I’ve got a feeling that Chinese government’s golf policy is not very consistent. In 2015, they shut down 10% of the country’s golf clubs (=66) what they found illegal. The Communist Party also banned party members (=88 million people) from joining golf clubs.
At the same, the government is funding its national golf team for the Olympics. In China 1.1 million local Chinese are playing golf. The Chinese golf industry is not negligible, it was valued at 6.4bn yuan (£665m) in 2013 by Huidian Research. In addition to this, Tiger Woods was able to sign a $16.5 million deal to redesign two courses in China.
Chinese outbound tourism trends
The number of outbound Chinese tourists has doubled over the past 5 years from 57.4 million to 116.6 million in 2014. A UBS survey found that approximately 63% of outbound tourists are independent travellers. Attract China highlighted golf as one of the TOP10 preferred activities of the Chinese outbound tourists. According to China Tourism Research Institute, in Europe, France was the most popular destination in 2015 among Chinese tourists (#2 – Italy, #3 Germany). Therefore is our challenge is…
How to attract more Chinese golfers to Europe (or to the EMEA region)?
Recently, Assoufid Golf Club has announced a partnership with Mission Hills China. The Assoufid Golf Club is not the first golf club in the Mediterranean region (e.g. Son Gual) who signed a partnership with Mission Hills China.
In this case, the partnership will see resident members of Assoufid Golf Club offered complimentary playing privileges at Mission Hills. Mission Hills’ members will also be offered the same courtesy when visiting Assoufid Golf Club.
Will Assoufid Golf Club be able to attract as much (1000+) as Chinese golf tourists as Son Gual?
At present, the number of Moroccan golfers is minimal, therefore, the country still heavily relies on inbound golf tourism. I assume if you are coming from China to our region, then you would like to take advantage of time (This is what I did when I had been to the Far East.). If this is the case, then you will want to see and experience as much you can.
Indisputable that Morocco has a very rich cultural and natural heritage and 52 golf courses are impressive. However, what can the country offer to Chinese golf tourists to consider Morocco or prefer it over big golf countries like the UK, Ireland, Spain, France and Germany? Fortunately for Morocco, at least, the country is considered as a popular emerging golf tourism hot spot.
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