Resorts Meet Corporate Groups' Midweek Golf Demand

Many hotel and resort properties are investing in golf amenities, hoping to lure more corporate meeting business. Corporate groups have become a major source of revenue for golf resorts, especially in midweek, non-peak periods, hoteliers said.

Myrtle Beach, S.C., long has been known as a golf destination, but properties in the area are now hoping to attract more corporate groups with new investment into meeting facilities and amenities.

Jim Eggen, general manager of Avista Resort in Myrtle Beach, said the property, which opened in July 2005, has begun to work with the city to try and bring in more corporate group business. Avista promotes golf packages for groups with a golf concierge, area attractions and meeting space. Additional planning services are also available with VIP amenities, registration materials and welcome packets.

"Besides the meeting, you want something to entertain your staff," he said. "Myrtle Beach certainly has that in this area, we just don't think that the word is getting out to enough people. We think it's going to increase. We have a major expansion at the airport."

With many hotels under construction in the area, Eggen said Myrtle Beach is ready to handle an influx of groups of any size. Though hit hard in the years following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Eggen said corporate clients are coming back.

"After 9/11, we definitely went into a downward spiral," he said. "I still don't think they've gotten up to those pre-levels where people were spending money looking for retreats. It's been a slow build-up. A lot of folks we talk to have stayed around where they're at and actually cancelled meetings, but it is slowly picking up again."

Kathi Grace, director of marketing for Myrtle Beach National Co., said corporate meeting business continues to increase in the area. The company owns and operates nine courses in the area and the Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort. The resort recently added a new section of 48 two-bedroom villas to bolster its meetings space. The villas, scheduled to open in June, are located close to conference facilities.

"We've survived 9/11 and our outlook is very good," she said. Groups make up about 15 percent of business at Litchfield, she said. Golf is the primary driver for these groups, she said, "We're always looking for more midweek business. That's been our challenge," she said, adding corporate business often is booked during that time.

Grace said corporate incentive business has dropped off in the past few years. "There's not as many incentives as there used to be, it's a decreasing portion of our business," she said. Corporate groups tend to be 80 to 120 attendees, she said.

Omni Hotels has invested heavily in three golf-focused properties in Tucson, Ariz., Orlando and Denver, said Tom Chevins, senior vice president of sales and marketing. "They are three distinctly different golf experiences designed around the corporate meetings market," Chevins said. "One destination golf resort, one southwest-themed golf resort and one urban resort."

The Orlando property's golf course was designed by golf pro Greg Norman and is the headquarters of the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, Chevins said, making it a "serious golf environment."

Omni's Tucson property on Jan. 17 opened a desert-style 18-hole course, giving the property two full championship courses. During the next three years the property plans to expand from 170 rooms to 250 rooms, Chevins said, and add meeting space.

All three properties offer spa facilities, Chevins said, which has become a required amenity in golf-focused corporate meetings.

Resort chains overseas have also begun to lure more corporate meeting business with golf-themed incentives. Quinta Real Grand Hotels and Resorts, with eight properties across Mexico, plans to hold a series of golf tournaments later this year to highlight its properties. Featured properties in the tournaments are Monterrey, Guadalajara, Huatulco and Acapulco and business executives from Mexico and the United States. have been invited. Francisco Martinez Hermosillo, vice president of Quinta Real, said the chain would like to increase its corporate group business by 15 percent this year.

Bookings from U.S. corporate groups have been on the rise, he said, as companies look for alternative properties with the same technology and service they expect from well-traveled destinations.

"Corporate groups have three requirements when they come to Mexico," according to Hermosillo. "They want to have a feeling for the country, they want to play golf and they want to go out and have a good time at a nice restaurant."