MSc in Tourism and Hospitality Management

Masters Dissertation

SESSION 2012/13

TITLE

GOLF TOURISM IN SCOTLAND.AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE

ECONOMIC AND SOCIOCULTURAL IMPACTS ON HOSTING COMUNITIES

AUTHOR

Alvaro Lopez Pedraza40077655

Supervisor: Pauline Gordon

Declaration

I declare that the work undertaken for this MSc Dissertation has been undertaken by myself and the final Dissertation produced by me. The work has not been submitted in part or in whole in regard to any other academic qualification.

Title of Dissertation:

Golf tourism in Scotland. An investigation into the economic and sociocultural impacts on hosting communities.

Name (Print):

Signature: ______________________________________________

Date: ______________________________________________

Abstract

Sport tourism has become more popular in recent years in the United Kingdom. In this study golf will be considered both as a recreational and as a professional competition sport in terms of its influence on tourism in Scotland. It will be analysed to identify if it has an economic or socio cultural impact and whether large tournaments like the Ryder Cup have a negative or positive impact on a hosting destination.

The economic and socio cultural impact analysis will be carried out by collecting particular opinions via questionnaires collected from communities where golf events are hosted to determine whether tourism can present a benefit or a problem for that community.

The study will help to identify the attitude towards the development in golf tourism in Scotland and if hosting communities agree with the idea that this tourism sector is beneficial to their lives and the economy in their region.

The use of quantitative methods such as self-completion questionnaires will be used to collect the results from different people and professionals in the industry and in the communities. This will be done to find out the value of golf tourism and for tourism in general in Scotland and furthermore whether sustainably viable and a well-established business in the tourism industry.

A collection of data from qualitative research will also be carried out in order to support what has been collected on the quantitative research.

An analysis will be done to match research and theory and to get to a final conclusion of whether golf benefits tourism in Scotland or not.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following people for their support and advice in the completion of this dissertation:

Pauline Gordon for all her time, attention, feedback and support during the last 5 months.

My family and specially my cousin Jaime for his recommendations and opinion.

My great friend Karin for her tips and advice in the last month. The people of Auchterarder, Gullane and St Andrew’s with an special mention

to Gavin Devereux, Lynne from the Black House shop in Gullane, Donald from the Old Course Hotel in St Andrew’s and to Danielle Dryburgh a shop retailer in St Andrew’s for their interest and stated opinions regarding golf tourism.

Contents Page

Section one: Introduction1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Reasons of the study 2

1.3 Background of the study 2 - 3

1.4 Aims and Objectives 4

1.5 Summary of methodology 4

Section two: Literature review2.1 Introduction to the chapter 5

2.2 Background to the study 5

2.3 Background of Golf Tourism in Scotland 6

2.4 Defining golf tourism and sport tourism 7

2.5 The role of marketing at the destination 7

2.5.1 Destination position and image of golf in Scotland 8

2.5.2 Golf visitor motivations 9

2.5.3 S.W.OT analysis 10

2.6 A sport event impact on hosting communities 10

2.6. Golf tournament impacts 10

2.6.1 Positive and negative economic impacts 10

2.6.1.1 Positive impacts 11

2.6.1.2 Negative Impacts 12

2.6.2 Socio cultural impacts 12

2.6.2.1 Positive impacts 13

2.6.2.2 Negative impacts 14

2.7 Summary of the main points 15

2.8 The Ryder Cup example 16

2.9 Summary of the chapter 17

Section three: research Methodology3.1 Introduction 18

3.2 An approach to a philosophical research 18

3.3 Sampling technique 19

3.4 Quantitative and qualitative research 20

3.5 Research methods – Questionnaires 21

3.6 Pilot Study 22

3.7 Conducting the research 23

3.8 Ethical concerns 24

3.9 Reliability, Validity and Generalisability 25

3.10 Limitations 26

3.11 Summary of the chapter 26

Section four: research findings4.1 Introduction 27

4.2 Questionnaire with potential respondents 27

4.2.1. Section 1: Profile of respondents 28

4.2.2. Section 2: Community involvement, behaviours 31

4.3.3. Section 3: Acceptance towards Golf Tourism 33

4.3 Perceptions towards potential impacts 38

4.4 Concerns about Golf Tourism Impact 38

4.5 Comments from locals 39

4.6 Recommendations Made 39

4.7 Interest in research 39

4.8 Summary of the chapter 40

Section five: conclusions and recommendations5.1 Conclusion 41

5.2 Recommendations 41

5.3 Conclusion 42

Section 6: References6.1 References 44 - 49

Figures Figure 1. Socio Demographic variables 28

Figure 2. Age Categories 29

Figure 3. Length of residence 29

Figure 4. Closeness to a Golf Course 30

Figure 5. Income from golf 30

Figure 6. Interest in golf 30

Figure 7. Community involvement 31

Figure 8. Impact statement results 33

AppendicesAppendix I 50

Appendix II 51

Appendix III 51

Appendix IV 52

Appendix V 53

Appendix VI 53 - 54

Part one: Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Golf tourism has become a key factor in sport tourism in the last few years (SQW, 2011: 1) with reasonable growth in people interested in the sport in popular markets and in emerging markets. The sport has been very popular in Scotland for many years and attracts thousands of tourists every year to visit the country to follow golf events and also play in one of the many courses.

Golf events whether small like local tournaments or large and internationally known have an impact on hosting communities. The main topics this research will cover will be the economic and socio – cultural impacts that affect local populations in Scotland. Public opinion in this will be crucial and will help the study to support or go against what has been stated by researchers and with reality of people’s views.

Events like The Open Championship, The Scottish Open, The Alfred Dunhill Links, The Senior Open and upcoming after 40 years Ryder Cup are a great source of tourism income for Scotland. They create an opportunity for people in hosting communities by providing access to training, skills and economical compensation during the days of the tournaments and above all the importance of hosting golf events helps the communities to re - generate their image and increase their pride as a hosting community.

The down side of these events will also be covered in the study as it is important to identify the negative impacts in order to plan how to keep them to a minimum and avoid incidents.

The paper below has been divided in three main parts:

• Background study• Review of research• Research methods

The first part is a background study and will refer to the intention of the research. This will state the aims and objectives of the research. It will also discuss the approach that was followed and will provide a description of the different chapters and topics that will be covered and the data that will be used in each.

The second part reviews the research against the stated theory. It will discuss how marketing also plays a key role in golf promotions and the value of the brand and the image of the country towards visitor’s perceptions. Economic and socio cultural impacts will be analysed to determine the impact of golf tourism and events have on hosting communities.

The third part will define the research method and analysis. This section will look at all the methods that will be described and take a deep study of the data collected.

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1.2 Reasons of the study

Recent and past studies done by authors named below in following sections have highlighted the importance of golf tourism for the economy of countries where golf is played, the interest in the sport and desire to visit Scotland the ‘Home of Golf’ has seen a rapid development. 2014 is an important date for golfers and hosting communities and mainly to Auchterarder the closest community to Gleneagles where the Ryder Cup will be hosted. It will be a great occasion to establish the country as a top destination for golf and will also help in future of sport tourism strategies.

The main reason for carrying research into golf tourism in Scotland is that it is considered beneficial to the economy and the image of the country. This study aims to discover how local people react towards the development of golf tourism.

Golf has been played in Scotland for many years and brings visitors to the country every year. Locals generally have a positive attitude about it and try to participate and being involved in working with golf organisations to provide assistance to attendants by working as a volunteer or any other position. On the contrary people in affected communities can find golf tourism negative as it can disrupt their lives, especially when golf events are organised and thousands of people arrive to follow a tournament for a period of time on nearby golf courses to their communities, these examples and other possible positive and negative effects that also generates golf tourism will be covered in the study.

It has been seen that there are many sources for researching about golf tourism, sources such as academic journals, books, web sites, reports, magazines, local people opinions reflected through questionnaires, many of which will be used to help with the research study and in the elaboration of the project.

1.3 Background of the study

Golf Tourism is seen as a special sport orientated for two demographic categories: residents and non-residents. Considered participants or spectators both have a link with the sport back or at home and practise the sport regularly (Hudson and Hudson, 2010:5).

A study done by (Gibson, 2006) states that golfers behaviour is very particular, they have a goal of achievement when practising the sport, when competing they are very committed and they have as their main motivation to achieve a good result when investing money in playing. When they travel in most of the occasions they are prepared as they have been training, in contrast with other leisure practise where there are no aims apart for the only one of relaxing and where no progress is made, such as walking or sunbathing.

Golf is generally seen as a leisure sport, attracts an important number of golfers every year to Scotland. In 2010 the number of visitors that came over was 136,800 living behind £ 119 million on their visits (Nolan, 2011).

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These numbers are expected to increase by 2020, the country is considered as ‘the Home of Golf’ and also due to the fact that it has some of the best golf courses as well as very well-known golf resorts like Gleneagles, which was awarded with the best in the World by the Daily Telegraph in 2012 (Gleneagles, 2013). Golf tourism is a potential factor for the economy of the country. In addition to this, next year also the Commonwealth Games will be hosted in Glasgow supposing a beneficial year for the economy of Scotland.

There has been some important golf events organised in Scotland throughout the years. It is important to highlight the celebration of the 2014 Ryder Cup a golf competition played every two years since 1927 alternating between Europe and the United States of America with the exception to the period 1937 – 1940 during the World War II and in 2001 due to the terrorist attacks in New York, (Kelley, 2013). It is the most prestigious golf tournament and it will cause an important socio and economic impact on the hosting community.

When big events are to be held and a sport is played at a destination. It is highly recommended to collect resident’s opinions. This will imply the delivery of questionnaires to locals and individuals to collect some supportive data and sustain the conclusion whether sporting events will be beneficial for a hosting community.

The work below will research about positive potential facts that golf tourism and golf events on Scotland can bring and on another hand some negative effects that can alter the lives of hosting community members around the country.

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1.4 Aims and objectives

The aim of this study is:

To analyse that Golf Tourism and punctual events like the 2014 Ryder Cup are seen as a positive or negative manner by hosting communities and to get to a final conclusion of locals perception towards golf practises.

They key objectives are:

To discuss the relationship between golf and tourism and identify the pulling factors that attract people to practise golf, expend time and money on their vacation and if the attitude of hosting communities is important.

