Eric Wilborts

Eric Wilborts is a major shareholder and former CEO of Blue Green. The Blue Green label owns 48 golf courses in France and Belgium, and with this number they are the largest golf operator in their segment. Eric is also active in the fitness industry as owner of Health City. With 260 fitness centers, Health City is the leading fitness operator in Europe. 

There are a lot of parallels between the fitness and golf industries. Eric has implemented in golf the know-how and successful management methods he used during his management years at Health City. 
Eric will be presenting at the conference. The introduction of the sales, marketing and management approach of the fitness industry to the sport of golf turned Blue Green into a profitable chain of golf courses. So instead of reinventing the wheel, we can learn some new strategies from Eric.

Title of presentation:

Titanic Golf - "Is your golf course seaworthy?"

Abstract:

Over the past couple of years golf course owners and managers have been facing problems they never did before. Sales of both green fees and memberships are rapidly dropping, and costs are higher than they were in previous years. 
Golf course management is like being the captain of a large cruise ship. Being in control in the wheelhouse will not prevent a crash into an iceberg. Every deck has to have the right tools and focus to ensure a safe journey. But what if the current is changing and the ship is drifting into unclear waters? Is your golf course seaworthy? 

Biography of the speaker:

Eric was born (18 June 1964) and educated in the Netherlands. From the start Eric focused on sport and winning. During his early years he was a talented tennis player. In 1980 he turned tennis pro, and from playing the best of the world it was clear Eric would be one of the top players of his time. Lack of correct physical guidance resulted in a chronic groin injury and the end of a promising tennis career. 

After ending his tennis career Eric opened his first tennis school. Although tennis was in those days booming Eric managed to make the tennis school a major success. At a later stage Eric also added fitness and other facilities to his tennis school, and as a result of this the first multifunctional sport facility was created.

As fitness and tennis became increasingly popular other multi-sport facilities were set up. Together with the sport facility of Rene Moos and Dennis Aarts this was the beginning of one organization under the name Health City. 
Today Health City International is a chain of 260 sport, fitness and relaxation centers in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Luxemburg, France, Italy and Spain. Pursuing his interest, in 2007 Eric became the owner of the golf course chain Blue Green in France. With 21 golf courses Blue Green was then one of the major golf course owners in Europe. During the first few years Eric completely changed the way of management, products mix and sales, and turned Blue Green into a very profitable organization with 23 golf courses. In 2010 Blue Green merged with Formule Golf, and Blue Green now owns 48 golf courses. 

Currently, Eric, together with Peter Hoogcarspel (Director Blue Green Franchise), is responsible for the setting up of Blue Green Franchise. This unique franchise model will be introduced in France, Holland and Spain at the end of 2011. Using the know-how of both the fitness industry and Blue Green, new media and a digital know-how centre, Eric and Peter are convinced the franchise model of Blue Green will be a benefit to a lot of independent golf courses. The goal of Eric and Peter is to have 200 golf courses under the label of Blue Green by 2014. 

Eric is a native Dutchman. He has been married to his wife Veronique for almost 21 years, and is a proud father of two children. He and his family live in Tilburg, North Brabant, the Netherlands.