(APGS2017 Press Release – featured in many industry magazines, blogs and posts worldwide)
Smartphones have become an inseparable part of our daily lives. Waking up with a morning alarm, using Whatsapp, listening to music, reading news, watching YouTube videos, checking mail, updating project statuses, and so on — everything is seamlessly executed from our mobile devices. Currently, over 7 billion people worldwide own a smartphone.
Adults aged 25+ use their phone about 264 times a day, including texts and calling. This is unbelievable, yet true. Certainly, the use of smartphones and mobile apps is not going to reduce going forward.
The golf club industry needs to wake up to this fact because it is not a trend that can be ignored or conveniently swept under the rug. This is no doomsday forecast. It is a simple statement of fact. Mobile search overtook desktop search for the first time in 2016 and the internet big boys are responding. The golf club industry is no exception and as one keen observer of the adoption of mobile apps put it, “Make sure your online profiles are focussed on mobile phones or you will be punished and it will make it hard for people to find your business!”
Mobile apps are so disruptive and it’s a perfect fit for the 2017 Asia Pacific Golf Summit’s theme which is NEW DIRECTIONS. The revolution of mobile apps is real and it is happening right now in front of all our faces – there is an app for virtually everything and it all runs off smartphones.
Given the massive importance of mobile apps to the golf club industry, APGS 2017 has secured one of the best brains in the business to speak on the topic at the Summit. He is London-based Adam Harris, the co-founder of Advanced Digital and Golf2Win. “I firmly believe that golf clubs need to embrace smartphone technologies now to reap the benefits in the future – you have the tools, now use them!”
Harris has worked in the multimedia and digital industries for over 28 years during which time he has seen trends come and go, all the time changing and adapting to each new wave to help other companies thrive within his area of expertise. “My current thrust is directed at bringing the golf industry the same new digital marketing and sales tools that only big corporations previously had access to,” he pointed out.
He will be “unveiling” one of his current projects, CourseMate, a revolutionary mobile app that helps golf businesses to create new traditions. “We do this with a fresh approach to how the golf industry currently performs sales and marketing activities, recruitment and interaction with members and visitors. This approach is not via some new-fangled idea or voodoo sticks but the smart use of current technology to gain real benefits to both the clubs and the golfers that belong or visit them.”
With the intelligent use of today’s technology (web/apps/social media) golf businesses can reach their audiences like never before. “They can interact and gain loyal following and increase all areas of their business and we understand that every golf business needs its own personalisation because we know that they have their own visions, criteria, different resources and targets that they wish to meet. Therefore you need a tailored approach upon how to reach your audience and this is where the smart use of technology can really help,” Harris concluded.
Another technology tool that will be launched at APGS is the Golf Partner Connect (GPC) app. This award-winning App allows golfers to create, join and play golf anywhere in the world. Golf clubs have the ability to market specials to increase traffic throughout their facilities to GPC members ready to play in their specific location.
GPC members search in any location up to six months in advance and request to join games available on the live maps. If no games exist, then they create their own game at a time, date and location that suits, said the founder and owner of GPC, Lee Zacharia.
Come and listen to both Adam Harris and Lee Zacharia as they help chart a pathway for your club’s passage to the digital age of mobile apps for golf clubs. Both are golf technologists who understand your business intimately and know exactly how to help you grow and expand with the power of mobile apps energising your business!
Registration is now open and you can book your seat at https://secure.golfconference.org/event/asia-pacific-golf-summit-2017
Be part of the exciting NEW DIRECTIONS that is transforming the golf club industry in Asia!
APGS 2017 – Now In Its 11th Year – The Most Successful Golf Summit In The Asia Pacific!
REGISTRATION FOOTNOTE:
Hotel room registration will come on-line within the next few weeks as the Sheraton Danang is a brand new property and is going through its final stages of completion. As soon as the room reservation system is operational, we will advise all registered delegates. Thank you for your co-operation.