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Perhaps God woke up one day and said: Let there be golf, and there was golf! For, no other sport comes close in terms of uniqueness. Even the golf courses are designed uniquely and have their own striking features. It is this fascinating experience that sends a man in the quest of greener pastures, quite literally, across the world.
The advent of golf in India dates back to the British Raj when the officers set up golf courses, some at exotic locations, just so that they did not miss the sport invented by their ancestors. The establishment of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in 1829, the oldest golf club outside the British Isles, stands testimony to that. Since then, India has added more than 250 golf courses across the country and has been attracting thousands of golfers for various reasons ranging from being pocket-friendly to exotic locations.
India today, has so much to offer in terms of avant-garde locales, heritage sites and designer courses spread across the country. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has robbed millions of golfers the joy they yearn for. This is likely to have a cascading effect on the tourism sector which had contributed US$ 28.59 billion in foreign exchange earnings last year, with golf contributing about US $2 billion.
According to the International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), worldwide approximately 65 million golfers travel on a golf vacation with about 10% of them doing the sojourn at least twice a year and on an average, spending 50% more than a regular visitor. Realising the potential, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) had given a fresh thrust and endeavoured to work as a catalyst and supporter for the development of golf tourism in the country by including the sport in the niche tourism category and incentivising the tour operators.
“We now find that more and more people are going for experiential kind of tourism. The biggest challenge is that even at our iconic sites like Taj Mahal, we are not able to make people stay for more than one night as most tourists make it a one-day trip. If a golf course is built around these sites, people can enjoy golf and could stay for a longer duration. This would also create a lot of employment for the locals and help generate income,” says former secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Rashmi Verma, hinting that India needs more number of golf courses to be built to attract inbound tourists.
But with golf being one of the first sport to resume, owing to its uniqueness of adapting to the social distancing norms, the golf courses, along with the major tour operators, are already geared up for the post-Covid influx of tourists. “Although people will choose to travel to safe places and take enough precautions under the new normal, we expect golf tourism to pick up as soon as international skies are open,” says Rajan Sehgal, President, Indian Golf Tourism Association (IGTA). “We have joined hands with MoT, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, International Air Transport Association and other bodies and tourism boards of various countries to promote golf tourism through virtual seminars, talks and shows. The results are encouraging and we expect golf tourism to grow at the rate of approximately 10%,” adds Rajan.
Hitherto, golf tourism in India was centred around the golden triangle of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur. However, with sustained promotional efforts by golf tour operators, and the MoT, undiscovered treasures of golf are being showcased. “Over the last four to five years, we have been taking part as exhibitors at the conferences conducted by IGTM, the Asia Golf Tourism Convention under the aegis of International Association of Golf Tour Operators, the Global Golf Tourism Organisation and promoting uncharted golf destinations by giving extension packages like Kaziranga and Shillong in the North East, Aamby Valley and Ahmedabad in the West, Goa in the South and Srinagar and Shimla in the North,” says Arun Iyer, the MD of a leading golf tour operator, while adding, “We have got positive responses with enquiries from Germany, Spain and Britain and have confirmed bookings till October.” Currently, it is a boon for domestic golfers to explore the unusual golf destinations before we see a spurt of international travellers.