Tourism in the 21st century has become one of the major economic activities throughout the world. However, in Bangladesh, tourism plays a minor role in the economy as it contributes to around 3.02% to the nation's GDP and provides less than 8.07% of the total jobs in the country. Bangladesh is very rich in cultural and natural heritage and has a diverse geography too. However, it still doesn't rank among the top countries for international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts.
Our government must focus on golf tourism as a niche that can attract foreign tourists and can also enhance foreign exchange earnings. It will also help in exploring the destinations and potential of golf tourism in Bangladesh, as it is one of the major sub-sectors of the tourism industry involving high expenditure visitors.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, plays an important role in the development of tourism in Bangladesh. Historically, Bangladesh has been an attractive destination for various categories of tourists. But at present, its position is not significant in terms of the international tourism market. The tourism industry is frequently referenced in Bangladesh as a highly important stakeholder with the potential to provide extensive benefits to the Protected Foreign Reserves. Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world that has immense diversity in almost every field. This makes Bangladesh a country with vast tourism potential.
However, despite having the diversity and potential, Bangladesh doesn't enter the list of top countries in terms of international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts which is generally dominated by the European and more industrialized countries. This indicates that the country needs to identify alternate tourism forms and niche tourism markets that can enhance both international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts for Bangladesh.
A total of 21 golf courses are spread around Bangladesh with some concentration in the greater Dhaka area and the greater Chattogram area. The best maintained nine-hole course in the country is AGC in Dhaka which is also perhaps the busiest in Bangladesh, in terms of number of golfers served per day.
The nine-hole courses in Bangladesh can be divided into the following four categories:
Category 1: AGC in Dhaka, GGC in Ghatail, JGCC in Jessore and CGC in Khagrachari
Category 2: BGC in Bogra, SGCC in Patenga, RGC in Rangpur
Category 3: BOFGC in Gazipur, SNGC in Moulvibazar, ARGC in Narail and GPC in Srimongol
Category 4: NAGC in Patenga, JGC in Khulna and a privately-held course in Jirabo
Alternate tourism is defined as a tourism form which is in harmony with nature, social values and the values of local people; allows positive relationships of both visitors and local people; and enables them to share their experiences. Alternate tourism forms can attract a variety of tourists while minimizing the negative effects of mass tourism. One of the emerging forms of alternative tourism is sports tourism, that attracts high yield tourists. Sports tourism has recently become a hot topic among the researchers.
One of the very famous and big business sports these days is golf. This sport attracts millions of travellers around the world generating more than $20 billion every year. Golf tourism is a subcategory of sports tourism which is among the fastest evolving types of tourism. It is a form of tourism in which people travel to places outside their usual residence to participate in or observe golf sport competitions; or travel to visit a golf tourism attraction. Generally, golf tourists are of three types:
Who travel principally to participate in or play golf
Ones that travel principally for purposes like business or leisure but indulge themselves in playing golf as a secondary activity
Those who travel as spectators to witness elite golf tournaments or visit golf attractions
There are more than 32,000 golf courses in the world spread in over 140 countries and more than 50% of them are in the United States while Europe has approximately 6,000. In the present scenario, elite golf tournaments attract a lot of tourists from all over the world. Golf tourists on an average spend more than other tourists. Other than this, golf tourism plays an important role in positioning a destination, helps in upgrading host destination infrastructure, provides employment opportunities and also compensates for the conventional tourism seasonality. Because of all these, major tourism destinations and countries are including golf in their tourism plans and are also upgrading the infrastructure for this sport.
One country that has promoted golf tourism and benefitted the most is Thailand. For the last two to three decades, the country has developed its golf infrastructure and is also promoting affordable golfing which is why it is one of the most famous golf holiday destinations in the world. Several developing African and Asian countries like Kenya, Malaysia, South Africa, India and UAE are also trying to enter the list of top golf destinations. This shows that golf tourism is growing and expanding its reach throughout the world. In the current scenario, golf tourists also want to travel to places outside their country of origin.
