While the number of golfers remains flat and corporate golf outings have sharply declined in the U.S., Dana Communications is experiencing an upswing in golf business. The hospitality and travel lifestyle marketing agency’s roster of golf clients has grown to include Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club, Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah Island Real Estate, Makena Beach & Golf Resort, PGA Magazine, Preferred Golf, Royal Isabela, The Golf Connection International, The Villas at Grand Cypress and Turtle Bay Resort. All in all, Dana represents over 20 top-notch golf courses in locations ranging from Puerto Rico to Maui to New Jersey.
“Like everyone else, golf has been hit by the current economy, but it hasn’t helped that it had become aligned with the luxury segment of our industry—which really felt the economic backlash,” says Dana President Robert Prewitt. “In addition to building back its business, golf has to fight the ‘luxury’ perception of exclusivity and pampering that is really not part of the true golf tradition. Remember, golf was invented by shepherds, not Donald Trump.”
Interestingly, Prewitt, an avid golfer himself, predicts that it will take the latest marketing technologies to help golf reestablish its grand old tradition. “The fact is, the golf world has been late to the game in taking advantage of the resources and services we already provide to our other hospitality and travel clients—specifically website development, e-marketing, social networking presence, PPC advertising, use of distribution channels and ROI analysis,” says Prewitt. “I’m excited about Dana’s role in helping craft the message about golf in this new marketing environment. To me, golf is the greatest of all games, and it needs to get back to its roots: being outdoors, experiencing nature, enjoying the health benefits and learning more about yourself.” Prewitt will be talking more about the future of golf at the PGA 2010 Fall Expo in Las Vegas on August 17-18, 2010, where he will lead a seminar on golf resort branding in the digital age.
Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, Dana Communications is a leading hospitality and travel lifestyle marketing agency with offices in New York City, Princeton, NJ, the Carolinas and San Francisco, California.
