Effective exploitation of golf tourism market

Possessing quality golf courses with diverse and unique experiences, Quang Ninh is the top choice of many players and tourists who love this sport. With its available advantages, the tourism industry is making efforts to implement many measures to maximize the potential golf market.

Tourists play golf at Tuan Chau golf course (Ha Long).

At Tuan Chau Golf Course (Ha Long City), from October 2022 to now, the operating capacity has always reached 90%, the number of visitors is steady, mainly from other provinces and Taiwanese and Korean visitors. According to the representative of Tuan Chau Golf Course, in winter, golf courses in Korea and Europe are often frozen, so tourists tend to go to warmer countries like Vietnam for tourism combined with golf. The golf tourism season will start from around October to April every year, which is also the low season of the tourist season. Unlike traditional tourists, golf tourists often come and return many times. In addition to the golf fee, they also pay for high-class hotel and restaurant services... Therefore, developing golf tourism not only helps diversify products, improve tourism competitiveness but also attracts customers with high spending ability, long-term stays, stimulating the high-end resort segment.

According to experts, the number of golfers and golf tourists will increase in the coming years because Vietnam has been recognized by the World Golf Awards as the Best Golf Tourism Destination in Asia for 6 consecutive years (2017-2022). Currently, the province owns 4 standard golf courses, including: Vinh Thuan Golf Course (Mong Cai City), FLC Golf Course, Tuan Chau Golf Course (Ha Long City) and Dong Trieu Golf Course, which started construction in October 2021. These golf courses are all associated with famous, high-class resorts. In addition to the unique beauty with a view of the heritage bay, the golf courses all have unique designs, creating different experiences. At the same time, opening up many opportunities to develop golf tourism in the province.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ha Hai, Director of Hongai Tours Quang Ninh, increasing attraction and bringing valuable experiences to tourists, as well as how to make tourists spend more will be a huge challenge for Quang Ninh tourism in general and travel companies in particular. Currently, our company has proactively worked with partners and travel agencies in China, Taiwan, and Korea to build suitable tours and routes. The cost for a 6-day, 5-night golf tour at Quang Ninh courses ranges from 18-20 million VND. The number of visitors in this market is forecast to increase. The unit is coordinating and working with international travel agencies to organize charter groups (full flights) through Van Don International Airport, maximizing the efficiency of the Van Don - Mong Cai expressway.

Grass care at Vinh Thuc golf course (Mong Cai city).

It can be seen that tourism units in the province have also initially exploited golf tourism services and tours, prioritizing the design of combos or tours with diverse experiences including golf, sightseeing, exploring, taking photos at the golf course; resort services and surrounding beautiful landscapes.

However, besides the advantages, golf tourism in Quang Ninh currently also has many limitations. Quang Ninh does not have any travel companies specializing in golf tourism. The connection between travel agencies and golf courses is still quite loose, so international tourists still have difficulty finding information about tours associated with this type of sport...

It is known that according to the Quang Ninh Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, which has just been approved by the Prime Minister, Quang Ninh is expected to have 16 more golf courses, bringing the total number of golf courses to 20 for sports and tourism. Among the golf courses in the new planning, golf courses in coal mine restoration areas are considered a special case and will be the only one in Vietnam. Most of the open-pit coal mines in Ha Long City and Cam Pha City are located on high hills, with views of Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long.

In the immediate future, to fully exploit the golf tourism market, in addition to perfecting the types of golf courses, the tourism industry is trying to promote products that combine golf with local tourism activities to create differences and cultural and experiential attractions. Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuy, Director of the Department of Tourism, said: Tourism businesses need to proactively build golf tours that combine sightseeing and golf at famous locations or organize tours across golf courses. Along with that, cooperate with the Japan and Korea Golf Associations and select international travel companies to bring visitors to the locality to open up many opportunities for golf tourism development in the near future. In addition, Quang Ninh will also organize professional and amateur golf tournaments, seminars, training courses, and golf coaching to attract golfers and tourists who are truly interested in this sport both domestically and internationally.

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