Ample room to boost golf tourism development in Vietnam
VOV.VN - Featuring hilly terrain, a long coastline, and plenty of beautiful scenery, the nation boasts several advantages to develop modern and world-class golf courses moving forward, according to insiders.
This information was released during a recent meeting held between Nguyen Trung Khanh, director general of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), and Paul Stringer, President of Nicklaus Design, the world's leading golf course design company with the aim of seeking solutions aimed at promoting the golf tourism industry in Vietnam.
Vietnam is one of the few countries that reopened to international tourism early by removing numerous barriers placed on tourists, said insiders, adding that the Vietnamese tourism industry has made great efforts to revive the market and build fresh tourism products to meet demand in the post-pandemic period.
Khanh assessed that one of the main tourism types that Vietnam has attached great importance to develop is golf tourism, adding that the country is currently home to about 100 golf courses and is hoping to have 200 golf courses by 2025.
Last year saw the country also receive the "Best Golf Destination in the World and Asia" award for the second time and has since been recognized as the Best Golf Destination in the world for the fifth consecutive year, he added.
For his part, Stringer hailed the numerous achievements of the Vietnamese tourism industry over recent years, especially golf tourism, noting that the country needs to build high-class golf courses in order to develop golf tourism in the future.
With the advantage of being one of the world's leading golf course design companies, Stringer affirmed that the company will provide support in promoting Vietnamese golf tourism products via its media channels, hoping that the VNAT will serve as a bridge to introduce potential golf projects for the company to formulate investment plans.
Khanh responded by noting that the VNAT will organise promotional tourism schemes in the time ahead in a bid to elevate the Vietnamese golf tourism industry among international friends.
Currently, the VNAT is also working alongside Vietnam Golf Magazine to survey and evaluate golf courses according to a list of 20 criteria and will present the awards to golf courses that meet these standards.
As part of the occasion Khanh also invited Stringer to join the Advisory Board in reviewing this award in 2023 in the hope that the meeting will create a wealth of opportunities for future co-operation in developing golf tourism in the country.
