The Topgolf experience is coming to ALHI.
Associated Luxury Hotels International has entered a partnership with Topgolf, the multinational company that combines golf experiences with entertainment and networking at its more than 100 venues around the world.
The partnership will open opportunities for both Member hotels and resorts and meeting planners to conduct meetings and events at Topgolf locations.
“Having hotel partners is key right now that our footprint has grown,” said Nick Kopach, Senior Director, National Event Sales & Programs at Topgolf. “When we looked at the overlap of our locations to properties and hotels that are within the ALHI umbrella, it was just crazy how close they are. So for us striving to land more offsite business around conventions, annual conferences or quarterly meetings, this relationship just made sense.”
Kristi Allan, ALHI’s Vice President of Partnerships and Events, said ALHI is “ecstatic to launch the partnership with Topgolf, which enhances ALHI’s partnership offerings.”
“By integrating the Topgolf partnership, ALHI delivers innovative event solutions that combine entertainment with business, reinforcing our commitment to exceptional experiences and future growth,” she said. “Clients and Members may receive special promotions and offerings that deliver a top-of-the-line setting that fosters networking and relationship-building beyond traditional meeting spaces.”
Topgolf, which opened its first location in 2005, combines golf with a social atmosphere around fun and food and beverage. Golf experience is not needed as customers hit microchipped golf balls at various targets on a large outfield from a three-story structure with multiple hitting bays.
With new locations scheduled to open soon—Avon, Ohio near Cleveland; Woodbury, Minn., near Minneapolis-St. Paul; and Grand Prairie in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex—Kopach said Topgolf is expanding its focus on group business and hotel guests, and part of the strategy is educating the meeting planner community on the options that Topgolf offers.
“We can be that one-stop shop for meetings and events,” he said.
Nearly every Topgolf has meeting space, complimentary Wi-Fi and an expansive menu. Some locations can accommodate groups up to 1,200.
After the meeting, or as a venue for a post-meeting event, groups can network in the golf bays while playing golf. Technology allows for large groups to track scores.
“You can come into our meeting space, have your meeting, and then break out for fun literally right outside your doors,” he said. “We’ve seen companies come out with a bunch of new associates and they're blending them together and want everyone to get to know each other in a social environment. We feel like we do that exceptionally well. I'll go on a limb and say I think we do it better than anyone.
“That’s the power of socializing and networking and mingling in a casual environment where you're not seated at a dinner. You can get up, move around, join someone in a different bay, eat great food, enjoy great drinks, great ambience, music and service, all included.”
He said there are teambuilding activities that the Topgolf team helps facilitate, and can even include individuals or groups at a different location.
Price point has also been a point of emphasis.
“Competition is at an all-time high,” he said. “There's more entertainment venues than you and I have ever seen in our lifetime. We kept hearing we were expensive, and if you look at the true entertainment venues across the board in our competition, we were in the high tier. We've committed to become more value-based and that's exciting not just from a walk-in guest standpoint coming to our building with friends or family, but also from an event standpoint. We are a lot more affordable than we once were.”
The holidays can be a busy time for Topgolf with walk-up business, but the group segment will get plenty of attention, as well.
Kopach said Topgolf is committed to “doing business the right way. That's building great relationships and over-delivering on the execution and the planning process.”