As a sports activity with immense tradition, current offerings and future prospects, golfing
represents a first-rate tourist resource. In choosing golfing destinations, tourists rely upon information
that is available online, just as consumers do in making decisions about any resource. Thus, in our
study, we sought to profile the internet presence of golf courses in Catalonia, as well as the maturity of
their e-commerce. To that end, we developed an integrated model for analysing the websites of golf
courses: one based on web content analysis and structured with four dimensions (i.e., information,
communication, e-commerce and additional functions) and the phases of the extended model of
internet commerce adoption (eMICA). Applied to all golf courses in Catalonia that operate websites,
the model revealed that, despite the sport’s great importance to the local economy and tourism,
the golf courses do not have an adequate online presence or sufficient platforms for communication.
The present work includes information on its theoretical contribution, implications for management,
limitations and future lines of research.
This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Grant I.D.: TURCOLAB ECO2017-88984-R). Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the support of the Catalan Government for the accreditation as Consolidated Research Group TURESCO (2017 SGR 49). Laura Puig-Prim is also thanked for the work done in data collection.