To investigate the marketing techniques that tourism and golf organisations are using to promote Scotland’s image as a primary golf destination and how the communities will be benefit from this.

To build a theoretical framework on Golf Tourism and identify some key positive and negative factors that must be taken into account by all people involved in golf practises development.

To collect supporting data via self-completion questionnaires from people living in communities nearby golf courses and compare their opinions towards golf development

1.5 Summary of Methodology

The main method to make a study based on primary research followed in this study is the quantitative approach; it has helped the researcher to get some responses by using questionnaires. The findings have been reliable and valid to proceed in comparing the theory and the research from people’s opinions.

A qualitative research has also been followed although on a smaller scale juts by using a comment section on the questionnaire to collect personal and real opinions towards the topic. (See chapter 3 for more details).

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Part two: Literature review

2.1 Introduction to the chapter

This chapter will reflect some of the research that has been found while taking a previous investigation by the researcher, the reason of the study will be shown to understand the main purpose of carrying a research about golf tourism and how important for all the organisations in the industry of golf in Scotland is to have the opinion from locals towards a right golf development.

A background of the study an about golf tourism in Scotland will be covered as well as a chapter to define sport and golf tourism in order to guide the reader towards the the understanding of the topic. A small section will cover how is golf tourism promoted and why is marketing important to re - generate the image of a local community and why it is also essential to comment about some ways of promotions done by the main golf marketing companies in Scotland and how this can affect a hosting destination and can help to locate them on the map among golfers in order to attract them to come to Scotland.

And finally a deeper and wider study about the main issue and key of the project the impact of golf tourism on hosting communities divided in positive and negative economic and sociocultural impacts.

2.2 Background of the study

Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the World (UNESCO, 2010), sport tourism has become a great source of income for hosting populations (Stavenden and de Knop, 1999) in this chapter the particular market of golf tourism will be discussed, which are the factors that need to be considered when it is developed and which are the impacts and impediments that may occur when practised.

Recent studies have collected the impact of some key golf events, some of them will be followed as an example to discover how they have affected the destinations throughout the last years in communities where major events like The Open Championship have been and are going to be played. These communities are St Andrew’s where golf is the third motor of the economy of the town, Gullane with Muirfield one of the oldest and well – known golf courses in Scotland where the event will be played in July 2013 and Auchterarder where the Ryder Cup will be played in 2014, in these key places organizations need the opinion and the cooperation from locals in order to have a viable and beneficial golf development for all the stakeholders and people involved in the industry.

This particular sport played by around 60 m people in the World (British Golf Foundation, 2013) has been studied for years and an important amount of literature published about golf tourism practises has been found. The studies done by people in the tourism industry in recent years about golf tourism and golf events impact on

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communities will be covered to know how the destination is seen in the golf industry and which will be the economic and socio cultural impacts that are caused positively or negatively on a hosting community by golf development.

Mentioning some controversy that golf tourism has originated is important, although in this case it has been argued that this tourism practice is not considered as bad as others and most studies have found that golf tourism is more beneficial than prejudicial for hosting communities.

2.3 Background of Golf Tourism in Scotland

Scotland is known worldwide for its landscapes and golf courses. It all started in the 15th century when the sport started to become popular, this a key factor to attract people to attend events like the Open Championship or the Ryder Cup. Golf promoters find it as a great opportunity. Robertson, the marketing manager in Visit Scotland says: ‘golf companies and stakeholders spend double money in golf promotion than other businesses with a result of £ 30 m income a year for the Scottish economy’, furthermore (Claire, 2007) states that golfers spend £ 5 on shopping and dining on top of every single £ 1 paid for the green fees ( the fee that has to be paid to play a round of golf on any golf course, golf also opens new opportunities to bring visitors in emerging markets like China and Russia.

Previous research show that Scotland is known as the most famous destination to play the sport and has given the country an advantage over its more direct competitors in the United Kingdom and Europe.

In addition, the richness of the culture and heritage has also helped golf tourism to become established as an attractive product for overseas markets as golfers also enjoy visiting and heritage sites and discovering the Scottish attractions and traditions (Mc Lellan and Smith, 1998).

(Butler, cited in Higham, 2005) analysed the case of St Andrew’s, a little coastal town in the east of Scotland that is considered the ‘Home of golf’ and where golf and tourism represent the third most important motor for the town’s economy. Golf has been played in Scotland for many years and has brought with it the opportunity for locals and private businesses to work in the industry; it also represents the main attraction for people from overseas and it is found as a sustainable and viable business for the future.

However a further investigation in this study will show some issues that may occur when golf tourism takes place and whether the local community totally agrees with its development.

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2.4 Defining golf tourism and sport tourism

One of the main reasons to define golf and sport tourism is because travelling for sport tourism and sport events is rapidly growing and there is a potential factor to attract tourism and give opportunities to residents to work as volunteers, temporary or part time employees and even participate in the event as spectators.

Golf tourism, is a practise where a person has the intention to play golf or when golf is practised as a secondary activity when travelling (Fernandez, 2010).

Sport tourism is a temporal trip done by a person that wants to travel to practise a sport or even follow a sport event (Preuss et al, 2007).

(Gammon and Kurtzman, 2002) claimed that since the 1990’s there has been a notable growth in the interest of the relationship between sport and travel with more diverse sports practises and people interested in different sports. The participation in sport in a destination is also considered as a key pulling factor for motivation and as a result it has brought the existence of different behaviour levels towards sport tourism practise.

As (Kraus, 2001) affirms: the relationship of leisure, sport and Tourism is evident. People have a necessity to relax and disconnect from their normal environment and they voluntarily choose a sport to actively or passively participate in as a self – esteem experience.

2.5 The role of marketing at the destination

Marketing is important to ensure visitor attendance, nowadays due to the financial recession. It is highly recommended to differentiate the product and work on reaching the customers’ needs with new development techniques and unique offers to reach niche markets and avoid competitiveness, (Hall et al, 2005).

It has been found that Great Britain and also Ireland and Northern Ireland are the most direct competitors for Scotland in Golf Tourism. Therefore there is a need for the country and hosting communities to have a future planning and evaluate the actual advantages and disadvantages and have a clear strategic to plan to meet the needs of the visitors and fulfil their expectations (Hanlan et al, 2006).

Visit Scotland spent £1 m pounds in 2004 on golf marketing campaigns. It is a well-established niche market, not very expensive, very authentic and above all it transmits a good sensation to visitors and local communities especially because most of the golf courses work under sustainable standards. (Yeoman et al, 2009).

Previous research has seen golf as a well-positioned business in Scotland, considered ‘the Home of Golf’, even though as (Morgan,1996 ) mentions there is a need to differentiate the golf product by comparison to what competitors offer and in

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order to get the interest of customers and have the advantage and a strong unique promotion to increase the demand.

It is also crucial for a destination to have established a marketing strategy. This can help the organizations to have a clear idea of what new products are needed to be sold to the visitor and it is also an effective strategy to adapt the visitor demand with the changes in the tourism market (Davidson and Rogers, 2006: 35 – 36) in this case to attract a particular customer whom main pulling factor is golf.

Studies done in this field have come to the conclusion that it is important to refer to advertising, in current times as it is the most effective way to attract masses, in the case of golf the internet, TV, newspapers and magazines are the best drivers to promote golf tourism every year, and in particular the outdoor media is frequently used by golf courses to advertise golf tournaments (See appendix II) is a clear example of a unique marketing campaign. (Mc Cabe, 2009: 225 – 229).

Another key marketing factor for golf tourism in Scotland that helped in the development of tourism are other campaigns such as the one launched in the Scottish Borders in 2012 the ‘discover golf in the Scottish Borders’ (Visit Scotland, 2012) that had the main aim to attract visitors to some of the beautiful golf courses located on the Scottish Borders.

2.5.1 Destination image, branding and position

The image of a destination connects cultural, individual and social factors, is a combination that derives in the association from a traveller experience with the destination therefore and it is the role of the image to Golf in Scotland to be linked to visitor perceptions and match their cognitive ideas with the information available.

It is also essential for a destination to identify its brand is vital for tourism, the creation of a brand helps to distinguish the different products of the destination (Seaton and Bennett,1996:127) in this case golf in Scotland as a key product has gained a unique position in the industry with its strong branding campaign ‘The Home of Golf’ is an effective slogan that identifies the Scottish golf product in particular and has helped not only to position the country but to give golf tourism a great valuable association for the experience of golfers coming from Worldwide destinations

An interesting article from ( PR Newshire, 2010) found that people in the industry of golf in Scotland have been promoting the sport for the past years, with campaigns like the 2010 ‘Drive it home’ that gave the participants to play golf with the Visit Scotland Golf famous professional player ambassador Sam Torrance to create more visits during March and encourage them to play one of the top 50 golf courses in Scotland or attend a golf tournament at the St Andrew’s Old Course, the campaign was launched to make the most of golf tourism that year and generate some income

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before the Golf season, it had a big support from accommodation businesses and golf courses in Scotland.

In 2009, 7,500 golfers became interested in the campaign and 2 years after in 2011 this increased up to 30,000 potential visitors. This is one of the results of the 1 m pounds invested in golf publicity. The 2012 campaign wanted to reach the Scandinavian, German and North American Market to attend the 2014 Ryder Cup and reach 45,000 spectators and 100 m return on investment (Scotland Government, 2011).

2.5.2 Golf tourism visitors motivations

When developing tourism practises on a destination there has to be a link between responsible tourism and political, social, economic and even physiological empowerment.

A recent study conducted by (Leslie, 2012: 73 – 74) has found that golf creates jobs in marginal areas, and that it has a strong support from other tourism businesses, provide education and training to community members that are considered key players in planning development before the events in order to have a balance between all the stakeholders and make sure that negative impacts are controlled and reduced to a minimum

Understanding motivations from sport tourism visitor’s preferences is important for hosting communities because they can study and plan which products or which expending patterns they have and launch and offer those choices at once on a golf destination. A study done by (Mok and Iverson, 2010) states that a market segmentation can be followed by tourism suppliers and adapt the behaviours with the golfers perception of quality.

