Amid the ‘safe and flexible adaptation and effective control of COVID-19’ situation, lucrative golf tourism has emerged as a new trend much preferred by many tourists at home and abroad. The Da Nang tourism industry has seized this do-not-miss opportunity to attract more golf visitors since the start of this year, thereby creating leverage for the progress of the following years.

The modern Ba Na Hills golf course in Da Nang attracts many golfers. (Photo courtesy of the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre)

Golf tourism is known as a type of sport tourism that combines the play of golf with other activities of sightseeing, exploring and relaxing at various destinations. Golf tourism is highly potential in Viet Nam, and golf travellers are known for their long stays and high expenditure, which is many times higher than spending by ordinary visitors. Therefore, golf tourism will become an effective segment to attract international visitors, bringing sustainable and stable benefits to the country’s ‘non-smoke industry’.

As assessed by domestic tourism experts, after the COVID-19 wave is brought under control, the demand for foreign visitors, especially high-spenders to Viet Nam to play golf would be even greater because this tourism product has a high safety level and low contact with limited crowds.
In reality, Da Nang and its neighbours in Central Viet Nam boast many advantages to develop this lucrative type of tourism, including much strength when it comes to modern accommodation infrastructure and a world-class golf course system. ‘

Currently, Central Viet Nam houses seven put-into-operation golf courses, three of which are located in Da Nang alone. The country has a combined total of about 70,000 golfing members, mainly in the capital city of Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Binh, the Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism, golf tourism as well as other types of high-quality tourism associated with sports, convalescence and health care services are new tourism trends.

The negative impacts of the current COVID-19 rage have changed tourists’ behaviours, needs and choices of tourism products as many of them are looking forward to experiencing green, high-class and safe tourism products.

In the near future, the Da Nang tourism industry will organise a series of events to spread the strength of golf tourism in Da Nang and other central localities, thereby attracting visitors from potential markets in 2022 and the subsequent years.

During his recent interview with Da Nang Newspaper, Mr. Pham Thanh Tri, the Standing Vice Chairman of Viet Nam Golf Tourism Association, emphasised that the Viet Nam golf tourism will thrive through economic and cultural relationships with Asia's top golf markets, namely Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

Particularly, Da Nang shows off many advantages to develop this type of tourism thanks to its impressively- developed tourism ecosystem listed among the top rankings in Viet Nam.

However, in order to boost the growth of the Viet Nam golf tourism, Mr. Tri suggested that the national government release better tax policies regarding golf tourism, thus improving the role of tourism in golf tourism, diversifying golf products as well as promote communications activities.

Not only does it possesses a huge market opportunity, but the Viet Nam golf tourism has also been renowned for having voted as the Best Golf Destination in Asia and the world at large in 2019 and 2021.

The Viet Nam Golf Tourism Association proposed the national government, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism to accelerate the implementation of the second phase of Viet Nam's roadmap to resume international tourism under which other localities can sign up to receive foreign tourists, depending on their vaccination and COVID-19 control status. It is followed by the first phase with the participation of Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang and Quang Ninh.

The Viet Nam Golf Tourism Association will support the promotion of a combination of golf courses, thus forming a belt tour and route that welcomes both domestic and foreign tourists in an effort to create more interesting experiences for golfers.

Next year, the Viet Nam Golf Association proposes the organisation of the wards ceremony of the upcoming World Golf Awards 2022 in Da Nang so as to promote this emerging golf destination.

According to the World Tourism Organisation, the golf visitor typically spends six times more than the average tourists. Therefore, targeting this high-end tourist market segment is the right development direction of the city's tourism in the time to come, thus contributing to gradually building Da Nang into a high-class, high-quality destination.

With the aim of gradually restoring tourism in parallel with linking service providers and golf courses in the central region with one another, the Da Nang tourism industry will accelerate driving ranges as a way to help locals and visitors better understand about golf tourism.

Golf courses in Da Nang and its neighboring localities all have their own characteristics, and inter-provincial travel is also quite convenient. Therefore, it is a good idea to facilitate visitors to enjoy sightseeing moments in tandem with playing golf at courses in Da Nang and the neighbouring provinces of Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam.

Currently, the Viet Nam Tourism Association and the National Administration of Tourism are making surveys of golf courses in Central Viet Nam to map out golf tourism plans, especially how to lure more potential M.I.C.E (Meetings-Incentives-Conferences-Exhibitions) delegations to Central Viet Nam for golf tourism experiences.

As reported by the Da Nang Department of Tourism, for the rest of this year, if approved, Da Nang will set expectations to soon attract golf tourists from its key foreign markets such as RoK, Japan and India.

As planned, Da Nang and other central localities will organise many important events, including the Miss Golf Tourism Prize, which is slated to take place on March 26, 2022.

Meanwhile, the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre is proposing an annual golf promotion plan from 2022 including the hosting of the Danang FantastiCity Open golf tournament in April and the reception of famtrip and media trip delegations to the city in July.

Reporting by QUYNH TRANG – Translating by A. THU