Guests playing golf on the course of Laguna Golf Lang Co. Photo provided by Laguna Golf Lang Co

Investing to attract tourists 

During the meeting of golf agents taking place in June 2024 in Hue City, the representative of Golden Sands Golf Resort announced that its course would serve lovers of this sport from this September. The fact that Thua Thien Hue has an international standard golf course provides an opportunity for the ancient capital to attract high-end tourists and develop this type of tourism.

The Golden Sands Golf Resort’s golf course is located on Vinh Xuan Beach. With a world-class competition standard length of 7,445 yards, the designer Nicklaus created a coastal links-style golf course known as the “Masterpiece from the East”, with the design idea embracing the harmony with nature, helping to preserve the green vegetation between the golf course and the coast. 

“The world’s No. 1 golf course design company, namely Nicklaus Design, founded by the world’s golf legend Jack Nicklaus, nicknamed ‘The Golden Bear’, has developed Golden Sands Golf Resort into “the most difficult golf challenge in Vietnam”, with the difficulty level calculated to be 10 strokes higher than any current golf course in Vietnam,” shared Mr. Mark Reeves, Deputy General Director of BRG Group. “I believe that, with this design dedicated to champions only, the Golden Sands Golf Resort’s golf course will become a world-class destination and attract domestic and foreign tourists, contributing to the development of golf as a sports and resort tourism of Thua Thien Hue”.

Laguna Golf Lang Co having affirmed its brand image on the golf “map” of the country. Photo provided by: Laguna Golf Lang Co

The opportunities from golf tourism are huge. According to data from the World Golf Tourism Organization, there are currently 61 member countries with about 638 golf tourism companies, controlling 87% of the global market. Golf tourism is ranked third in terms of travel motivation. Golf industry revenue currently reaches more than 1 billion USD per year. This number is forecast to reach 3 billion USD by 2030. 

However, in terms of golf tourism, Hue has officially exploited only one golf course, which is Laguna Golf Lang Co. Although this golf course has affirmed its brand image on the golf “map” of the country and the region, there is still much work to be done to attract more high-end visitors to Hue, especially regarding establishing a connection network and calling for investment in infrastructure and services. 

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism, assessed that golf tourism served a specialized tourist category. Along with golfers, their accompanying relatives also have the need for exploration and experience travel. The tourism industry encourages localities in close proximity with golf courses to exploit community tourism services and products, traditional craft tourism, and relic site visit combined with resort tourism.

Connecting to develop

The Provincial People's Council has just issued a Resolution on the task of planning the construction subdivision (1/2,000 scale) of the golf course tourist area in Huong Tho Commune (Hue City) and Binh Thanh commune (Huong Tra Town), with an area of about 90 hectares. This tourist area will invest in building a golf course, supporting areas combined with resort tourism designed according to appropriate scale and technical standards, serving the residential community and tourists. 

According to a representative of  Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, developing infrastructure and building golf tourism products is one of the important directions in the development of Vietnam’s tourism industry, in the strategy to develop Vietnam’s tourism to 2030 approved by the Prime Minister. This is also one of the main products being developed by the tourism industry in order to attract tourists with high spending power and long-term stays, stimulating the high-end resort segment. 

Golfers often have high incomes, as well as come and return to golf courses many times. They not only play golf, but also use a chain of high-end services at resorts, hotels, restaurants, etc. Therefore, investing in developing golf tourism is also a way for Vietnamese tourism to improve its service quality, diversify products, increase competitiveness and attract high-paying, long-stay tourists. 

To develop golf tourism, a series of solutions need to be implemented. In particular, it is necessary to apply technology in strengthening and facilitating the information exchange network between golf clubs and golf courses. In order to develop tourism, it is important that local governments and the tourism industry diversify products and services for golf tourism, while at the same time, reinforcing the connection between travel businesses, airlines, golf courses, and local authorities. 

For a long time, the connection and unification to form specialized golf tours is still unclear. The problem lies in the tour price policy, and this requires better cohesion and cooperation from golf courses and representatives of travel businesses. 

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Tourism, said that in addition to connecting businesses to develop tourism products, the department also enhanced the promotion and communication of golf tourism. Thua Thien Hue’s Department of Tourism also coordinated with Da Nang’s Department of Tourism and Quang Nam’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with a number of golf course management units in 3 localities as well as Vietnam Airlines, to organize some golf tournaments, involving the uses of the golf courses of 3 localities and the golf course’s resort, with a preferential combo of air ticket - resort - golf course services, allowing tourists to fly to one of two airports in Hue and Da Nang, extend their stay, as well as experience and shop in the Central Region.

Story: Huu Phuc