To achieve this as Golfers are tourist and tourists also consider the attitude of locals; hosting communities need to make a good impression towards visitors to make their stay more pleasant and to make sure that visitors come back in the future (Ritchie and Adair, 2004: 131). Based on (appendix III and IV) two of the main factors considered by sport tourists are the receptiveness of residents and the interaction that may occur during their stay. A further study will help to state that Scotland is a top touristic destination and that it has the attributes to be considered by golf visitors to travel and therefore get their expectations fulfilled.

One of the most important motivation factors considered by tourist visitors when travelling is climate (Boniface and Cooper, 1994); climate can affect the decision of a person when choosing a destination (Goh, 2012: 1869). Scotland is unfortunately known by the unstable weather and as a result tourism and specially golf are affected by seasonality, this is one of the reasons of organising golf tournaments out of the golf season to balance the offer and the demand and increase the income derived from tourists. Locals involved in golf development, working directly or

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indirectly in the industry will make a great effort to provide an excellent help and assistance to visitors during the season and during the golf tournaments to ensure that the visitor feedback and opinion is very positive and by doing this have a higher possibility to make them to come back.

2.5.3. S.W.O.T analysis has been done in the study to state which could be potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats that can benefit or prejudice golf tourism in Scotland. (See appendix I).

2.6 Golf tourism impacts

Many researchers have got to the conclusion that sporting events can be a right way to create relationships between visitors and locals, and that areas where the economy is down the celebration of events can help to increase financial benefits in regional, national and global financial situation (Hudson and Hudson, 2010).

In addition hosting sporting events has been considered a positive factor to generate income and other benefits; however they are also considered negative in some occasions for locals and hosting environments. (Robertson, 2006).

According to (Robison, 2011) 45,000 people is expected to come to Scotland to follow the Ryder Cup in person at Gleneagles in 2014 and the possible viewers could reach 600 million on TV and marketing will be a potential economic factor. The expected number of visits for 2014 is higher than the number of visitors that come throughout the 2011 year with 227 thousand visitors (National Golf Tourism Monitor, 2011) this shows that the impact will be very reasonable and there will be a relevant study done in this work to reflect how such a big event is managed and how would be the country and hosting destination would react and which impacts will it cause.

In the following chapters some economic and sociocultural positive and negative impacts will be described as the main important fact of the study and the reason to carry out a further research on the communities.

2.6.1 Positive and negative economic impacts

Sport events in particular represent a big part of the income received from visitors on many destinations, finding in hosting countries parallel local businesses that get benefits from sport tourists such as accommodation and food and drink businesses that are at the same time necessary for golf tourism development and the main benefit for income generation for national economies where tourism is one of the main sectors.

A quite reasonable number of economic impacts occur when golf tourism is practised on a destination, the main economic positive impacts that this study covers are the income generation, balancing the financial situation by promoting golf in new markets by golf companies and parallel businesses that are linked by its operations

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and the business opportunities that it creates between local, national and international stakeholders.

Even though golf tourism is not universally seen as negative (Marwick, 2000) it is important to show some negative impacts that may occur like some previous perceptions about money distribution as there have been rumours in the past that most of the money in golf is received by authorities and particular bodies involved in the process of golf development, with high costs and improbable return on investment.

2.6.1.1 Positive impacts

With the increase of golfers travelling from the U.S in 1994 with a 10.5 m trips to overseas destinations and with the main reason that golfers that travel caused more income generation in the hotel industry than non-golfers travelling for business, it is important for Scotland to promote golf between American golfers because they stay longer and spend more money (National Golf Foundation, 1995).

More recent numbers prove that golf is profitable with a £109 m expenditure from golfers in 2008 (Scottish Enterprise, 2008) and a change of profit up to £ 220 m in 2009 with 4,400 people employed in the industry (SQW, 2009).

As a result golf has been seen as a positive source of income for hosting communities, it is a key factor to generate employment and increase the income of hosting destinations. On behalf to Scotland the promotion of golf tourism holidays and golf suppose an important and financial contribution to local and regional areas from visitors that participate and follow golf and other sporting events (Gratton and Taylor, 2000).

Also the celebration of key mega events like the Ryder Cup suppose a reasonable income for a hosting destination, it is also a great opportunity for visitors and residents to spend locally and as they the need to stay overnight in the area the result is a reasonable income generation for local hospitality businesses.

For example: the past Ryder Cup in Celtic Manor (Wales) meant an economic impact income of £ 82.4 m for the economy of Wales and £ 28.3 m for the community of Newport (IFM, 2011) an income of £ 7.38 m received into accommodation services and £ 7.2 m from food and drink expenses in the Town were the highest numbers of the general profit (IFM, 2011: 28). The forthcoming Ryder Cup in 2014 is expected to boost the economy in Scotland with an estimated number of 45 thousand visits over the days of competition and give temporary employment to locals and residents.

It is also a good opportunity to attract people from overseas markets, it is said that they bring more income than the residents to the hosting destination (Gelan, 2003), in the case of Scotland there has been a descend in golf tourism participation but due to the fact that is ‘the Home of Golf’ and its international the demography it gives

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the possibility to balance the financial situation of the National Economy attracting new markets and bringing other currency to the country. A study done by (SQW, 2011) reflects that in markets like the American and British that have been important for the past years the level of visitors will remain the same in the upcoming years, and markets like the Indian, Russian, Chinese, German, French and Italian will raise.

2.6.1.2 Negative impacts

Golf tourism can bring a negative side when taking place in a hosting community, it is likely that golf tournaments are organised with the money of taxpayers, and that the ‘new money’ generated from golf can lead to polemic between locals and organisers as sometimes this money does not benefit communities (Gelan, 2003).

Organising a golf tournament can be costly and the return on investment sometimes is not what was expected and it also requires time and effort to offer visitors security and safety on a golf course in order to avoid accidents and also to properly use the facilities, many people is involved in participating in a golf tournament and therefore there is also a need to repair damages on the grass and clean the golf course and hosting venue (Shone and Parry, 2004: 216 – 217).

(Crompton, 1999) study has shown that other negative economic impacts that golf events can generate is inflation in prices, on the goods and services, this can derive in a problem for the locals because maybe some cannot afford to spend their money in using local services and stay in the available accommodation while a golf tournament is hosted, a lot of money is generated during the days of the events although not everyone is benefit by this generated profit and can cause an exclusion feeling on the locals and therefore negative effect on them.

2.6.2 Positive and negative sociocultural impacts

But not only financial income is brought to a hosting community, visitors create and impact on the locals and locals to visitors too (Stavenden and de Knop, 1999: 204). It has been proved that when golf tourism take place in hosting communities, 4 main impacts can occur: firstly the occasion for locals to participate in golf tourism development, secondly a creation of employment, thirdly the opportunity for business networking and finally an image re – generation for the community. Just the promotion and organization of sport events can be positive to bring tourism, improve the image and economic status of a community and create opportunities for locals to increase their pride as a hosting destination; however there are some issues that may occur when golf tournaments are organised in hosting communities. The wrong negative socio cultural impacts covered are the disruption, displacement and the traffic and crowding congestion that golf tourism can present to locals.

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2.6.2.1 Positive impacts

The good side of Golf development is that it is an individual sport, considered as a tranquil sport; participants and spectators have the right attitude and are rarely problematic to hosting destinations. (Hinch and Higham, 2011:164).The increase of participation in individual sports is due to the change in the society towards an individualist behaviour (Bourdeau et al, 2002).

There are 4 main positive socio cultural impacts that golf tourism cause:

Firstly locals participation: events and golf operations also means connection between visitors and people working in the industry, it is according to (Lynch et al 2000), a tourism network between both parts that creates a learning exchange and the possibility for a community to work in sports event development and have a temporary job for example: the Scottish Open in 2011 gave the locals of the counties of Inverness & Nairn the opportunity to attend the event and although a big part were not very interested in the sport they contributed to participate on the surveys done by then and address their posture towards the positive impact of golf on the area, it also gave local businesses the opportunity to make profit during the days of the event (Highland & Island Entreprise Report, 2011:6)

With the rapid expansion of Tourism and the increase in the concern towards communities’ negative alteration it is essential for golf tourism operators to have a strong and well – base policy in order to respect the values of communities, transmit a positive experience to visitors and benefit the return on investment for all the stakeholders.

In addition (Ruhanen, 2004) said that participating in tourism practises gives the locals which are considered primary stakeholders and have a significant role in the planning strategy, to also work towards the mitigation of negative impacts on the environment of hosting destinations.

Secondly creation of employment : in the past decade it has been seen that golf and golf events have a positive impact on communities, they create employment, and it means a working network between retailers, local, regional and national visitors and that it is also a viable niche market (Woods, 2000). The golf industry employs 7,000 people in Scotland (Visit Scotland, 2007). The Scottish Open played at Castle Stuart employed 400 residents (Highland and Island Enterprise, 2011:103). All the sport events present an opportunity to create a partnership between local businesses and suppliers to sell their products on a sport event and also make businesses with the visitors.

Thirdly business network opportunity: It is a good opportunity to stakeholders and locals to work together and connect through the sport towards the satisfaction of participants or visitors, delivering quality is crucial for the future of hosting communities, the majority of residents agree with the idea that tourism is beneficial,

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the mutual satisfaction results from the right use of resources and their preservation to remain valid for the future. (Kitnuntavinat, 2008).

It is also a good opportunity for visitors to apart from making business, at the same time they can find some key benefits in practising the sport like finding tranquillity and relaxation, doing some exercise, socialising and being satisfied when playing well in a natural and casual ambient. (Horner & Swarbrooke, 2005: 246).

And finally image re – generation: to support this argument another important fact that brings hosting sport events is urban regeneration, improving the quality of infrastructures and the life of residents but this can only succeed when bad effects do not take place and alter the lives of the locals who have the main voice at sport events (Soutar and McLeod, 1993).

This kind of tournaments as well as other initiatives taken by local and national bodies in the golf industry like the one done by the West Coast Golf Links that had the main aim to promote golf through marketing campaigns and boost the visits to the West Coast golf courses and also to the region and the different locations (Improvement Service, 2013).

2.6.2.2 Negative impacts

Recent evidence suggests that the rapid expansion of golf has been shadowed by local’s disagreement towards its development Worldwide (Briassoulis, 2010: 288-311). A study done by (Ruhanen, 2004) has demonstrated that the opinion of the local community is the key factor to make an event or any sport tourism practise profitable in hosting communities, the government and international organisations have a strong belief in their support therefore possible negative impacts have to be identified in order to alter golf tourism practises.

