In an attempt to promote India as a golf destination for domestic and international tourists, the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India in association with industry chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and India Golf Tourism Association (IGTA) recently organised a two-day Golf Summit that was attended by specialist golf tour operators and stakeholders from India and overseas markets.
“There is a need to evolve a viable business model for the growth of golf tourism in India which would serve as a benchmark for assessing the extent to which India matches up to the expectations of the buyers of the golf tourism product,” Girish Shankar, Additional Secretary (Tourism), Govt of India, said. The highlight of the summit was structured, pre-scheduled B2B meetings between leading foreign tour operators who specialise in golf tourism with the stakeholders of this niche area from India.
The summit was also addressed by Rajan Sehgal, President, IGTA; A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI; S C Sekhar, Senior Executive Vice President, Hotels Division, ITC Hotels & MD Landbase India; Aakash Ohri, Director, DLF Golf Resorts; and Peter Walton, Chief Executive, International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO).
His opinion was supported by Usha Sharma, Additional Director General, Indian Ministry of Tourism, when she called for a golf tourism conclave on a much bigger scale where over 100 buyers from different countries could deliberate on gaps that needed to be closed to promote India as a golf destination.
Citing an independent study, Shankar said that 52 per cent of travelling golfers are likely to take two or more golfing holidays in a year and they spend on an average, 33 per cent more on their holidays as compared to regular holiday makers.
During the summit, stakeholders opined that a clear cut strategy is needed to include the entire sequence of creating awareness, encouraging stakeholders and the target markets to experience and promote the venues, thereby generating higher demand for the product.
Anand Kumar, Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India and Managing Director, National Highways Infrastructure and Development Corporation, Ministry of Transport, Government of India, pointed out that there was no deficit in the golf tourism product that was being offered to the world; what was lacking was the right kind of publicity for positioning it for attracting golf lovers to this country. He underlined the need for the government, industry associations, golf course owners and travel and tour operators to brainstorm to evolve a short, medium and long term strategy for centre-staging golf tourism. He suggested that road shows and expositions could be held in the short term; participation in major golf summits in India and overseas in the medium term and organising India’s own golf tourism mart in the long term.
