After the piece titled, “Why Can’t Golf Tourism Take Hold in the Philippines?” ran, reactions were quite mixed. Some agreed with the need to develop the industry, others saw no value in it. Why should a private club open its fairways to tourists in the first place? Won’t that inconvenience the members and compromise the club’s exclusivity? Others say that our golf courses just aren’t good enough to compete with our neighbors in the region. So why bother?
There are many reasons to do so. The most significant is to allow the clubs to earn more income from tourist traffic. We aren’t suggesting that they just throw their doors open and allow tourists unlimited access. All clubs have tee times that aren’t popular with the members. All clubs have slow days when few members are even at the club. Why not convert that potential into realized income? Each club will have their own policy as to how much access to allow and that’s perfectly acceptable.
There’s a large trickle-down effect to having tourists at the club. The club earns additional revenue from food and beverage, golf cart rentals and proshop sales. Many clubs mandate a one-guest, one-cart policy and a F&B minimum as part of access to the club. Most tourists will tip their caddies generously if they are well served and want a souvenir from the proshop of their visit to the club.
Once the clubs recognize the revenue potential of the property, they can, and most likely will, improve their golf courses’ condition to further increase its appeal to foreign patrons. Better playing conditions will most assuredly find favor with club members, especially if they don’t have to pay for it.
One of the trends of the last decade around the world are the growing investments in golf to increase the number of foreign visitors and enhance tourism revenue earned. This has seen the spread of golf globally and the number of world-class golf courses has been steadily rising over the years, as well.
The real-estate sector has also been drawn into the lucrative golf tourism industry. This has seen the emergence of exquisite golf resorts around the world each trying to stand out as the one that offers the ultimate golfing experience. Although many of the best golf courses in the world are in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia have built many world-class destinations in turn. Each continent is striving to set itself apart from the rest to increase revenue from golf tourism.
Golf now contributes about $20 billion annually, and by itself, or as a secondary motivator attracts millions of holidaymakers across the world. Approximately 56 million people play golf worldwide with 26.7 million of these residing in the United States, 5.5 million in Europe, 5 million in Canada, 14 million in Japan and 3.8 million in the United Kingdom.
Among them about 5 to 10 percent travel worldwide with the sole purpose of playing golf. This number has been steadily increasing over the years as more countries embrace golf tourism as a key source of foreign exchange. It is estimated that the demand and supply of golf is rising at a steady rate of 12 percent annually. This has seen an increase in golf resorts and related employment opportunities.
The governments of various countries are extending support for the growth and development of golf tourism in their countries. The penetration of golf tourism in developing countries is also increasing with the popularity of the game in these countries, improved living standards, increased interest in golf, and enhancement of sports facilities are driving the popularity of the game in the world.
Developing countries have recognized that golf tourists tend to outspend average tourists and thus have invested heavily to reap the benefits of extra foreign revenue. This has been supported by a recent report by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) which showed that operators in Africa posted a 20-per cent increase in sales on average.
In Africa, the rise has been attributed to the increasing investments made into golf tourism by developing countries. Kenya, for example, has over the years invested in eight ”export-ready” golf courses which are meant to be appropriate for international golf travelers. These are Muthaiga, Karen, Limuru, Windsor, Sigona, Nyali, Vipingo and Great Rift Valley. This saw the country in 2009 voted as the “undiscovered golf destination of the year” by IAGTO, a title also bestowed on the Philippines at the IAGTO’s Asia Golf Tourism Convention last year. Kenya has made it work; we’ve squandered our opportunity. What needs to happen is that the government, through the Department of Tourism, needs to prioritize the development of golf tourism and move positively to incentivize the clubs to cooperate and to share their fairways, even if just in a limited capacity, with tourists.
One scenario is that government grant tax incentives for equipment and other inputs to help improve the golf courses’ conditions. This would give the clubs enough savings to improve the conditions of their golf courses to make their memembers happy and increase their appeal to golf tourists. Longer term, if the program succeeds, perhaps further incentives can be made available to construct other world class facilities.
There are already several very impressive upscale, public access golf courses in the country that will make the most of increased tourist traffic. Sun Valley in Antipolo is already one of the best golf courses in the country. Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club is a perfect resort course and the new Puerto Azul Golf and Country Club looks set to follow this trend. The Korean golf courses are also available and can accept added tourist traffic. All that remains is a coordinated effort to ease tourist access into the country.
Everyone wins if we pursue this path. We enjoy better golf courses and don’t have to pay out of our noses for it, our caddies will make a better living, more foreign exchange makes it into the government’s system. Spas, restaurants and hotels all benefit. The people of the Philippines benefit. The country benefits.