In areas where employment is low, people will receive tourism with open arms, however sometimes problems that can affect their lives occur and opposition towards tourism may arise, communities can be affected by mass tourism and inflation in prices particularly on the accommodation sector on the destinations and cause their displacement (Murphy 1985: 124 -125). (Laws, 1995: 75) said that this normally occurs when golf events are hosted in nearby golf courses around small towns or villages where there is no control over the number of people, irritation may occur in the attitude of locals. In 2011 when the Open Championship was held in Castle Stuart Golf course it was almost impossible to find accommodation (HIE, 2012).

A study done by (Stavenden and De Knop, 1999) has found that Golf can be considered viable in many remote and rural areas, and it can be the motor for image regeneration; however it has a negative side, building golf courses for example can affect locals and alter their lives and cause a disruption in rural villages like noise and contamination. For example the American Magnate Donald Trump opened his own golf course in a remote and rural area in Aberdeenshire after fighting against the

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opposition of some locals to build the golf course, one local person in particular had a house on the middle of the golf course on a natural area and refused to sell his property to the magnate, this originated polemic and protest between Trump’s company and the residents (Bolger, 2009).

Another issue that may occur when golf tourism take place is that sometimes the numbers of participants is higher than the expected causing disruption in hosting communities in a short period of time. The main impacts caused by golf are traffic and crowding congestions in the areas where golf events are taking place. However golf is not considered as a novice sport for tourism development (Hinch and Higham, 2004).

A further data collection will be done once the questionnaires will be completed and the results will be put together, negative comments will be shown to prove that issues exist when sport events take place and can present a barrier for golf tourism practises. It is therefore essential identified by all the organisations involved in golf tourism development and try to maintain them to a minimum for the benefit of both stakeholders and communities.

2.7 Summary of the main points

It has been seen that there is enough research done about the impacts stated above and that these are some of the ones that may occur when celebrating sport events on hosting communities.

The economic and sociocultural impacts have been considered as the most important to be considered when locals are involved, some evidence has been shown to support the findings in the theory with the Open Championship in 2011 or the past Ryder Cup celebrated in Wales.

Golf tourism cause a reasonable impact in Scotland, and with more positive than negative impacts is considered valuable for the economy and to support the value of tourism in the country. Hosting sport events has been crucial for marginal and remote areas for the last years, with the increase in sport supporters and events, these impacts will always exist in hosting destinations.

The collection of data from quantitative and qualitative research will be essential to support the argument stated above.

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2.8 The Ryder Cup example

The practise of Golf is done all – year round although in Scotland due to the weather conditions it is not always possible. Organising off – season tournaments is a great strategy to increase the demand of tourists in the country, the organisations of events and festivals are an effective way to avoid seasonality. The upcoming Ryder Cup in 2014 will be hosted in Scotland in September just after the Commonwealth Games and will generate income into the country (Bowdin et al, 2011).

In addition and according to (Veal, 2002) the celebration of such a major event can help young people to work in a sport environment, giving them the opportunity to have a positive experience. By celebrating the tournament tourism will boost the economy of hosting communities and will give the opportunity to locals to interact with visitors and improve their situation towards a change in the image of the area and with new future perspective development.

The last Ryder Cup hosted in Chicago in 2012 supposed an income of $ 80 m for a town of 3,000 people and the arrival of around 45,000 thousands of visitors to the to the community (Schutz, 2012).

With the American visitor as a potential market and with the 2014 Ryder Cup as their main motivation to travel to Scotland, it is important to maintain their expectations fulfilled. But not only the American market is important, the World golfing market is a great opportunity to attract other nationalities and due to its demography it can be said that could be sustainable for the next coming years for all golf organizations, and due to the fact that golf is a leisure activity with very high value product therefore it is vital for managers to deliver an excellent performance and maintain the levels of actual visitor volumes in a hosting destination (Petrick and Backman, 2008).

This example has been stated to show the positive side of hosting a mega event like the Ryder Cup on a destination and how could communities benefit from it.

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2.9 Summary of the chapter

After reviewing the literature it has been concluded that there is a vast amount of research about golf tourism in Scotland and it can be said that Scotland is a well-established golf destination for different markets in the World. Golf tourism is viable in Scotland and it is also a potential sector with a big investment in marketing campaigns and with a unique range of possibilities due to the big number of golf courses spread around incredible and picturesque locations around the country. With some of the most prestigious golf courses and golf tournaments caps their attention of visitors that come over to spend some time and enjoy their days at ‘the Home of Golf’.

This chapter has helped to understand that the support and involvement of communities is essential for a right tourism development if there are barriers between visitors and locals then tourism can be seen as a disturbance and a problem for locals. Therefore it is crucial to identify negative impacts that may occur during peak periods or in determined dates throughout the years, these impacts are not considered as a threat for golf tourism practises in Scotland, however it is important to identify them in order to reflect that they are present in golf development too

However there has been little information found about the impact of golf in small communities and the perceptions of locals in terms of whether is beneficial to them economically or socially. All the literature review as well as the data collected after the analysing the data from collected questionnaires will help to state that golf creates employment, generates income, re - generates the image of a destination, it is an opportunity for locals to get educated and trained in the field and that it also present some negative impacts to the communities.

This will be covered in chapter 4 after the research methods study will be completed.

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Part Three: research methodology

3.1 Introduction

After having analysed and evaluated some of the existing literature about the topic of this work, a further investigation will be shown on the following chapter to have a better understanding and a more precise study of golf tourism and the impact of sport major events on hosting communities.

The chapter starts with a mention to the approach that will be followed throughout the research methodology and what philosophy may have been followed to avoid a bias. There will also be an analysis taken of the different quantitative and qualitative approaches used throughout the study.

In addition this section will help to identify the pertinent data from primary and secondary data to match the theory and the research, Also which instruments have been used conducting the pilot study and to gain an approach into sampling techniques as well as a mention to the validity, generesability, reliability of the technique used, the ethical issues that have been followed and limitations that may have occurred during the research.

3.2 An approach to a philosophical research

It is essential to gain a better understanding of the research method taken in the study a philosophical approach is presented below.

There are three different types of approach when doing a research, the deductive approach when the research done is to analyse the theory presented before, the inductive approach when the data is firstly presented to analyse a topic and the theory is created and the adductive approach when there is a collection of data to investigate a topic, mentioning arguments and explaining the design and as a consequence the existence of a parallel new investigation may occur ( Saunders et al, 2009: 144 – 145).

In this case the deductive approach will be used and mainly z\quantitative methods applied, this approach helps in finding and comparing the different variables reflected on the questionnaires (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2007).

The study has to follow an epistemology philosophy in order to understand and gain a reasonable knowledge for researchers. This philosophy may adopt a positivist posture as the most convenient to research as a natural scientist; this approach may help in the collection of credible data derived from the resources obtained from the delivery of the questionnaires to the respondents. As these respondents will be ‘social actors’, this term comprises people that have a different role when they interpret a topic and they act consequently after this interpretation. The researcher follows this interpretivist theory to adapt the hypothesis of the study to the different

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point of views from respondents and find existing connections by comparing their responses.

The key variables followed to proceed in the elaboration of the questionnaire have been: the motivations, perceptions and participation of the respondents.

3.3 The sampling technique

A sampling technique allows the researcher to collect data from a small amount of potential respondents in representation of a big population, (Saunders et al,2009) it is also an important to differentiate probability and non-probability, in a probability sample every population member has an opportunity to participate and gives the researcher to make an statistical analysis of the whole population characteristics whereas a non-probability sample makes a selection of particular not known people in the population and forces the researcher to make a parallel deduction of characteristics of the population ( Saunders et al, 2009:212)

The advantages of sampling are: firstly, it is an effective way to survey a population and collect valid and different opinions; secondly it saves costs for a researcher that has a budget to spend in making a research, thirdly it gives the respondents to ask questions to the researcher while filling out the questionnaire (Saunders et al, 2009).

In all positivist studies it is required to select a sample, this sample may help the researcher to target some individuals of the population and from the results obtained represent the whole population, a good sample technique uses people randomly, everyone has the right to participate, a reasonable number of people has to be chosen to support the investigation and the sample must be unbiased (Collis and Hussey, 2003:155).

Once the data is collected and the theory and the research were compared to show the evidence of the impacts of golf on communities. According to (Berman and Brown, 2006: 67) it is very important to have reliable sources from sampling while taking a research about a topic not to end up having not relevant information to match theory and research.

According to (Bryman and Bell, 2007) it is also essential to distinguish between probability and non - probability sample when using sampling techniques, it is therefore crucial to choose one of the two to have a good result in the responses, regarding probability sample is when the respondents know in advance that they will participate in a survey, this guarantee the data to be more accurate and to avoid mistakes and on the contrary the non – probability sample which is used when respondents are randomly selected and they have a concrete profile that matches the study of the investigation. In order to avoid bias as it means a limitation that can negatively affect the delivery of results the sampling method must be as evident as possible to obtain a representative sample.

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A non – probability will be used in this project as the respondents selected to complete the questionnaires did not know that they were going to be selected.

This study has been focused on personal opinions about impacts of golf tourism, a non -probability sampling has been followed to obtain data and create the tables, charts and graphics to compare the statistics created after handing questionnaires to locals on - site and collecting data from people that work in the industry of golf and mainly local businesses that may be affected by golf visitors as well as locals that live in the selected communities.

The Primary data collected from self completion questionnaires delivered on – street to locals have been crucial to support previous research obtained from secondary such as books, journals, government publications, academic surveys, web sites on the literature review.

3.4 Quantitative and qualitative research

It is used to collect different objectives opinions from people, the theory used in the literature review is considered to establish a relationship with the research. An hypothesis derived from the theory is analysed to match with the results obtained by the collection of statistics that are shown on graphs and tables and are used to compare the results from different questions and give more chances to respondents.

The reason of choosing a quantitative research is that as a positivist approach has been followed, and it has been argued that the advantages of following this approach.

But not only quantitative research through a questionnaire, with closed - ended questions has been used by the researcher, there has also been used to collect the data a qualitative approach with a final open - ended question which has been used to understand real opinions of respondents and state different positions regarding the situation and give a different view of the statements and provide a further and stronger support to the theory as a valuable qualitative method and to allow the respondent to express their own comments about the questions and statements presented on the questionnaire.

