According to a recent study published by IPK International, one of the world’s leading tourism consultancies and tourism research agencies, in 2022 the travel industry experienced a significant recovery.
Worldwide, outbound trips increased substantially year on year, but without regaining 2019 levels.
IPK’s World Travel Monitor stated that worldwide, outbound travel in 2022 rose by 90 percent year on year, equivalent to a global volume of almost 700 million trips in 2022.
Compared to outbound travel before the pandemic in 2019, this is 66 percent of pre-crisis levels.
Variations were evident with regard to individual continents, destinations, and travel markets.
Mark Siegel at LIV Golf Pro Am
So, we caught up with Mark Siegel the CEO of leading golf tour operator Golfasian https://www.golfasian.com/ to find out how the Asian golf travel industry is getting along.
During the Covid pandemic did you have to shut your offices, or did you stay open?Mark: We had to shut down some offices as people were unable to travel, however, we kept our HQ office in Bangkok open to handle all inquiries and develop new business.When did you start to see international golfers start returning again?From July 22nd we had arrivals as clients were keen to get back out onto the courses. The return was very quick only took first 3-4 months to recover to pre-Covid levels.Has there been a shift in where your customers are coming from now?Pre covid our top country for bookings came from Europe. Now Japan, India, and Malaysia are our top markets.Do you see this changing soon?Yes, next winter our focus will be on European golf travellers.What countries are you currently selling golf tours to?We sell golf tours to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia.Was it hard to re-group and bring back staff up to pre covid levels?No, as we kept our business development staff and those that had left came back immediately.With the influx of tourists into countries like Thailand have you found it has been hard to secure good hotel rooms for your clients?Last month was difficult during the Chinese New Year when some regions were full, however, although hotels are busy, we are able to secure rooms as we bring a large number of golfers all year round.The Golfasian events department https://www.golfasian.com/events/ seems to be growing. Do you find that more of your customers want to include a tournament in their golf vacations?Yes, we have seen a growth in international and local golfers keen to compete in our amateur tournaments. Many golfers want to participate in an event or festival.Finally, do you predict that you will be back to pre-covid inbound bookings in 2023?Well, we passed pre-covid bookings last November and 2023 will be a bumper year for golf tourism in Asia.
With SE Asia starting to see good results with travellers keen to return and airlines with full planes, seems there is light at the end of the tunnel at long last.
First golfing trip to Thailand, and Golfasian were amazing! From the initial emails queries right through to meeting me for a round of golf in Bangkok, Golfasian were invested in making my trip memorable and they completely excelled my expectations. The team took the time to fully understand my interests and structured a tour across Thailand that was incredible. The drivers, the caddies, tte ournament staff, and the support staff all do an awesome job to make things as seamless as possible for you. They really know their stuff, they know the courses, the caddies, and the accomodation which ensures you gain the eperience you are truly looking for. Thanks to AJ, Richard, Brian and the extended team in Chiang Mai (two ball tournament) for a magical Thai golfing experience, I'm absolutely hooked and I'm already preparing my next adventure with Golfasian after being home for two days! If you are looking for the ultimate golfing experience in Thailand (or anywhere in SE Asia for that matter), be sure to book it through Golfasian.
Cam Daniell
These guys are excellent. Loved our tour in Saigon. They arranged everything. Tony our driver was great, fun and was very accommodating. The courses were awesome and everything was so easy to deal with through Jim. Thanks for an unforgettable holiday.
Steve Delane
Good service. The ability to get tee times even at peak season. Competitive prices
Jeffrey Barnes
All customers from golfasian group friendly
Rosouldo Jacobo
I have not long returned from Accor Vietnam Masters conducted by Golf Asian and I would thoroughly recommend that you enter in 2017. You won't be disappointed.
Jenny Brooks
GolfAsian was for us the perfect organization. The ease in which we could plan the trip. The selected golfcourses were of good quality and tailored to our wishes. The services like pick-up from the hotel and assistance of the driver in the clubhouse were perfect and always on-time! We really felt taken care of.
We will use GolfAsian next time again, for sure!
Reinier van Fulpen
This is the 2nd time i engaged GolfAsia for the HCM package. What impressed me much was they archived my last record and was able to recommend me 'new' courses to play this time. As was the last trip, they were organised and reliable. The arrangements (including a golf game that required speedboat transfer) were seamless and hassle-free.
Well done, GolfAsia. Looking forward to another trip by you.
Khai Leong
Incredible service and staff. I couldn't believe how easy it was and not one issue at the hotel or the golf courses.
Marc Jolicoeur
Our golfing trip of 8 people to Vietnam has just finished sadly. We started off in Ho Chi Minh City, then Danang and finally Hanoi with a two night HaLong Bay cruise to have some R & R after 7 golf games plus some sightseeing. Thank you to everyone at Golfasian from the first enquiry, finalising an itinerary and then our time in Vietnam. Everything ran so smoothly and professionally that we didn't need to stress over any of the arrangements at all. Miss Huong was so helpful with all aspects of our tour and also in organising catering for non seafood eaters wherever we went on our itinerary. The drivers during our stay were friendly and obliging from Tony in Ho Chi Minh, Lucky in Danang and Mr Simon in Hanoi was especially helpful and informative and more than happy to answer any questions plus also give suggestions which we were grateful for. We could not fault the service from Golfasian and would not hesitate to recommend them and use them again.
Marilyn Powell
Decent service provider, but for the first time felt that they don’t care about client needs and try to sell the most expensive option by default
Walter Hungerbuhler
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