In this hot and humid summer, where are the recommended overseas golf destinations for travel?Japan's golf trend is led by young people and women, and Canada is also actively attracting customers.
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![]() ▲ Overseas golf course. (Photo – Pixabay) |
If you still want to play golf during the summer, which is the off-season for golf, it is worth considering an overseas golf trip to combine with your vacation. This is because the number of new golfers is increasing due to COVID-19, and the golf industry in each country is booming.
Japan's youth- and female-dominated golf trend
According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Japanese golf industry is expected to be the starting point for a rebound in Japan's golf population due to the influx of young people and female golfers due to COVID-19. Accordingly, many golf courses are showing results by introducing various marketing strategies targeting young people and women.
Kanuma 72 Country Club has been operating a membership system targeting young golfers since 2017 to attract young golfers. The president of the Fukushima Kanuma Group, which operates golf courses, is drawing enthusiastic responses from customers by establishing a membership system for those under 35 years of age. One member who uses the membership system points out that it is similar to the operation of a membership competition, so members can quickly become friends due to their age, and that they can also become friends with their caddies as an advantage.
According to the golf course, a high proportion of membership users under the age of 35 are known to reside in the metropolitan area. While Tokyo accounts for the largest share at 44%, and Tochigi and Saitama prefectures each account for about 20%, the analysis shows that many users of the regular membership system (regardless of age), with people over 60 accounting for two-thirds, are residents of regional areas such as Tochigi and Saitama prefectures.
This is not the only effort aimed at young people. Authentic pizza personally supervised by an award-winning Neapolitan Pizza Contest chef was provided at the clubhouse, and a pizza-making experience event was held for children in cooperation with local governments.
Yotsukaido Golf Club in Chiba Prefecture, which was reopened in 2019 by Accordia Golf, which owns and operates 171 golf courses throughout Japan, claims to be the most female-friendly golf course in Japan. It is equipped with a clean locker room based on white, a spacious powder room, shower room, and various types of shampoo bars.
As a result, the proportion of female users among all golf courses operated by Accordia Golf was less than 13%, but increased to 24% at Yotsukaido Golf Club. In addition, Accordia Golf plans to develop a variety of women-friendly golf courses, and to this end, it plans to remodel the clubhouse, expand women's restrooms on the course, and develop women-only menus such as healthy menus and desserts.
Canada has the world's 3rd largest outdoor golf course
Canada boasts the third largest number of golf courses in the world, following the United States and Japan, with approximately 2,633 outdoor golf courses across the country.
Outdoor golf courses are distributed in several areas, so it is easy to visit, and the advantage of being able to enjoy clean facilities and a variety of food and services encourages consumers to revisit. In Canada, it snows heavily from November to March and often rains or snows during the golf season, so the demand for indoor golf courses is very high during that period.
Recently, golf has been exposed as one of the familiar sports through various golf promotional videos and match play between famous players through the media, leading to a large influx of new users.
According to the Canadian Golf Association (NAGA), the largest proportion of new consumers are young people between the ages of 18 and 25, and the core consumers are highly educated, high-income, or retired.
A KOTRA official said, “The Canadian golf industry is seeking opportunities in a variety of ways to encourage the continued participation of existing golf consumers and attract new consumers, such as discounting course fees and opening classes for beginners.” He added, “Consumers’ interest in golf is increasing locally. “As golf participation increases, demand for golf products will continue to increase,” he said.
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