The comment section on the questionnaire has given the research a stronger support, this qualitative technique allows the research to have personal experiences and position towards a little known subject (Ghauri and GrØnhaug, 2002: 87) in this study a few comments from respondents have made the findings more attractive and precise.

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3.5 Research methods – Questionnaires

There are different methods to analyse the impact of sport tourism on hosting communities, in this project a quantitative method such as the self - administered questionnaire has been used to help in finding the effects of economic and socio cultural impacts on communities.

A reasonable number of questionnaires will show the opinions of locals towards golf tourism practises and to collect negative impressions that can help the researcher to compare both the positive and negative side of the topic.

According to (Sekaran, 2003:236) a questionnaire is a list of questions that permits the researcher to record the answers from the participants, it is considered as an effective way to be used for the researcher to collect data and compare the variables needed. There are different types of questionnaires, personally conducted (used in the study), posted or electronic delivered.

It is also important to define personally conducted questionnaires as these will be used in the project, when a survey is done in a local area this type of questionnaire is the most convenient, because they are not expensive, it does not take long to collect the answers, the researcher can solve doubts and help the participants when answering the questions and can introduce the topic and stimulate the respondents. However this method has some issues: the questionnaires need to be collected on the same day and avoid expending money in travelling to come back and collect them on a different day, sometimes questions are not answered by respondents as they do not want to and this cause a negative alteration on piloting the study (Sekaran,2003: 236).

There are different types of questionnaires (Saunders et al, 2009: 363), the type of questionnaire designed and distributed on this project has been a self-administered (delivery and collection) with close ended questions and an open ended question at the end, it has been distributed to collect opinions, behaviours and characteristics from participants responses and with the main aim to collect reliable data from these different respondents and analyse their perceptions towards the main issue on the study, the impact of golf tourism on their communities.

The advantages of using these questionnaires are: the cost for internet mediated ones is not high, however when questionnaires are handed in person, travelling expenses need to be taken into consideration.

On the other hand the disadvantages are: sometimes is hard to access to respondents as they can feel embarrassed, they do not have an incentive apart from the offered by the researcher and they can refuse to participate, they can think that it is a waste of their time and can have a fear of having consequences if they answer with honesty (Ghauri and GrØnhaug, 2002: 82).

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Community involvement closed - ended questions were presented to collect behaviour postures and with various choice answers and finally the attitude of respondents and their agreement. Other comments open - ended question as a qualitative data were available at one point of the interview to make it

(Dillman, 2007 cited in Saunders, et al., 2009) states that the key data variables stated above are important when delivering questionnaires, the opinion variables help to know how participants feel towards something they consider is true or false, behaviour variables shows data of what people has done, is doing or will do in the future and finally characteristic variables reflects what people possess such as age, gender, occupation, marital status etc. and help in the analysis of the other two variables and to show that the data collected is valid to represent the total population.

A reasonable number of questionnaires (see appendix V and VI) were delivered to show the opinion of locals towards golf tourism practises and to collect negative impression that may help the researcher to compare both the negative and positive side of the topic of the study.

A cover letter (appendix V) was attached to the questionnaires in order to introduce the topic and the reason of the study to the locals and ensure that their confidentiality was going to be kept anonymous by the researcher under the Napier University Code of Practise, 2007).

3.6 Pilot Study

According to (Jancowidz, 2000: 231) once you have decided your method for research and that you have a plan to decide which or your plans are appropriate you need to make a pilot study of the data firstly to clarify the method and technique used and secondly to the use of additional information derived from the responses in the first part of the study and make sure that the issues that may have arisen in the second part have been solved.

Some authors have stated the importance of piloting the research to have a better approach of its possible success. The main purpose of this part is to collect a valid opinion for randomly selected people about the questionnaire and in order to this make some changes to deliver a better and easy to understand research method.

(Saunders et al, 2009) say that carrying a pilot study is helpful to have a study with more validity and reliability, it can help to make sure that the questions on the questionnaires are clear and that respondents will not have any problems in answering them and as a result the data collected will help the researcher to have a better support for the study progress.

The people that participated in the pilot test were asked to complete the questionnaire to check how long did it take them to complete it, if it was easy to be followed, if the questions were clear enough when responded and if they were easy

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to be answered, if the topic was reflected on the questionnaire, if the layout was clear and well-presented and if they had any comments about what had to be changed.

The pilot study found some issues, with a couple of questions that were not clear enough and therefore they had to be modified, also some respondents add to make some changes in the introduction and to give more instructions to respondents.

As a whole the questionnaire was seen clear, easy to be responded and to show a clear message to the respondent, positive comments are shown below:

´ I think golf tourism is great for community image´

With the changes done after the first opinions of respondents the questionnaire was improved and delivered to 3 more respondents that gave a different opinion from the previous and this helped the researcher to finally make it valid to be delivered to the communities.

10 anonymous people were asked to review the questionnaire before handing it to the participants at the communities; they were asked a few key questions that have been established as beneficial for the researcher to use them as valid for the pilot study process.

The questions based in (Saunders et al, 2009) were as follows: Have you found the questionnaire clear to be filled out?Would you add another question relevant to the study?Did you have a perception about the reason of the topic?

3.7 Conducting the research

The use of a cover letter (see appendix VI) considered as official by Napier University has been used as a formal form to introduce the researcher and make an approach to respondents to ask for their support in completing the questionnaires via e – mail. The questionnaires were delivered personally to the participants on the communities and they were invited to complete the questionnaire, this has contributed to save time, money and helped the researcher to solve any doubts about the questions on the questionnaire to the respondents. (Sekaran, 2003: 236) states that this methodology is ideal to reach a big number of people in a short time, introduce the topic on site and motivate the participants.

Delivering the questionnaires to locals in communities nearby golf courses helped as most of them had an understanding of the topic as they were used to experience the arrival of tourists for the main purpose of playing golf and attend golf tournaments.

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3.8 Ethical concerns

The respondents were approached and explained that the completion of the questionnaires was voluntary. They also had the possibility to not complete the questionnaires if they did not agree or understand the questions (Ibid, 2007). A consent was shown to them and the issues to be defrauded were also reflected.

It is important for a researcher to consider ethical principles when carrying a study where people are involved in providing their opinions. The researcher has the moral obligation to inform or show about an evidence of ethical practise when asking them for their opinion and make sure that they are not affected negatively and embarrassed (Ghauri and GrØnhaug, 2002).

Saunders et al add that when accessing to locals and when there is a need to collect and analyse the data, ethics must be taken into consideration to proceed to take opinions from respondents.

When taking surveys a Code of Practice has to be followed to prevent 4 issues: harming respondents, no evidence of consent, violate participant’s confidentiality and avoid their deceptiveness (Diener and Grandall, 1978 cited from Bryman and Bell, 2009). It can be said that participants have not been affected by these issues and that the process of collecting data was done with concern and respect towards them,

Every researcher has to follow a code of ethics provided by the university, this code has the right guides to proceed in taking information from targeted respondents that will provide the researcher with personal opinions, and the code will enable both parts to guarantee the confidentiality (Saunders et al, 2009:187).

On behalf to these respondents and in the case of this project as the Code of practice of Napier University states, during the research and collection of data the researcher must make sure of not putting in risk the person interviewed, there has to be evidence of the existence of the consent given from respondents, the names of participants cannot be revealed unless the researcher has a previous written authorization from them and finally mislead the collaboration from them (Napier Code of practice, 2007).

(Zikmund, 2000) states that the respondent has the legal right to be informed and to have a notion of a consent when they agree to participate in a research study, and have a guarantee from the researcher to protect them in a confidential and anonymous status. During the delivery of the questionnaires and in the post collection, the participants were informed that the study was done under the principles of the Code of practice and that all their answers were kept in the anonymity. With a cover letter shown on the questionnaire used as a consent form to describe them that the study and their responses would be done under privacy practises.

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The quantitative method used in this study was reliable and did not present any trouble to both parts the researcher and the respondent although some limitations inevitably occurred.

3.9 Validity, reliability, generalisability

The questions presented on the questionnaire were based on the literature review therefore they can be considered to be facing validity.

When a study about a subject is done there has to be a validity. The main point of finding the validity of the work is to make the study clear for the reader and also to have a viable approach towards

Bryman,2011 estates that reliability is how consistently is the data measured, and also when a different study is done about the same topic or different opinions are considered and it still remains reliable. The method that guarantees that the research findings will not change even if the sampling of the topic varies.

(Quinton and Smallbone, 2006) say that reliability means how consistent the results from collecting the data are, when an exact sample is done on a study and the questions are the same the responses remain similar, when other measuring techniques are used and the results also remain similar and when the answers received from different groups of people are also very similar.

If repeated the answers obtained remain the same and during the research there is no bias. When a study about a topic can be applied to other situations and there is a common issue then generasibility exists.

After collecting the questionnaires in the study it has been seen that there has been a reasonable generalisation on the surveys conducted.

(Zikmund, 2000) defines reliability as the dimension without errors and with a reliable and consistent return from the results and these results are obtained similarly all the time and in different situations. In the case of this study it can be said that the questions were clear and gave the respondents the opportunity to understand and answer them comfortably.

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3.10 Limitations

Identifying problems that may occur during the research need to be considered as they can present a difficulty for the research design, they have to be addressed and accepted by the researcher even though they could not be resolved (Collis and Hussey, 2003: 129).

Some limitations may have been occurred while taking the surveys, some locals did not have much time to complete the questionnaires and it took quite a while once on the communities to get the questionnaires completed. Another issue that occurred while taking the surveys was that some of the people asked to participate did not have much time to fill in the questionnaires and that for the researcher it consumed much time while on the locations.

The questions stated on a survey or a questionnaire must be clear and understandable for respondents to have internal validity ( Robson, 2002: 231) as the questionnaire in the study were done on a face to face basis this is very important as a rapport is built between the researcher and the respondent and issues must be avoided.

The complexity of a questionnaire must be minimum in order to get the best possible number of answers by the respondents (Robson, 2002: 238).

When delivering the questionnaire the majority of the respondents found it clear and was willing to contribute in the completion of it, resulting in a reasonable number of questionnaires completed favourable and valid to proceed and analyse the data.

