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The entrance to the golf courses at Tryall in Hanover.
Gordon Hutchinson, Guest Writer
It may be surprising to many to learn that golfing visitors brought more than US$200 million (J$14 billion) into the economy in 2006, based on Jamaica Golf Association estimates.
Taxes derived from the golf industry are estimated at more than J$1.5 billion.
This was achieved with very little promotion of golf as an attraction.
Doubling earnings
With minimal additional injection of promotional resources, the annual earnings can be doubled over the next five years.
Jamaica can no longer allow these opportunities to slip by while others around us are aggressively exploiting them to the fullest.
Today, sports has become extremely popular around the world for persons of all age groups, especially as regular physical exercise is considered an important component of a healthy lifestyle.
One of the most significant growth areas in the travel industry is sports tourism.
The World Tourism Organisation estimates the annual value of the travel and leisure industry at US$4.5 trillion per annum.
Sports tourism is conservatively estimated to contribute at least US$500 billion per year.
Countries and major cities around the world are busily competing to host major sporting events that, among other things, earn foreign exchange and promote their hospitality industries as well as opportunities for trade and investment.
An estimated one million people turned out to watch the start of the Tour de France in London last year with London's economy benefiting by more than £120 million.
Unfortunately, for any one sport, a destination such as Jamaica may find it impractical to host more than one event each year or even one every five years.
It is important, however, for Jamaica as a country to host events in as many different sports as is practical and as often as possible as each sport draws virtually a different following.
Jamaica as a golf destination
The world has some 60 million golfers, of whom about 32 million live in our closest and most important tourist market, North America.
Golf, indeed, is significant to Jamaica as a tourist attraction for several reasons:
Good conducive climate for golfing all year long. A fair number of excellent and world-class golf courses with more to be added in the next few years. The major golf resorts are very close to an international airport, Sangster International, and the airlift from the major North American markets is good. The golfing visitor spends substantially more than the typical visitor. Golf attracts a higher-quality visitor who is likely to become a repeat visitor, develop a business relationship or seek investment and trading opportunities in the host country.Of all the major sports, golf currently earns more foreign exchange for Jamaica than any other sport. Last year, with some 130,000 rounds of golf played by an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 visitors, total foreign exchange earned was about US$200 million.
But, how much did Government spend on golf promotion last year? Probably less than US$50,000, even though more than US$20 million in taxes would have been earned from golf tourism alone.
Golf is big business. We must see it as such and allocate the necessary resources to its development and promotion to allow for its full earning potential as a tourist attraction to be realised.
To put it in proper perspective, over US$100 million (J$7 billion) was spent by Government alone on Cricket World Cup in 2007 and they expected to earn US$9 million (J$630 million). That is less than five per cent of what we earned from golf. Yet, to promote golf, we spent less than 1/20th of a per cent of what was spent to host Cricket World Cup.
A mere US$1 million (J$70 million) spent on promoting golf would have earned Jamaica at least an additional US$50 million including J$350 million in taxes by the following year.
Indeed, we should be spending US$3 million (J$210 million) to US$10 million (J$700 million) million per year on golf tourism promotion alone.
Benefits will flow
The benefits would start flowing immediately and, as Jamaica becomes known as a golf destination, they would continue to flow for years to come.
Both public sector and private sector stakeholders should contribute equitably to the promotional costs.
Successful golf destination marketing for Jamaica will require a sustained collaborative effort by both sectors.
We already have a lot going in our favour. Sports tourism is the name of the game for the future. But it needs to be developed. Major events will draw large numbers of visitors and provide good promotional value for the country as a whole.
Barbados spent at least US$4 million on World Cup Golf in 200 it only has four championship golf courses on the island, three of which were built in the last 10 years. Two are limited-access private courses.
Barbados has committed to hosting a major international motorsport event in 2008 and has vowed to continue hosting major international sporting events annually as a means of promoting itself as a top-class visitor destination and business centre.
Jamaica should also continue promoting itself as a prime visitor destination by hosting major international events.
In doing so, however, we must be mindful of the markets that we want to attract and select the right events and the right sports.
More important, however, we need to invest in sports that continue bringing visitors to the island.
For this reason, and for sheer unmatched economic returns, golf is the sport; golf is the attraction that will accomplish that objective.
Golf attracts the big spenders and big business. The developers of the Harmony Cove project that incorporates three golf courses appreciate this, and have said so, and will have golf as a major attraction at Jamaica's largest single investment in tourism.
St Lucia is building five new upscale golf resorts. The Dominican Republic will soon have 28 golf courses, including at least 10 new resort courses built in the last decade.
Let's learn from the achievements in the world's travel hot spots and in other Caribbean destinations.
The earnings from golf tourism can go a long way to providing basic services, education, health, security and generally raising the quality of life for all Jamaicans. Let's tee it up for sports tourism and for Jamaica. Golf will help us earn our way to economic stabilisation and prosperity.
Gordon Hutchinson is president of the Jamaica Golf Association. Email: g.hutchinson@ jamaicagolfassociation.com
Editor's Note: The Jamaican-related figures are based on Jamaica Golf Association estimates, not official data.
