Homing In On the Answer

A better goal is to make clubs or resorts places that all people want to habitually go to, instead of being at home

by Joe Barks (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
February 2008
 

Normally when a “white paper” from a big-name consulting firm comes across my desk or computer screen, I jump back like it’s a disease-carrying rodent or bug. But when I was recently sent Ernst & Young’s “Top 10 Thoughts for Hospitality in 2008,” something caught my eye, just before I was about to bring down my arm and swat it to death with the delete key.

The first “thought” on the Ernst & Young list was that some club and resort properties now have the potential to become “second- home alternatives.”  The consulting firm was referring specifically to condominium-hotels, fractionals, and destination clubs that all have real-estate components—but it was the “second home” concept that got my attention, as something I think should be the overriding objective for all properties, from daily-fee golf courses to the highest-end full-service private clubs and resorts.

At pretty much every property I visit, managers now talk to me about how they’re striving to become more “family friendly.” But as our Publisher Tom McIntyre points out in his column in this issue (page 1), that’s really just part of the answer. And being “family friendly,” as I see many clubs defining it, also seems to dismiss some other equally important and potentially strong segments of the customer base, such as singles, or older couples. 

A better goal, I think, is to make a club or resort a place that all people—no matter how young or old they are, or if they’re alone or part of a larger unit—will want to habitually go to as a natural alternative to being at home.

For a daily-fee, this can mean making your course so accessible and such a pleasant escape that you have plenty of regular players who just can’t wait to bolt out of work and get over to your place for a round. For a private club, it can mean your F&B is so good, and the atmosphere is so lively, members’ families jump up in their own kitchens and say, “Hey, let’s get out of here and go eat at the club.” For a destination resort, it can mean offering so many amenities and such great service, none of your meeting and event customers or regular vacationers never say, “We should look for another place next year.”    
The huge surge to provide “comfort foods” in the restaurant business is based on the proven appeal of giving people what they like to have at home—but when they don’t want to be at home. Are you doing all you can to position yourself as a “comfort club”?