ĐÀ NẴNG — The central city of Đà Nẵng will host the Asia Pacific Golf Summit (APGS) on November 14, following the APEC Summit, 

Vice-director of the city’s tourism department, Nguyễn Xuân Bình, told Việt Nam News the golf summit would draw together developers, golf course owners and operators, club general managers, golf course superintendents and the golf trade from Asia Pacific member economies.

He said the Asia Pacific Inter-Club Golf Tournament would be staged at the Đà Nẵng Golf Resort on that day.

The event will be a fun-filled networking opportunity for ASEAN member economies, including Việt Nam.

This is the eleventh Asia Pacific Golf Summit. It will continue to provide a platform for debate on the opportunities for the golf industry in the Asia Pacific.

Việt Nam has 32 golf courses nationwide. Sixty others are planned, but golfers accounted for a mere half of one per cent of the 10 million tourists visiting Việt Nam in 2016.

At the sixth Asia Golf Tourism Convention (AGTC) in Đà Nẵng last year, the city announced that it earned US$68 million in 2016 from golf tourism. It expects to increase this to $186 million in the next five years when three more golf courses open.

According to the International Association of Golf Tour Operators, 169 golf tourism companies operating in Asia plan to expand into Việt Nam.

The International Association of Golf Tour Operators in co-operation with Đà Nẵng’s Tourism department has built a strategy to develop golf tourism for Đà Nẵng in 2017-22.

Đà Nẵng and the neighbouring provinces of Quảng Nam and Thừa Thiên-Huế are popular sites in central Việt Nam, with beautiful golf courses designed by Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Collin Montgomerie and Luke Donald.

Last year, the Bà Nà Hills Golf Club in Đà Nẵng was named Best New Golf Course in Asia and the Pacific at the Asian Golf Awards of the Asian Golf Association, and was first runner-up as Best Golf Course in Việt Nam.

Participants can register to book seats at the APGS on the link https://secure.golfconference.org/event/asia-pacific-golf-summit-2017. — VNS