Gaming & Leisure Magazine
Winter 2011-12 issue
Widely recognized for its rich culture, exotic appeal and variety, India’s Ministry of Tourism has developed the “Incredible India” campaign as its primary vehicle for communicating the wonders of India to the entire world.
With golf catching the fancy of millions across the world, it is natural for India to join in and promote its golfing facilities. A recent and sustained growth in the number of golf courses in construction, golf has become one of the socially desired lifestyle choices of the growing business class in India. Sports tourism in India is also gaining interest, especially after the successful completion of Commonwealth Games 2010.
In order to tap this growing interest in golf tourism, India’s Department of Tourism has taken crucial steps to coordinate closely all the various aspects of golf tourism under an institutional framework. This would pave the way to maximize the opportunity for growth and progress of this niche tourism product in the future.
The Ministry’s aims are to create a comprehensive and coordinated framework for promoting golf tourism in India, capitalizing on the existing work that is being carried out, and building upon the strength of India’s position as the world’s fastest growing free market economy.
One of the significant corporate groups expanding their footprint in the Indian golf market is Unitech Group, a leading real estate developer which is currently operating 3 golf clubs, with 6 more in development.
A key player in Unitech’s efforts is Joel Lander, a 30-year veteran of the golf industry and the leader of the group’s golf operations throughout India.
Since joining the company, Joel and his team have dissected and analyzed Unitech’s current golf businesses, creating both a short-term and long-term roadmap for the viability Unitech’s future golf projects.
Traversing the world, Joel has designed a model for best practices for Unitech’s current and future golf projects. His strategic planning is guiding Unitech to well-conceived and well-executed golf facilities into the future.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Joel Lander in recent weeks. I appreciate that he’s taken time from his busy schedule to participate in this article.
[G&L] Joel, you have an extensive career in Golf & Club Management. What is your industry background prior to joining Unitech in India?
[JEL] I started my career in 1981 as a golf instructor in the United States helping thousands of accomplished and beginning golfers gain a better understanding of what they are trying to do, improve their execution based on good balance and common sense elements, and build a golf game that will stand the test of time.
Just prior to joining Unitech, I’ve held management positions with golf clubs in the USA, and most recently as Head PGA Teaching Professional at Woodland Greens Golf Center in Austin, Texas and General Manager at Maverick Golf Club in Floresville, Texas.
[G&L] I’d like to focus a bit on the management and technology challenges facing you in India. As you're currently managing the efforts of 3 existing clubs in India, with a projected growth to 9, will there be a need to consolidate data from the remote sites into a corporate database?
[JEL] There will be every need to consolidate data from the sites, once we have the reconstruction of the original 3 completed (all to be done in the same timeframe). We will have different needs at different properties, which will include a 6 hole pitch and putt, 2 regulation length 9 hole courses as upscale country clubs, and 6 18 hole championship projects – all privately owned, run and managed.
There will be an enormous need for aggregation of data and the ability to draw reports from any and all properties on a myriad of topics. We intend to stay on top of our business from the outset, keep to our business plan, and use the best software products available to understand the dynamics of our business and manage the profitability therein.
[G&L] What type of data will be consolidated? For instance, will there be a common membership or client database accessed by all the clubs?
[JEL] Each of the properties will offer membership ONLY to homeowners/homebuyers of THAT property. At a later date, we may offer Unitech golf membership homeowners the options of using different Unitech-owned courses, but that is not in the business plan at present. Each course will have limited capacity, so that capacity will be restricted and managed by the owners at that property, not by any outside players.
We will use a membership-per-property type model, but also a common database to get out marketing messages, keep our members informed of various developments, etc. We will want to be able to analyze the data collected from any and all clubs at our corporate office, and of course I will want remote access to everything going on at every club as they become operational. The individual clubs will not have access to data from other clubs; we want to control the information on a need-to-have basis.
[G&L] Are there unique technology issues facing you at Unitech that are different from the clubs you've managed in the States?
[JEL] Interestingly, with all the call centers and electrical and computer engineers here in India, they are still a bit behind the times. Many businesses here still do things by hand with pencil and paper. We will be starting each of these businesses from scratch. I am teaming with a colleague here to choose a software vendor with capabilities not only for all these golf clubs, but also with the ability to tie in a hotel and various other venues in a seamless fashion.
We are honestly leaning towards IDS Softwares at this time, but the decisions to be made are still well off as the pace of construction is less than originally scheduled. The other huge issue will be training here in India. Anyone we hire from India to work with these clubs will need high-level training as they don’t come from professional backgrounds that have had any exposure to this type of software package whatsoever. I am sincerely hoping that a great deal of what we “sign up for” will be highly intuitive.
[G&L] Golf has a much larger footprint in North America, Europe and Australia. Does golf's relatively smaller presence in the Indian market have an impact on operations?
[JEL] Golf has a tiny presence here in India, comparatively, with less than 100 operational courses at present in a country roughly half the land-size of the US and about two thirds the size of Australia. One of the huge advantages for business owners/operators here in India is the remarkably low cost of labor. Without delving into the social implications of that touchy issue, operations are going to be different here than all those places previously mentioned, with a great deal of learning on the job, and a much greater need for excellent training programs for both operations and maintenance operations. The upside is, with the joint patience of owners and members, you can train your entire staff to run like a well-oiled machine, without employing any preconceived notions of how things should be. This element should also lead to better retention and ultimately, better service delivery. The technology employed will be a key tool to bringing this all together in a winning formula.
[G&L] We know that software development is such a large industry in India. Does this have an impact on how the club sources golf club management systems?
[JEL] Not surprisingly, since golf is in its infancy here in “Incredible India”, existing software and hardware development here in this country have little-to-no impact on sourcing the appropriate software package(s) that will lead to successful projects. I’m a big believer in working with partners (as opposed to “vendors”) who have a full understanding of OUR needs, and have been “battle-tested”.
Our needs with the diversity of projects we are building or have in the planning stages are not only unique at each project, as the projects are spread out geographically all over the country, but must be addressed with a central and/or remote reporting structure in mind so that we always have access to our data. We will be leaning on our software solutions partner to guide us as well help extend the reach of golf across the country of India.
“Un beneficio es la integración de herramientas para la administración de ingresos que maximicen los ingresos. Los directores de spa ya conocen las 6 reglas para manejar los ingresos - el tratamiento Correcto, a la hora Correcta, en la sala Correcta, con el terapeuta Correcto, el huésped Correcto al precio Correcto. Los programas de spa ahora tienen herramientas amigables que nos permiten ser flexibles y eficientes para maximizar los recursos y optimizar los ingresos.” Maxime Cormier, Directora del Spa en Maroma Resort & Spa (www.maromahotel.com)
