Despite the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic for two years, the number of golf courses and golfers in Vietnam has continued to grow strongly. In Vietnam, the resort real estate, aviation and luxury yacht sectors are all involved in promoting, distributing or operating this type of high-end tourism.
Post Covid-19: Health tourism is on the rise, including golf
The wellness tourism market has grown from 563 billion USD in 2015 to 919 billion USD in 2020. Europe and North America have recorded a surge in tour bookings to Asia with the demand for relaxation, beauty and health care. In particular, many tourists want to participate in meditation courses, yoga, golf or hot mineral baths... to restore and regenerate both physically and mentally in quiet rural areas, high mountains or islands that are not known to many people.
The rich and super-rich in Asia - Pacific, including Vietnam, are very fond of sports tourism combined with health care at high-end tourist areas and isolated resorts to minimize the risk of disease infection. In a 2022 interview, a representative of Remote Lands - a luxury travel company specializing in booking tours in Asia said that the interesting thing about the rich/super-rich is that they are often loyal customers. Instead of rarely contacting or connecting with tour operators after trips like ordinary customers, the super-rich often book tours and services at a certain place year after year. They are willing to spend from 25,000 to half a million USD for a trip.
Golf is considered an indispensable experience in the vacation of the rich and super-rich in Asia. According to Tourism Review News, about 5-10% of wealthy Asian tourists travel with the main purpose of playing golf. Golfers tend to spend more than other groups and bring in huge foreign exchange profits for countries that rely on tourism.
Over the past year, golf has become a favorite sport of Vietnamese "beauty queens".
Photo: Instagram
Vietnam is ready to welcome a large number of golf-savvy tourists from around the world.
In the past, golf was often associated with the notion of being a trendy hobby of the rich, so the activity was somewhat modest, with few people experiencing it. Up to now, thanks to the rapid economic development and vibrant media, the golf tourism market has made a strong breakthrough, showing the attraction of investment and new construction is increasingly widespread throughout the country.
Vietnam currently has about 100 golf courses in operation. Of these, 32 courses meet international 5-star standards along the coast, adjacent to luxury resorts. Despite the continuous impact of Covid-19, many new golf courses are still opening in destinations such as Quang Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Ha Tinh, Binh Thuan... Particularly, FLC Biscom and Vingroup have a series of courses in Quang Ninh, Binh Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Hoi An, Phu Quoc... belonging to super complexes of high-class resorts and entertainment.
PGA NovaWorld Phan Thiet Golf Course is the only course in Vietnam licensed by the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) to organize international tournaments within the tournament system of this organization.
During the Covid-19 social distancing period in 2021, the number of 3D golf courses with a space of 4 to 5 m2In Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, more golf courses are being opened to serve the needs of domestic and international visitors stuck in Vietnam. However, data from the Vietnam Golf Association shows that from 2018 to now, golfers only account for about 0.8% of the total number of international visitors to Vietnam, a modest number compared to Thailand at 9%. Most of them come from Korea, Japan and some other Southeast Asian countries. The Korean market alone currently has about 8 million golfers. Many experts predict that golf tourism will become a billion-dollar business and attract three times the number of visitors to experience it by 2022 (150,000), after Vietnam opens its doors to international visitors in mid-March.
Also in 2021, Vietnam continued to be honored as“The world's best golf destination”awarded by the World Golf Awards (WGA). This is the second time Vietnam has won this title, after the first time in 2019. Previously, Vietnam received the title of Asia's best golf destination for 5 consecutive years (from 2017 to 2021). In March 2019, Forbes magazine commented that "Vietnam is the fastest growing golf destination in the world".
Many new resorts are quickly opening, aiming at the golf playing needs of tourists.
Runner-up Huyen My at Thanh Lanh Valley Golf & Resort (Vinh Phuc) - Photo: Instagram character
Conclusion
In the coming time, Vietnam will continue to carry out more activities and programs to promote golf tourism to attract domestic and international tourists. Now is the time for wealthy businessmen and global politicians to travel frequently again, they want to join partners and families in interesting recreational activities such as golf to relieve stress and increase work productivity. If we do not seize the opportunity in time, we will lose tourists to other golf tourism destinations in Asia - this is also the common opinion of many experts in the industry when commenting on the field of golf and resort tourism at the present stage.