Golf is a sport that is growing at a very rapid pace throughout the world. A lot of professionals and amateurs travel every year to participate in golf competitions or to indulge themselves in golfing holidays. The estimated international golf market comprises more than 60 million golfers. Of all these travelers, around half are in the United States, nearly 6 million in Europe, close to 15 million in Japan and approximately 6 million in Canada. Among all these, Canada has the maximum golf participation rate which is around two times compared to that of the U.S. Just like the international golf market, golf spending is also dominated by US golfers as golf accounts for around $70 billion of economic activity.
Like the golf participation rate, Canada also leads the golfer spending per capita as they spend around $15 billion annually on golfing activities. This shows that the golf tourism market is growing rapidly which provides enormous opportunities to various destinations and the tourism industry across the globe to generate high revenues. Furthermore, a research shows that most of the golf tourists are male (more than 75%) and around maximum (90%) golfers have annual income higher than $50,000. Majority of the golf travelers (around 65%) are 35 years of age or more. More than 80% of the golfers are also of the view that they will return to their golf destination after one year or later. Golfers travel for both golf experience and other reasons.
In Bangladesh golf as a sport was introduced by the British in 1956. Bangladesh has a number of beautiful 18-hole and 9-hole golf courses, and some of these courses compare very well with the featured courses in some of the heavily promoted golf-tourist markets.
Bashundhara Bangladesh Open, Bangladesh's first Asian Tour golf tournament was organized by The Bangladesh Golf Federation at Kurmitola Golf Club in 2015. Golf as a sport has grown a lot in Bangladesh since then. Bangladesh now hosts the Bangabandu Bangladesh Open, which is one of the leading golf tournaments in south Asia along with a number of international amateur golf tournaments.
Bangladesh can be an attractive tourist destination for its history, rich culture, and diverse geography. However, with golf expanding its reach throughout the world and becoming an emerging tourism form with high financial benefits, the Bangladesh Golf Federation is also promoting its offerings to attract high yield golf tourists from across the world. The country is coming up with a number of new golf courses throughout its length and breadth which has pushed golf to be one of the upcoming sports in Bangladesh. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism can recognise the potential of golf tourism and provide financial support for the development of golf tourism in the country.
Some independent international studies on golf suggest that more than half of all golf tourists prefer to take two or more holidays for the purpose of golfing. It also suggests that golf tourists on an average spend 33% more than other tourists. Moreover, around 80% of these tourists are willing to travel to new golf tourism destinations. Hence there are enormous opportunities for golf tourism in future which Bangladesh needs to focus on as it can benefit a lot from this alternate tourism form. The benefits that golf tourism can offer to Bangladesh are as follows:
Developing golf tourism in Bangladesh can provide the international golf tourists some new destinations to travel to. At the same time, it will also help Bangladesh attract a different travel market which includes both domestic and international tourists. This way the country can increase its international tourist arrivals.
Golf tourism can also enhance the foreign exchange earnings of Bangladesh which will ultimately boost the economy and the GDP of the country. This form of tourism can provide economic opportunities to the locals of any particular destination. It can provide jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities to various people throughout the country. It can help in promoting new destinations as tourism attractions.
It can also provide training opportunities to the people of Bangladesh (particularly locals) which will uplift the standards of the game in the country. This can also increase the participation of Bangladeshis in major golf tournaments while providing them with a chance to win big in such elite events.
Golf tourism must be developed in destinations that have unexplored hidden tourism potential. This will help in offering new destinations to the global tourists.
It is reasonable to conclude that the prospect of golf tourism in Bangladesh is positive and significant economic benefits can be derived from golf and golf tourism. The success of golf tourism depends, however, on the cooperation of various players involved in the sector. Finally, it is hoped that Bangladesh will quickly move forward to exploit the potentials of golf tourism in favor of its national development.
Nazrul Hosen Ayon is Founder and Editor of TheGolfHouse magazine.