FL officials expect the World Golf Village, which opens
to the public on May 19 in St. Johns County, FL, to attract
500,000 to one million additional tourists to the area in
its first year, and one million "more the year after that,"
according to Marcia Mattson of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION.
David Reese, Exec Dir of golf tour company Florida's First
Coast of Golf, said that most of the new tourists will be
"upscale men," ages 40 to 60, and added that since the
Village's initial two courses will "be too expensive or too
booked" for most visitors to play more than once, existing
area courses "should benefit, too" (FL TIMES-UNION, 5/10).
BY THE NUMBERS: World Golf Village VP/Marketing & PR
Michael McPhillips said that the "initial marketing blitz"
of the facility will cost "about" $1M. McPhillips also said
that research shows that 22% of the Village's visitors will
be local residents; 26% will represent residents/tourists
who stay in hotels within a 50-mile radius of the Village;
25% will come from residents/tourists within a 100-mile
radius; and 27% will be tourists "on their was to other
Florida destinations" (Earl Daniels, FL TIMES-UNION, 5/12).