As a compensation the respondents were given the opportunity to receive a result of the findings from the data complied, although just a few requested them it has been a way to thank them back for their participation and for them to have a motivation.

3.12 Summary of the chapter

This chapter has done an analysis of the methodology followed throughout the dissertation. In order firstly a mention to what philosophy has been approach to work with the opinions of potential participants in the research study, secondly a mention the sample used to and its advantages and disadvantages, thirdly a description of the two main approaches that are followed by researchers when conducting a research quantitative and qualitative followed by the method used to collect the data, the questionnaire.

Then a review to the questions stated on the questionnaire, the agreement to a first part of respondents about the validity and reliability of the statements through a pilot study and the ethics considered not to harm respondents and the generalisability of the questionnaire as the most valid factor to the study.

Finally a mention to some limitations that have appeared when researching.

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4. Research findings:

4.1 Introduction

This chapter will analyse the data found after collecting the questionnaires on the communities. There will be only one part where testimonies collected from participants will be shown, the data will be presented in figures and tables to have a clear understanding of different results. Comments from people will also be reflected in a section as an approach to qualitative data.

A conclusion will be done to make a review of the main factors that have influenced the respondents and they all involved in golf tourism and aware of its impacts.

4.2 Questionnaires with potential respondents

The use of 5 point likert - scale questionnaires to collect responses from respondents has been quite a successful method for the completion of the questionnaire.

The type of questionnaire selected has been a self – administered questionnaire which are very useful for the researcher to deliver them to respondents in person and have a quicker access to the results (Bourque and Fielder, 1995:3) in contrast with on - line questionnaires that sometimes get later as it takes a while to get the responses from the respondents.

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4.2.1. Section 1: Profile of respondents

Figure 1. Socio Demographic variables

PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS

Socio Demographic Variable

Frequency Sample percentage (%)

Age18 - 2526 - 3536 – 4950 – 6566 +Total

1091511550

0.200.180.300.220.10100

Gender MaleFemaleTotal

222850

0.440.56100

Length of residence1 2345 + yearsTotal

42314050

0.080.040.060.020.80100

Distance to Golf Course12345 + milesTotal

2210521150

0.440.200.100.040.22100

Income from golfDirectIndirectNot at allTotal

12201850

0.240.400.36100

Interested in golfYesNoTotal

302050

0.600.40100

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Figure 2. Age Categories

10; 20%

9; 18%

15; 31%

11; 22%

4; 8%18 - 2526 - 3536 - 4950 - 6566 +

It has been seen that the highest number is compressed in the 36 – 49 age frame with a 15,31 % this is due to the fact that most the questionnaires delivered in the communities were handed in local businesses and the other age groups involved such as students and early retirees and retired respondents were not mainly selected by the researcher.

Figure 3. Length of residence

1 2 3 4 5 + years0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

The results show that most of the respondents, 39 have lived in the communities for more than 5 years, this has been crucial for the researcher to proceed in the research of the economic and socio cultural impact of golf tourism, the respondents had a better understanding of the influence of hosting golf events and as they have lived in the communities longer than the other respondents they have seen and

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experience the affluence of visitors to the communities throughout the years and have seen the benefits and negative that golf development involves.

Figure 4. Closeness to a Golf Course

1

2

3

4

5 + miles

0 5 10 15 20 25

The reason of carrying as research about the distance of the respondents homes to the golf courses was to state that they are the ones who can think that golf tourism may cause a negative impact on their lives with the issues of pollution, noise, traffic and congestion. The results show that the majority of them live 1 mile away from the golf course and even though a very little amount of them highlighted negative issues from golfers.

Figure 5. Income from golf Figure 6. Interest in golf

12; 24%

20, 41%

18; 35%DirectIndirectNot all

30, 59%

20; 41%YesNo

The majority of the respondents received an indirect income from golf tourism with a % followed by people that did not received any income from golf and lastly direct involved benefit respondents with a minority that worked in a golf related business. The interest in golf is shown on figure and states that the numbers in comparison to non-interested in golf respondents is surprisingly not much.

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Figure 7. Community involvement

Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

0102030405060708090

100

Golf development supportLocals EngagementEnhaces visitors and locals in-teractionParalell businesses support

Having analysed the results, it can be said that locals in communities in Scotland support golf tourism, also from the results from impact statements it can be argued that the people seen the impact of golf as positive, but regarding the return on investment they decided not to answer to the question by selecting the neutral option from which can be deduced that they were not aware of what how stakeholders get benefits after investing in golf development.

4.2.2. Section 2: Community involvement, behaviours ( Based on figure 7)

Question 1: Do you support golf tourism development?

The results in the findings have found a high percentage of respondents that support golf tourism development, with a minority that stay neutral and a very little percentage that strongly disagree towards golf development.

Considered as a tranquil sport this demonstrated that golf development is not problematic as (Hinch and Higham, 2011: 164) stated and therefore it has a strong support from locals.

Question 2: Do you think that golf tourism give locals an opportunity to get engaged?

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In this case there has also been a positive number of results towards golf tourism and locals engagement, according to (Lynch et al,2000) when golf takes place there is a possibility to visitors and locals to get connected, therefore and as result golf tourism is considered a factor of engagement for both parts.

Question 3: Do you agree that golf events enhance visitors and local’s interaction?

The results about this statement was also favourable although the percentages were not as high as in the last previous questions and with some neutral responses that have reflected a possible uncertainty about golf visitors interaction with locals, the example in the theory helps to make this statement stronger by as the (Highland and Island Enterprise, 2011:6) reflects a big event like the Scottish Open golf event in 2011 gave the locals in the communities of Inverness and Nairn to attend the event and participate in surveys completion to support golf in the area.

Question 4: Do you agree that golf tourism development help other local businesses?

On this occasion the majority of people agreed that local businesses would get help from golf tourism, as golf supposes overnight stays and therefore more consumption of goods and the necessity to spend more than a night in a destination to attend a golf event, mainly when visitors are from overseas, next year 45,000 with a big part coming from the US is expected to come for the Ryder Cup that means that in a week in September all businesses in the area and Scotland will need to be ready to assist this mass of people ( Robinson, 2011).

Figure 8. Impact statement results:

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Strongly Agree Agree Neutral DisagreeStrongly Disagree Total

Helps local businesses to make profit 29 18 3 50Means targeting new markets Worldwide and therefore increasing visitors 22 25 3 50Will bring visitors to the area and the town in the future 27 20 3 50Gives the opportunity for tourism in Scotland to reach new markets 23 22 5 50Is a good opportunity for the locals to participate 19 19 12 1 50Brings employment to residents and non – residents 23 17 7 3 50Brings the opportunity to locals to participate in the business 18 15 14 3 50Regenerates the image of local communities 16 21 12 1 50Pollution and noise to the town and area 3 8 27 6 6 50Results in overcrowding and congestion in the town 3 9 23 11 4 50Results in a disruption on your living habits 2 7 18 17 6 50‘New money’ does not benefit our community 2 4 13 21 10 50The return on investment from stakeholders is high 8 7 24 6 5 50Increases the prices for accommodation and services 12 21 11 4 2 50Is beneficial for our community 22 23 4 1 50Is negative for our community 1 2 7 23 17 50

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral DisagreeStrongly DisagreeTOTAL% % % % % %

Helps local businesses to make profit 0.58 0.36 0.06 100Means targeting new markets Worldwide and therefore increasing visitors 0.44 0.5 0.06 100Will bring visitors to the area and the town in the future 0.54 0.4 0.06 100Gives the opportunity for tourism in Scotland to reach new markets 0.46 0.44 0.01 100Is a good opportunity for the locals to participate 0.38 0.38 0.24 0.02 100Brings employment to residents and non – residents 0.46 0.34 0.14 0.06 100Brings the opportunity to locals to participate in the business 0.36 0.3 0.28 0.06 100Regenerates the image of local communities 0.32 0.42 0.24 0.02 100Pollution and noise to the town and area 0.06 0.16 0.54 0.12 0.12 100Results in overcrowding and congestion in the town 0.06 0.18 0.46 0.22 0.08 100Results in a disruption on your living habits 0.04 0.14 0.36 0.34 0.12 100‘New money’ does not benefit our community 0.04 0.08 0.26 0.42 0.2 100The return on investment from stakeholders is high 0.16 0.14 0.48 0.12 0.1 100Increases the prices for accommodation and services 0.24 0.42 0.22 0.08 0.04 100Is beneficial for our community 0.44 0.46 0.08 0.02 100Is negative for our community 0.02 0.04 0.14 0.46 0.34 100

4.3.3. Section 3: Acceptance towards Golf Tourism (Figure 8)

Qualitative data is also shown to support this general agreement from locals, 10 out the 50 respondents left their comments on the any other comments or suggestions section on the questionnaire:

Comments from locals were: ‘Golf tourism cause a good impact and help local businesses and people around the town’. (Local retailer, Auchterarder).

‘We already have all the rooms in the Hotel booked for the Days of the Ryder Cup’ (Hotel manager, Auchterarder).

This demonstrated that the locals are in a very positive attitude towards golf tourism and they see it as a way to help them economically and socially. The rest of the comments are shown on the 4.5 chapter.

Question 1: Golf tourism helps locals businesses to make profit.

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The results show that most of the participants with a 0.58 % (29 of the respondents) strongly agreed that local business can make some profit from golf tourism, as seen above in the theory the past Ryder Cup brought 7.2 m income to the economy of the local community of Newport in Wales just for food and drink consumption and a higher number of 7.38 m from accommodation services. (IFM, 2011:28)

These findings demonstrate that golf tourism involves local businesses and supposes a strong source of profit and even though the Ryder Cup is next year is has been valid as a strong example of how a major event can generate income directly or indirectly into parallel businesses on the communities.

Question 2: Golf Tourism means targeting new markets Worldwide and therefore increasing visitors.

With a 0.44 % (22 of the respondents) with strongly agree responses and a 0.50 % (25 of the respondents) it can be said that golf tourism is an effective way to reach new markets and expand the possibility to attract other markets. As a previous study done before by (SQW, 2011) this demonstrates that golf marketing is targeting new markets like India, Russia, Germany etc. to bring different cultures to the country.

Question 3: Golf tourism will bring visitors to the area and the town in the future.

