MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR GOLF COURSES IN THE CONTEXT OF CRISIS: CASE STUDY OF THE WESTERN ALGARVE

Abstract

The current economic and financial crisis puts the golf courses in the Algarve in an unprecedented situation: general decline in revenues (green fees, F&B, …) and general increase in costs (energy, VAT, …). Thus, this research takes in its central objective the identification and study of the current strategy options of the golf courses in the Western Algarve. We may conclude that the new organizational and competitive models of golf in the Algarve must point out the “value of money”, intensify the training of human resources, restructure costs and pay attention to the growing margin the domestic market may represent. It is considered that any measures taken by each course in these fields, if singly taken, are doomed to a short-term success, because in a macro framework of increased restrictions only cooperation between the golf courses will bear the dimension, efficiency and competitiveness of the product.