Best known for its customized golf trips to Scotland, Ireland and England, PerryGolf is going more global.
Beginning Sept. 1, the Atlanta-based company will offer customized golf tours to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy. The new destinations are the first additions to PerryGolf's travel portfolio since Spain and Portugal were added in 1991 and France was added in 2003.
The idea behind adding the new destinations, PerryGolf President Gordon Dalgleish told PGA.com, is to expand beyond the company's core British Isles destinations and its core clientele of male golfers, whose average age is 54 and whose average handicap is 14.
"These guys spend an appreciable amount of money, on average, on trips to the British Isles, but it's probably not their only trip of the year," Dalgleish said. "Golf is an important part of life to these guys."
Indeed. But perhaps most important, most of "these guys" are married. And therein is the key to PerryGolf's new destination offerings.
"Some other destinations we've had, such as Spain and Portugal, we haven't done much of a job promoting them. Italy and South Africa are more couples-type destinations with excellent golf," Dalgleish said.
The idea, Dalgleish said, is that PerryGolf's existing customer base is primarily made up of men who take a "guys" golf trip to the British Isles, their wives might be interested in accompanying them on say, a 12-day trip to South Africa.
"They can play three or four great golf courses, do a safari and go to Cape Town," Dalgleish said. "New Zealand holds the same allure, except for the safari."
In Italy, Dalgleish said, couples can combine with cooking schools and even driving schools.
"You can get a vintage Fiat or Ferrari," Dalgleish said. "It's a different sale. It's not links golf and drinking malt whiskey and smoking cigars, but I think there is a fairly solid base of people that have the affluence and the interest -- and who are young enough -- to enjoy other destinations from more a lifestyle perspective."
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