With a strong number of respondents having agreed with the idea that in the future people will return to golf hosting communities or will recommend the experience to relatives or friends the results of 0.54% and 0.40 % and numbers of 27 and 20 respectively it can be argued that golf tourism and golf events cause a positive impact on visitors and reach their expectations while experiencing golf in Scotland. With the American and British market as key visitors in Scotland (SQW, 2011) in the past the possibility that they will return to Scotland again for upcoming events may exist.

Question 4: Golf tourism gives the opportunity for tourism in Scotland to reach new markets.

The globalisation of golf and the number of golfers have grown up to grown 60 million (British Golf Foundation, 2013). The opportunity to reach new markets is not a hard task for golfer’s organisations. Even though the responses for strongly agree and agree were closed on this occasion with 0.46 % and 0.44 % 23 and 22 respondents respectively also believe that golf can reach new markets and promote tourism as a whole Worldwide.

Question 5: Golf tourism is a good opportunity for the locals to participate.

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Impressively the number of respondents that strongly agreed and agreed have been the same with a 0.38 % / 19 respondents and not ignoring the people that stayed neutral with 0.24 % / 12 respondents maybe because they were not sure if locals could in one way or another participate when golf tourism takes place.

Regarding to what has been said before in the theory golf gives locals to participate in golf events ( Lynch et at, 2000) as it is also not considered very expensive and due the high number and variety in terms of price of golf courses this increases the opportunity for locals to get access to experience the sport.

Question 6: Golf tourism brings employment to residents and non – residents.

The findings from the results have been very positive with a strong support from respondents with an agreement statement of 0.46 % / 23 of the respondents in people strongly agreeing followed by 0.34 % / 17 of the respondents agreeing that golf tourism practises bring employment to communities as (Woods, 2000) states as well as reports done by Visit Scotland in 2007 and Highland and Island Entreprise in 2001 with the example of the Scottish Open when 400 residents were hired.

Question 7: Brings the opportunity to locals to participate in the business

A 0.36 % / 18 of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement, followed by a 0.30 % / 15 of the respondents that agreed however a 0.28 % of the locals stayed neutral maybe the reason is because in most of the occasions not everyone can be involved in a business network with potential stakeholders as (Kinuntavinat, 2008) stated. This demonstrates that even though the majority may have an opportunity to participate in what golf involves it is also important to mention the neutral responses as respondents may not find it easy to get involved in golf tourism business networking.

Question 8: Regenerates the image of local communities.

The numbers demonstrate that the majority chose the agree option on the questionnaire with a 0.42 % / 21 of the respondents.

12 people remained neutral as sometimes issues occur however (Soutar and McLeod,1993) also highlighted that not only golf events put remote and small communities on the map but also helps to improve the infrastructure of hosting destinations and therefore create an easier access to visitors to communities and golf courses. For example when taking the research a local said that the government was planning to improve the facilities at the railway station in Gleneagles where the Ryder Cup will be held in 2014. ‘The government is planning to build a bridge for visitors attending the Ryder Cup in 2014 to cross the Highway from the Train Station’ (Local, Auchterarder).

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A £ 3 m investment will be done to build new lifts, disabled ramps and new access to the golf course for thousands of visitors at the railway station in Gleneagles (The Courier, 2013)

Question 9: Golf tourism brings pollution and noise to the town and area.

( Stavenden and De Knop, 1999) said that big sport events bring noise and pollution and big crowds into the hosting communities however this is not the case as the majority of respondents remained neutral towards this statement with a 0.54 % / 27 of the respondents as they thought that golf tourism hardly brings pollution and noise to the area, as one local from Gullane stated: ‘traffic is diverted and there are designated areas for the cars to park outside the towns and authorities encourage people to use public transport and volunteers area trained to direct the people when golf major events take place in nearby golf courses from the communities’. This indicates that when big events take place there is a little perception of noise and pollution as organizers make sure that traffic is kept to a minimum in the town and that the people is directed in and out the golf courses.

Question 10: Golf tourism results in overcrowding and congestion in the town.

Again respondents remained neutral in the number of responses with a 0.46 % / 23 of the respondents on the three communities described in this project have the golf courses in the outskirts of the town that is why maybe because on their community it has not been the case where these issues have presented a problem before, the respondents have this issues before while golf events took place and as (Hinch and Higham, 2004) highlighted that golf is not considered very problematic even though in counted occasions unexpected numbers of attendants can cause problems in the towns like congestion.

Question 11: Golf tourism results in a disruption on your living habits.

The results show with a majority of neutral responses of 0.36 % / 18 respondents and with a disagreement of a 0.34 % /17 respondents that they seemed not to think that golf may cause a problem on their lives. Although a potential example has been shown in this work to present a case of disruption in local community previous research has seen with the case of the local in Aberdeenshire that opposed the American Magnate Donald Trump project to build a golf course near his home. (Bolger, 2009), that not always everyone is in favour of golf development.

Question 12: Golf tourism ‘New money’ does not benefit our community.

People disagreed to this statement and a 0.42 %/ 21 of the respondents shows their opposition and show that the money generated from events would benefit their communities. Golf events like the Ryder Cup present a great occasions for local businesses and although many people know in advance that the tournament will be hosted in 2014 some golfers plan to go for the day to follow the tournament supposing a great source of income in the town from day visitors too.

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But it is also important refer to the 11 respondents that remained neutral towards the statement as they may have doubted how beneficial would that money benefit them or the community, this demonstrates that it is not always very clear that part ‘new money’ may end in local people hands.

Question 13: Golf tourism the return on investment from stakeholders is high.

In this occasion there has been a major neutral responses with 0.48 % / 24 of the respondents as the locals selected to participate were not majorly involved in golf and therefore they did not have a clear perception of the statement.

Golf organisations invest a lot of money in marketing and sometimes the money invested does not get back to investors/ stakeholders as visitors numbers do not match the expectations, this means that it is improbable that investments may have the results expected when balances are obtained after golf practises take place.

Question 14: Golf tourism is beneficial for our community.

The results show that most of the people agree that golf tourism befits their communities with a 0.44 %, 22 respondents and 0.46 %, 23 respondents, that strongly agree and agree with the statement.

This last statement is the key for the whole project and the main reason for the researcher to have taken the researcher, it is therefore a strong evidence to support what experts have stated about golf tourism and its impact on communities and get to the a final result of being positive.

Question 15: Golf tourism is negative for our community.

The respondents as a whole show a general disagreement to this last statement with results of 0.46 %, 23 respondents that strongly disagree and a 0.34 %, 17 respondents that disagree.

This proves that everyone was in favour of golf tourism practises and development throughout the collection of their opinion on the questionnaires and shows that as (Marwick, 2000) said golf tourism is not universally seen as negative.

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4.3 Perceptions towards potential impacts

The number of impacts stated on the questionnaire were 16 with 9 positive and 7 negative impacts that golf tourism may cause while taking place on a community. The type of questionnaire used closed ended questions and likert - scale measurement system. In the table below numbers have been collected to compare the results. (See appendix VI). As 50 questionnaires have been collected from the researcher the results are based on a 50 % as a 100 %.

4.4 Concerns about Golf Tourism Impacts

The majority of respondents were aware about how major competitions and other golf events bring positive and negative impacts to their competitions, regarding Auchterarder although they will hold the Ryder Cup in August in 2014 the biggest golf event in 40 years in Scotland, they are aware and they are conscious about how can the impact of the event will affect their lives before, during and after the competition in a good or bad way.

The town of Gullane, accustomed to cope with big number of visitors as the Open Championhsip and others competition have been played in other several occasions on very well – known golf course nearby the city centre found the Open Championship in general without the exception of a very few respondents beneficial for their businesses, these exception mentioned where that the main issues brought by golf visitors are that people park outside locals houses without permission and that major events just bring people to the golf course where it would be played and not into town shops and other businesses because traffic will be diverted and people will walk from a car park outside the town directly into Muirfield Golf Course.

In the third community St Andrew’s the findings show that due to the numerous events held every year and that golf in the second biggest source of income after the University and that the respondents supported golf tourism practises with the exception of few neutral postures. As a whole the impact of golf in the community with one exception of a respondent that did not support golf tourism development and was against the idea that golf tourism gives locals the opportunity to interact with golfers the results were also quite positive and favourable towards golf tourism practises.

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4.5 Comments from locals were: ‘Golf tourism cause a good impact and help local businesses and people around the town’. (Local retailer, Auchterarder).

‘We need people to save our financial year in 2014’ (Hotel manager, Auchterarder).

‘Golf tourism bring visitors to the town, it is good for businesses’ (Local shop attendant, Auchterarder).

‘We already have all the rooms in the Hotel booked for the Days of the Ryder Cup’ (Hotel manager, Auchterarder).

‘The government is planning to build a bridge for visitors attending the Ryder Cup in 2014 to cross the Highway from the Train Station’ (Local, Auchterarder).

‘Golf is good for the Area generally’ (Local, Gullane).

‘Golf increases traffic and they park outside my house all the time’ (Local, Gullane).

‘Golf tourism and trade is a massive benefit for the community’ (Golf retailer, St Andrew’s).

‘The impact of development depends on the developer and their willingness to consider the already – established community and to allow/ ensure their investment, development is overall beneficial to the local community’ (Golf retailer, St Andrew’s).

4.6 Recommendations Made

Some of the respondents suggested that Golf organisations and people working in golf courses should be more engaged with the locals.

In the case of Gleneagles a local stated that the people go to the resort and do not come to the town, only a few locals would be directly benefit by golf tourism mainly Hotels and other types of accommodation as they have an special partnership with Gleneagles and people can have a package with green fees and accommodation included in a set price.

Apart from local’s recommendations, the researcher will mention some more on chapter 5.2 in section 5.

4.7 Interest in Research

Most of the respondents were interested in collaborating with the researcher in completing the questionnaires although also a few said that they did have time to participate and that the questionnaires did not interest them.

As this research was mainly conducted in local businesses as the researcher considered that people with shops and other businesses are the most benefit by golf tourism the results show that this people were targeted by the researcher on the highest percentage.

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4.8 Summary of the Chapter

This chapter has provided an analysis of the findings after carrying out a research between respondents. The results from the questionnaire have been crucial to match the research and the theory and show that one of the main aims of the study has been achieved; it was to demonstrate that golf tourism is considered positive, sustainable and beneficial for hosting communities and that hardly harms hosting communities. The results also show that there has been a strong interest from the respondents towards participating in the completion of the questionnaire.

