
