By Ding Marcelo
How do you begin a journey? Surely, it’s by taking the first step.
That’s what the Department of Tourism did last week when it hosted a familiarization tour of three golf courses in Cebu to launch a tourism program whose main objective is to attract golfers, local and foreign, to visit and play the country’s golf courses.
The task is not easy, as Lyle Uy, director of DOT’s Office of Golf Tourism, assessed. But the fact that the department has created an office exclusively to develop this program indicates that this is a long-term plan to boost tourism using golf as an instrument.
“Golf is a niche market and we are tapping this market to boost tourism,” said Uy. “Most of the world, they do not know we have golf courses here.”
He said he wants to change this perception.
The familiarization tour was conceived to introduce golfers to what local courses can offer, and Cebu was the first stop.
He said he plans to eventually visit all of the country’s 120 golf courses to assess their condition and to propose changes if needed so they can be attractive to tourists.
There are seven golf courses in Cebu but only three were visited -- Club Filipino de Cebu in Danao, Alta Vista in Cebu City, and Liloan Golf Club in the municipality of Liloan.
Professional golfers were invited to test the courses, along with some media members. The others were tour operators who will probably be the backbone of this campaign.
Golf tourism is a popular concept in various Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, and others, like Cambodia and Laos, are trying to catch up.
The Philippines is an infant in this direction with little to show to attract foreign golfers. Golf packages for five, three rounds of golf in Bali and various cities in Vietnam offer as little as P25,000 per person, inclusive of everything but airfare.
In Thailand, one operator offered seven nights and five rounds of golf for P35,000.
“No, we can’t match them,” admitted Lyle Uy, who is in charge of the local program. “It will probably take some time before we get there. But we have taken the first step.”
One problem is that many local golf courses are private and a majority are not keen to open their facilities to golf tourists.
Members of private clubs often express displeasure when their playing times are disrupted by visitors, so this is one area that may need a lot of massaging.
Uy said his plan includes convincing these golf clubs that visiting players are good for the members, the clubs, and the economy. Though golf may be the prime attraction, foreign visitors may be drawn to tourist spots, especially if they bring wives and children along, and that will have a positive effect on the country.
Some clubs though need golf tourists because they don’t have the traffic to sustain financial viability to keep their courses up to par. But most of them are located outside Metro Manila. To bring tourists there, the amenities must be ample.
“With tourists around, golf courses may have to upgrade their facilities and our role is to encourage them to do that if our plan is to succeed,” Uy said.
“This just the beginning,” Uy said. “I know we have a market for this kind of project, we just need to tap it.”
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