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5. Conclusions and recommendations

5.1 Introduction

This chapter is the last of the study and will help the reader to find the conclusions deduced after completing the research.

The research carried out in three key communities where golf is a potential industry for the economy of the towns has shown a high interest in supporting the researcher. some further recommendations will be presented in order to provide the study with what may be improve in the field and after collecting personal opinions how these people can get a

5.2 Recommendations

Addressing neutral and negative responses has shown the fact that also in one of the most tranquil and quiet sport practise issues may occur and that they also need to be considered.

It is highly recommended to get locals and golf courses more engaged, the best way to reach this can be giving there more access to private golf courses, if locals know the golf course better then when asked by visitors they can give a better description of the facilities available on a golf courses and when an event will take place have a previous knowledge of what will happened in the area in the future.

Transportation management must also be improved, the promotion of taking public transport can avoid visitors to drive their cars and create congestion in the town whereas by taking the bus of the train if available, less pollution is brought to communities and also the noise and problem with parking reduced.

There is a must to encourage people to promote golf in Scotland to visitors because it brings income and creates opportunities to many people in the country.

2014 represents a potential year for Scotland with the Ryder Cup being hosted after 40 years in the country, issues that have appeared have to be tackled in order to provide the best to visitors and avoid incidents.

Innovate and create marketing campaigns and include the names and description of hosting communities to improve their image.

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5.3 Conclusion

To conclude it can be said that when conducting the research, enough sources were found to complete the literature review with recent examples and cases to support the main issue of the topic and make a coherent evaluation of the reason of presenting the topic.

The main aims of the project were to find positive and negatives impacts caused by golf tourism practises on hosting communities, also to collect reliable data from randomly selected respondents to have a real opinion of how could golf tourism benefit or not them and get to the conclusion that golf was considered one of the main motors of the economy on their communities.

In order to achieve this aims the research was conducted on site and the researcher stayed most of the times next to the respondents in order to assist them and help them with any doubts about the questionnaire and even though it took three days to get the questionnaire completed and therefore consume a lot of the researcher time in the end the collection was favourable and valid to proceed to analyse the data. As a whole the data collected from the respondents and the literature review had a reliable and valid correspondence that end in a positive result for the project.

It was in general a successful work and the completion of the questionnaires helped to show that golf tourism can also be seen as negative by some people and that finding the issues are always necessary to avoid future incidents and improve towards sport tourism practises in hosting destinations.

After comparing the findings it has been seen that the majority of the respondents targeted were aged between 36 – 49 and this was due to the fact that most of the questionnaires were delivered in local business as the researcher after completing the literature review got to the conclusion that they may be more affected by golf development. The fact that the 80 % have lived in the communities for more than 5 years has also been beneficial for the researcher to conduct the research as their opinion was solid and they had a clear understanding and perception about golf impact on their own community.

It has also been seen that most of the locals supported golf tourism and that a small number of respondents opposed golf development and found it beneficial for their community. With a few cases when people stayed neutral on their responses as they may thought that the statement had ever hardly seen as an issue in the past.

The results from the research show that locals were in favour of golf development on their communities, with very positive opinions and agreement with the statements presented by the researcher, however some people remained neutral when choosing some responses and the researcher deducted that maybe they did not want to get involved, or that they could not find the reason of the statement presented, for example if a negative statement was shown about golf tourism they option was

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neutral because they have not seen that negative impact happening in the community before.

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Stavenden, J and De Knop, P. (1999) Sport tourism. Leeds: Human kinetics. pp. 210 – 219

The Courier. (2013) Call for better disabled access at Gleneagles railway station ahead of Ryder Cup. Available at: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/perth-kinross/call-for-better-disabled-access-at-gleneagles-railway-station-ahead-of-ryder-cup-1.68368. Accessed 11/04/2013

Tourism Intelligence Report. (2009) Golf tourism in Scotland. Available at: http://www.tourism-intelligence.co.uk/TIS_SWF/PDF/Golf%20Tourism%20in%20Scotland%202012.pdfAccessed 15/02/2013

UNESCO. (2010) Sustainable tourism. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_c/mod16.html. Accessed 19/04/023

Veal, A.J. (2002) Leisure and Tourism Policy and Planning. 2 ed. pp. 144 – 147. Oxon: CABI publishing.

Visit Scotland. (2007) Golf. Available at: http://www.visitscotland.org/pdf/Golf%20tourism1.pdf. Accessed 20/02/2013

Visit Scotland, 2012 ‘discover golf in the Scottish Borders’. Available at: http://www.visitscotland.org/pdf/ATP%20Scot%20borders%20120905%20VS%20update.pdf. Accessed 25/02/2013

Yeoman, I. Greenwood, C. and McMahon – Beattie, U. (2009) The future of Scotland’s international tourism markets. Journal of futures of tourism. Vol 41 (6). pp. 387 – 395

Woods, M.D. (200) Golf: positive economic impacts for local communities. Available at: http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/tgtre/article/2000oct12.pdf

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Appendix I. S.W.OT Analysis of the Golf Industry Market.

Strengths Weaknesses

- Strong tradition - Expensive to play

- Innovative Sport - It consumes time

- Strong Support from investors - Hard game

- 550 + golf courses in Scotland - Affected by recession

-‘The Home of Golf’ - Bad image association

- Challenging - Impact on environment

- Wealthy appeal - Difficult to play

- Skilfulness

- Outdoor sport

Opportunities Threats

- The Open Championship in 2013 & 2015 - Seasonality (climate)

- The Ryder Cup in 2014 - Locals negative feelings

- New targeted markets - Locals opposition

- Creation of employment - Competitors

Source: (Mintel, 2009)

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Appendix II

Source: Mighty small web site

Appendix III: Attributed Studied

1 - Resident’s receptiveness 10 - Nature

2 - Landscapes, surroundings 11 - Climate

3 - Cultural attractions 12 - Relaxation vs massific

4 - Nightlife and entertainment 13 – Accessibility

5 - Sport facilities 14 – Social interaction

6 - Price, value and cost 15 - Safety

7 - Shopping facilities 16 - Originality

8 - Gastronomy 17 – Service quality

9 - Accommodation 18 – Information available

Source: (Galarza et al, 2002)

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Appendix IV: Sport Motivation profiles of sports tourists who play golf

Sport tourist Types( Glyptis, 1982)

Primary motivations DestinationAttributes

SecondaryActivities

General holidaysWith sport content

Various business or leisure travel motivations

Vary with primary motivations ( existence of a golf course is incidental)

Playing golf among other things

Specialist sport holidays

Pilgrimage to the heartland of golf.Emulating golf players

Grandslams and other championship courses

Nostalgia Sport Tourism

General sport holidays

Golf as one part of a suite of visitor activities

Simple integrated resorts

Family – based activities

Upmarket sport Holidays

Golf as a specialized visitor activity

High degree of luxury second home developments adjacent to golf courses

Domestic and social activities

Elite training Seek competition and be challenged by a range of golf courses

Networks of golf courses forming golf regions

Coaching clinics, professional advice purchase of equipment

Source: adapted from Glyptis (1982) and Priestly (1995).

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Appendix V. Cover letter

My name is Alvaro Lopez Pedraza. I am a Masters in Tourism and Hospitality Management full – time student at Napier University in Edinburgh.

The reason for doing my research about Golf Tourism in Scotland is to show what positive or negative economic and sociocultural impacts the golf industry has on hosting communities. I aim to prove that Golf Tourism is beneficial for the economy of Scotland and to discover the impact of the industry on the lives of locals when developed.

This questionnaire has been handed to you with a guarantee to keep it anonymous and confidential under the consent of the Napier Code of practice, 2007.

The results from the collection of the data will be analysed and the main purpose of collecting the data will be to compare other respondent’s opinions and make a balance with tables and graphs in order to make a final statement of how golf tourism development impacts on the communities.

I would like to thank you for your time, your consideration and participation to contribute in the development of my project by giving your opinion about Golf Tourism.

If you have any queries or problems when filling down the questionnaire please feel free not to continue, if you have any comments about the topic or other issues please write them down on the other comments section at the end of the questionnaire.

Golf tourism, is the practise where a person has the main intention to play golf or when golf is played as a secondary activity (Fernandez, 2010).

Appendix VI. Questionnaire

Section 1: Personal information

1- What is your gender? Male Female

2- In which age frame are you?

50 – 65 66 + 18 - 25 26 -35 36– 49

3- How long have you lived here? 1 2 3 4 5 + years

4- How far do you live from a Golf course? 1 2 3 4 5 + miles

5 – Do you receive any income from golf tourism? Directly Indirectly Not at all

6 –Are you interested in golf? Yes No

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Please circle the numbers:

Section 2: Community involvement

Do you support golf tourism development? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you think that golf tourism give locals an opportunity to get engaged? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you agree that golf events enhance visitors and local’s interaction? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you agree that golf tourism development help other local businesses? 1 2 3 4 5

Section 3: Acceptance towards golf tourism:

Helps local businesses to make profit 1 2 3 4 5Means targeting new markets Worldwide and therefore increasing visitors 1 2 3 4 5

Will bring visitors to the area and the town in the future 1 2 3 4 5

Gives the opportunity for tourism in Scotland to reach new markets 1 2 3 4 5

Is a good opportunity for the locals to participate 1 2 3 4 5

Brings employment to residents and non – residents 1 2 3 4 5

Brings the opportunity to locals to participate in the business 1 2 3 4 5

Regenerates the image of local communities 1 2 3 4 5

Pollution and noise to the town and area 1 2 3 4 5

Results in overcrowding and congestion in the town 1 2 3 4 5

Results in a disruption on your living habits 1 2 3 4 5‘New money’ does not benefit our community 1 2 3 4 5

The return on investment from stakeholders is high 1 2 3 4 5

Increases the prices for accommodation and services 1 2 3 4 5

Is beneficial for our community 1 2 3 4 5

Is negative for our community 1 2 3 4 5

Any other comments or suggestions:

(A copy of the findings will sent back to you if requested)YES NO

Alvaro Lopez - Pedraza Perez de Miguel 40077655 MSC in Tourism and Hospitality ManagementNapier University, Edinburgh (Scotland)

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