As part of the ongoing 6^th annual Asia Golf Tourism Convention (AGTC 2017) in Da Nang between 7 and 13 May, an international forum on the values of the golf tourism took place at the Pullman Danang Beach Resort on Monday.  

Fairway and green on the Ba Na Hills course

The forum was jointly organised by the city’s authorities and the International Association of Golf Tourism Operators (IAGTO). 

In attendance were municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman cum Head of the Department of Publicity and Training Dang Viet Dung, Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism Ngo Hoai Chung, Chief Executive & Founder of IAGTO Peter Walton, tourism experts from Asian countries, and representatives from the city’s authorities and travel agencies in Da Nang and neighbouring localities.

Vice Chairman Dung highlighted that AGTC 2017 marks an important milestone in boosting the development of the city’s golf tourism industry, thereby helping the city develop into one of the leading golf tourism destinations in Asia, and in the world as whole, in future years.  

Vice Chairman Dung proudly said that the city earned 68 million USD from golf tourism last year, and this figure is expected to hit 186 million USD within the next 5 years.

Deputy Director General Chung remarked that Viet Nam is now home to 32 golf courses, and 60 new ones are expected to be put into use by 2020.  Many of the existing golf courses are located inside or near 5- star holiday resorts in such central coastal localities as Thua Thien Hue Province, Da Nang, Hoi An and Nha Trang City.  However, Viet Nam’s golf tourism industry has yet to fully tap its great development potential as the number of golf tourist arrivals to the country is still modest.

Deputy Director General Chung addressing the forum

An official from the Tourism Authority of Thailand enthusiastically shared his country’s experiences in bolstering the golf tourism industry, with a focus on increasing the spending by golf tourists and developing hospitality services.  In particular, Thailand is willing to boost bilateral cooperation with Viet Nam in this aspect for mutual interest.

Mr Walton noted that golf tourism is now one of the highly profitable industries in many countries worldwide, and it has helped to create much employment for job seekers. 

According to IAGTO, there are about 56 million golfers around the world, and the golf tourism industry has been ranked 3^rd in terms of tourist motivation in Asia.  The spending by a golf tourist is usually 2.2 times higher than a conventional tourist because the majority of golfers are businesspeople and investors.

As many as 169 golf tour operators in 41 countries, which are members of IAGTO, are currently exploiting golf tourism in the Asian market.  In particular, they show their keen interest in expanding their business activities in Viet Nam, targeting a 50% increase in the number of Vietnamese buyers.  As estimated by IAGTO, Da Nang will raise its revenue from golf tourism to 40 million USD per year in the 2018 - 2019 period.

Vice Chairman Dung (1st left) and Mr Walton (2nd left) at the event

Also at the forum, the strategies for furthering the development of Da Nang’s golf tourism industry over the 2017 – 2022 period were officially released.  Jointly developed by the city’s Tourism Department and IAGTO, the strategies help to develop long-term effective measures to accelerate the city’s golf tourism industry, and that of the central region and the country as a whole, thereby attracting more golf tourists to this beautiful seaside city in the years ahead.

The ongoing AGTC 2017 is attended by a total of over 650 tour operators, golf course managers, and tourism managers, plus representatives from travel, airline and media agencies, from 36 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region.  This continent-level event is a good opportunity for buyers and sellers to exchange information about tourism services, destinations, hospitality and conferences relating to the golf tourism industry.