NGCOA Reports Major Increases In Revenue And Rounds, Year To Date And In October

The National Golf Course Owners Association Canada’s monthly Research Reports show show rounds played for the season in this country (April-October) were up by 18.9 per cent over the same period in 2019.

As compared to the five-year average, rounds were up 17.8 per cent in 2020, a season that began with rounds down at the end of May 25.9 per cent over the same time last year, due mainly to the coronavirus pandemic.

This growth was evident across the country where year to date numbers were consistently around 20 per cent better than in 2019, excluding Quebec which had the latest season start, but still grew by 10 per cent.

In the Atlantic region rounds were 27 per cent above the five-year average, as member play most likely made up for the effect of travel restrictions on tourist play.

October 2020 saw a huge increase over October 2019, posting an increase in rounds across the country of 62 per cent.

All provinces were up significantly over October 2019 with the Prairies posting the highest increase due to favourable weather.

Golf courses experienced corresponding increases in revenues in 2020.

By the end of October, revenues nationally were up by 28 per cent over the 2019 season (April-October).

Alberta, the Prairies, Ontario and Quebec outpaced the national revenue growth ranging from 32.9 per cent in Alberta to 34.6 per cent in the Prairies, 42.8 per cent in Ontario and 47.1 per cent in Quebec. British Columbia showed a growth of 16.6 per cent over the 2019 season.

Atlantic Canada was the only region posting a decline in revenues over 2019 most likely due to the effect of COVID-19 on tourist rounds.

Similar to rounds, revenues for the month of October increased by 49 per cent over the same month in 2019.

Quebec recorded the highest increase in dollar volume in October 2020 over last year at 71 per cent, followed by the Prairies at 63 per cent, Alberta at 62 per cent and Ontario at 58 per cent. The Atlantic region, affected by tourism restrictions, dropped 2.5 per cent over October 2019.

In addition to golf benefitting as one of the safest activities during COVID-19, NGCOA Canada’s Weather Impact Report shows that weather also contributed to the success.

Tracked regionally, the collective weather impact reported across the 2020 golf season by all golf course operators was a 7.4 index on a 0-10 scale on which a five is considered normal.