At the meeting, leaders of GDS and Company 54 said they are absolutely interested in developing golf tourism in Vietnam, including content on building standards in golf services and developing environmentally friendly golf tourism. To facilitate this, in the near future, GDS and Company 54 will complete the establishment of a joint company to promote the development of golf tourism in Vietnam. In particular, GDS and Company 54 expressed their hope that VNAT will support the realisation of the idea of organising the LIV Golf Tournament in Vietnam. In addition, the leaders of the two companies also proposed to organise a discussion among businesses, investors in the industry, golf course owners to meet, discuss, and shape the future of the golf industry in Vietnam.

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh stressed, golf tourism is one of the fields that is paid great attention. Expressing his impression for Mr. Jed Moore – Founder and CEO of Performance 54 for bringing Saudi Arabia from a desert place with a harsh climate to a famous golf tourism destination, VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh hopes that in the near future, the parties will cooperate to promote the development of golf tourism in Vietnam. According to VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh, the organisation of the LIV Golf Tournament in Vietnam will create a highlight to attract domestic and international tourists to Vietnam. In addition, he inquired Performance 54 to support information related to building service standards of golf courses around the world and classifying them according to star levels; support Vietnam in developing content on golf course construction standards.

Regarding the tourism situation in Vietnam, VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh stated, Vietnam is one of the most popular destinations in Southeast Asia as well as in the world, and is the top destination in the region. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2019, Vietnam welcomed over 18 million international visitor arrivals, serving about 85 million domestic tourist trips; contributing nearly 10% of national GDP; Total tourist receipts reached about USD 32 billion. After fully reopening, Vietnam tourism recovered swiftly thanks to the Government’s open-door policies. In 2023, Vietnam welcomed over 12.6 million international visitor arrivals, serving about 110 million domestic tourist trips; Total tourist receipts reached about USD 28 billion; recovered about 70% compared to 2019.

Vietnam’s tourism industry has set a goal of completely recovering the number of international visitors this year, expected to welcome about 17-18 international visitor arrivals, regaining tourism growth momentum to contribute more GDP to the country than the pre-pandemic rate.

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh added, Vietnam’s tourism development strategy identifies golf tourism as one of the strengths of Vietnam tourism and Vietnam is aiming to develop and exploit the potential from this important market.

Currently, the number of visitors to locations with golf courses is increasing significantly. The cost of playing golf in Vietnam is also relatively competitive compared to other countries in the region. Most golf courses today are new courses with full equipment, infrastructure, and modern amenities. Notably, golf courses are built in areas and locations with unique geographical locations and topography, with many courses designed by world golf legends, including the legendary Greg Norman – Vietnam Tourism Ambassador. This is proof that Vietnam has full potential, strengths and opportunities to develop golf tourism with beautiful natural landscapes, diverse mountainous terrain and a coastline stretching more than 3,200km.

According to the latest statistics, Vietnam currently has nearly 100 golf courses in operation and the goal is to have about 200 golf courses in operation in the future. In the coming time, when the economic situation recovers and stabilises, the construction of golf courses will continue to be promoted as planned, making Vietnam an attractive golf tourism destination for domestic and international tourists.

Congratulations on the strong recovery of Vietnam tourism, Mr. Jed Moore – Founder and CEO of Performance 54 expressed his impression with the natural beauty, country and people of Vietnam. Along with that, the results that Vietnam tourism has achieved demonstrate the vision, strategic thinking, and synchronous and unified activities of the government, businesses, and golf course owners.

Sharing about LIV Golf, Mr. Jed Moore said: “The experience we bring at LIV Golf is truly different because we bring music and entertainment programmes to golf”. The CEO of Performance 54 commented that the golf industry in the world still holds traditional views, lacking innovation and creativity. Therefore, to be able to truly make a difference in the golf industry, it is necessary to change thinking, change thinking, create newness and breakthroughs, typically new initiatives such as the LIV Golf Tournament.