What Will Impact Your Business Most in 2010?

It was very interesting to watch the responses to last week’s GNN Poll, which asked readers from the industry if they felt a high Canadian dollar would affect their golf businesses in 2010.

At the beginning of the week, voting was heavily weighted towards no, but that began to change as the days passed. By Wednesday evening, as reported in my previous blog, the no side has 60 per cent of votes as compared to the 40 per cent who felt the soaring loonie would affect their businesses.

By Friday evening, it was an even split between the yes and no sides, which may indicate a growing concern in the industry to the strong loonie which, if nothing else, appears certain to be volatile over the next few months, leading up to the opening of the 2010 Canadian golf season.

We saw that early last week when the Bank of Canada issued a statement that the strong dollar could slow economic recovery from the recession, which is something we already knew, but it still caused the loonie to plummet by close to two cents right afterwards. It finished the week at 95.07 cents U.S.

With volatility comes uncertainty, which likely explains the apparent shift in opinion over the past week in the poll responses as people anticipate a possible slowdown in tourism from the U.S. and expectations from customers about lower prices due to the strong dollar.

A year ago, we were starting to feel the effects of the recession in Canada, but given what was already going on in the United States, we pretty much saw that coming to some degree.

This year, the possibility of the dollar at par with its U.S. counterpart is just one of several factors that could impact golf industries.

The Economy: While we seem to be pulling out of the recession, it will take time as various government officials have pointed out. Some areas were hit harder than others and unemployment/security is still a big concern for golfers in pockets throughout the country.

Weather: You would think that golf would be about due for a break after what hit most parts of the country not only last year, but over the past few years, but who can tell for sure?

The HST: The Harmonized Sales Tax is being introduced in British Columbia and Ontario starting next July and, although this will make its initial impact on only two provinces, those are two areas with a high concentration of golf courses.

Decline in Participation: When the National Allied Golf Association (NAGA) introduced its economic impact study, it showed that rounds were down by as much as 10 per cent in 2008, before the recession struck, so it appears the economy wasn’t the cause. The question is how much has it declined since then?

Compared to a year ago when the economy was the main issue, there are several factors that could affect golf businesses in 2010, some familiar and some new challenges. The question in the new GNN Poll is which of these challenges do you see impacting your business the most?

Wander over to the GNN Poll to register your response. As always, the GNN Forum is open for business should you want to expand on your thoughts.

Kyle’s Complaint: It was bound to happen and it finally did when GNN blogger Kyle German served me up a big glass of West Coast whine about the Leafs-Canucks game starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time which is, of course, 4 p.m. Pacific time.

Personally, I would have no problem in ordering a pizza, watching the game over dinner and maybe catching a movie after the game while both audiences got to watch at convenient times, but talk to the CBC or the NHL. Somewhere alone the line, the Canucks themselves likely had something to say about it, too.

Look at it this way. The Canucks went to .500 with their victory over the Leafs, who remained winless on the season. Leaf fans have been suffering longer than the Canucks have been in existence.

And I’ve got to listen to his problems?

Geez.

Related Posts:

• Innocent People Felt 9/11 Impact From A Distance
• Being Genuine Takes The Edge Off A Cold Business Environment
• Woods Had An Important, But Subtle, Impact On Golf
• Stollery Took Pride In Family Business
• PGA Tour Means Business With Canadian Tour Deal