The opening of the Vietnamese, US$4 billion mega-resort Hoiana Shores Golf Club is almost here.
The Hoiana Shores Golf Club will welcome golfers from 23 September, pending a grand opening in early 2020.
The pins will instead be adorned with red lanterns, the likes of which illuminate Hoi An’s famous Old Town at night.
In this post, I will focus more on the Vietnamese economy and tourism industry to show you why I think the Hoiana Integrated Resort with the Hoiana Shores Golf Club can have a promising future.
Just briefly, here are the key facts about the resort and the golf club:
- 985-hectare,
- US$4 billion investment,
- More than 1,000 rooms, suites, and villas (managed by Rosewood Hotel Group: the group’s 10th project in Asia). Rosewood Hoi An will open in 2021.
- 4 kilometers of pristine beach.
- Hoiana Shores Golf Club has also been developed in full accordance with strict sustainability principles laid out by the GEO Foundation.
- At least 4000 new jobs.
- An entertainment facility will be managed by Suncity Group ( one of Asia’s leading VIP services and entertainment conglomerates from Macau).
Hoiana Shores Golf Club & the Vietnamese tourism industry
Vietnamese tourism industry’s performance is really impressive and in line with the growth of tourism in Asia-Pacific.
In 2018, the revenues from the tourism industry were US$26.75 billion (vs. US$4.75 billion in 2017).
The country attracted 15 million tourists in 2018 (vs. 5 million in 2010). They are hoping to attract 103 million visitors in 2019.
The Asia-Pacific region’s tourism industry is expected to grow by 8% in 2019.
The Danang region attracted more than 4.6 million tourists, while Vietnam was visited by 7 million tourists in 2015. Approximately 1% of these tourists were golf tourists (cca. 70 000).
In 2019, the Danang region is likely to generate $40 million from golf tourism.
It seems like China (4.96 million tourists in 2018, an 23,9% growth since 2017) is the key driver of inbound tourism in Vietnam, but in the region as well.
Another important source of tourists is South Korea. In 2018, 3,48 million Korean visited Vietnam. This is a 44,3% growth since 2017.
Although Vietnam is far from Europe, but it seems like it is not a huge obstacle. 2.1 million Europeans visited the country in 2018 (an 8,1% growth vs. 2017).
Although holidays will be the main drivers of future tourism (including golf tourism), I would not recommend neglecting or underestimating the importance of bleisure.
Let’s not forget cities of Asia-Pacific play host to an increasingly large share of the world’s corporate travelers.
Expedia found that in 2017, more than 60% of business trips were extended to include leisure time, both in the U.S. and globally. This was a nearly 40% increase since 2016.
If Vietnam wants to be as successful as Thailand they must invest in airport capacity and labor quality.
Until then we can enjoy the benefits of under-tourism at this gorgeous Hoiana Shores Golf Club.