Golf tourism – new hope for Hai Phong tourism

A golf course in Vietnam - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hai Phong – The northern port city of Hai Phong is paying attention to developing golf tours as one of its advantageous tourism products in order to attract more domestic and foreign visitors.

According to Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports Tran Thi Hoang Mai, in the city, there are about 3,000 people playing golf, including many foreign investors from Japan, the Republic of Korea and China.

The city currently has four golf courses for practice and competition, with about 1,000 golfers playing every day. At weekends, the figure could increase to 1,500. The Hai Phong City Golf Association currently has over 2,000 members.

Mai said that as golf tourism will be one of the key products of Vietnam's tourism in the coming time, in 2022 and 2023, the city People's Committee coordinated with relevant units to organise the National Golf Championships, bringing together a large number of golfers to the port city.

Vu Huy Thuong, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, stated that golf tourism is considered by experts as a product with high potential for development which could help attract foreign visitors to Vietnam in general and Hai Phong in particular.

The development of this kind of tourism not only helps diversify products, improve tourism competitiveness, but also attracts visitors with high spending, long stay, and creates jobs as well as income for local people.

According to the official, Hai Phong has many advantages to attract golfers such as a unique culture, rich and attractive cuisine, and a convenient geographical location near golf markets with the highest growth rates in the world such as the Republic of Korea and Japan.

The climate here is ideal for golf playing all the year round, he added.

To attract more golfers, Hai Phong was advised by experts to access new markets through stepping up communications, and organising more professional and international golf tournaments.

Hanoi moves to optimise golf tourism potential Hanoi is believed to hold rich potential for golf tourism, and it is taking various measures to tackle challenges and turn this type of tourism into its signature travel products.