Thai golf tourism is riding on the back of a tourism explosion to the kingdom, with total foreign arrivals doubling in the past seven years to more than 22 million in 2012.
Mark Siegel, the principal of Thailand’s largest inbound golf tourism company, Golfasian, says the country's golf tourism has also skyrocketed to an estimated 750,000 arrivals in 2012, up 50 per cent in the past three years.
If this pace of growth continues, Thailand will pass Spain as the world’s most popular golf tourism destination in 2015 or 2016.
Siegel estimates golf tourism was worth 86 billion baht or US$2.88 billion in land arrangements alone to Thailand in 2012.
"The past year and the high season now ending have been quite amazing," Siegel told HK Golfer. "For the first time in several years there was no impediment to Thailand’s huge international appeal – no floods, political unrest or local economic issues. Everything has been ‘go’ and that’s what has happened. Golf tourists have voted with their feet and have overwhelmingly chosen Thailand."
Siegel expects 15 per cent further growth in 2013 to more than 850,000 golf visitors, worth $US$3.68 billion, with the one million mark in visitor numbers expected to be passed in 2015.
This would put Thailand on an equal, or similar, footing with Spain, which has dominated international golf tourism for more than a decade, but has been losing market share to emerging destinations including Portugal, Turkey, North Africa and Asia, especially Thailand.
Siegel – who is also the founder of Golf In A Kingdom marketing collective that includes Thailand’s leading golf courses, hotels and resorts – says an estimated eight to nine per cent of foreign visitors to Thailand play golf, whereas less than half a per cent of Vietnam’s seven million foreign visitors and about one per cent of Malaysia’s 25 million do so.
The reason? "Largely, because of the great experience of playing golf in Thailand – the courses, weather, caddies, tourism infrastructure, friendliness of the people, safety and cost. But Thailand also has led the way in promoting golf tourism," Siegel noted. "Golf is one of Thailand’s four official tourism marketing pillars and, consequently, the government has put a big effort into promoting golf tourism.
"Another reason is the large number of repeat visitors. Year after year golfers come back, especially during the northern hemisphere winter, and from within Asia itself. No other golf tourism market comes close to Thailand in securing repeat business."
Just as Asia itself is the major supplier of all tourists to Thailand – about 13 million of 22 million or 60 per cent of the total – the same applies to inbound golfers. About two-thirds – some 500,000 in 2012 – come from Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, India and, increasingly, China.
"The level of Chinese golf tourism is growing every year," Siegel continued. "Whereas a few years ago, we hardly saw any Chinese golfers in Thailand, it has become reasonably common. There’s no doubt China will be a major feeder market for golf tourism to Thailand and other countries in the future."
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