Hanoi attracts high-end visitors with golf tourism

On April 14, Hanoi Department of Tourism coordinated with Vietnam Tourism Association to organize a seminar "Potential and orientation for developing golf tourism in Hanoi".

At the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Hong Minh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism, said that golf tourism is considered a potential tourism product, making an important contribution to attracting international tourists to Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular, especially groups of tourists from key markets such as Korea, Japan, the US, Europe, etc., helping to increase tourists' spending ability, contributing to increasing revenue from tourism activities in the city, creating jobs and income for local people.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hong Minh, regarding golf infrastructure, Hanoi is currently developing 6 golf course clusters with 10 standard golf courses such as: Long Bien, Van Tri Golf Club, Kings Island Golf, Minh Tri, Legend Hill... and about 10 practice courses such as: Dao Sen, Phuong Dong, Hanoi Club... These are all large, professional, international standard golf courses with diverse and attractive natural landscapes, meeting the diverse needs of players.

Regarding supporting infrastructure, Hanoi's current accommodation system is diverse and professional, especially 4-5 star resort hotels with synchronous and modern investment with many big brands such as: JW Marriot, Sheraton, Metrople, ... Along with that, the traffic conditions are very favorable to connect with localities in the process of developing golf tourism. In addition, visitors to Hanoi can easily access the golf ecosystem in neighboring localities such as: Vinh Phuc, Hoa Binh, Hai Duong , Hai Phong, Quang Ninh ...

Mr. Pham Thanh Tri, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Golf Tourism Association, said that Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular have all the conditions to expand golf tourism. In particular, the geographical location and ideal flight distance, located near the golf markets with the highest growth rates in the world, unique and attractive natural and cultural tourism resources, rich cuisine. In addition, Vietnam's climate allows golf tourists to operate all year round.

Along with the potentials and advantages, the delegates attending the seminar also commented that Hanoi golf tourism still has challenges and difficulties in competing with other countries in the region such as: the number of golf courses is still small; costs are higher than other countries in the region and people's income, leading to a small number of domestic tourists; the rate of international tourists coming to play golf is not high compared to the total number of international visitors to Hanoi; the connection between travel agencies and golf courses is still limited; golf tourism is not connected with other types of tourism; golf courses are not connected with each other and there are no solutions to promote golf tourism products in a systematic and professional manner...

To attract international golf tourism to Vietnam, representatives of tourism businesses and golf course operators have proposed that in the coming time, the State should reduce the special consumption tax from 20% to 10%, or 5% or make it free. This will help improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism with Southeast Asian countries. In addition, to develop golf tourism, it is necessary to strengthen connectivity, including the strong application of technology to create the most convenient information and exchange between golf clubs.

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