Two of Asia’s leading tourism operators have joined forces to promote international golf tourism to Indonesia.
Golfasian, the largest dedicated inbound golf tour operator in South East Asia, and Asia World Indonesia, one of the country’s leading destination management companies, have formed a partnership to be known as Golfasian Indonesia that aims to substantially increase the number of golf tourists to the archipelago.
Initially, the new entity will concentrate on inbound golf tourism to Bali, where there are four high-calibre courses.
Currently, Bali’s inbound golf tourism market mostly comprises golfers from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea.
While no exact figures are available, Indonesia’s inbound golf tourism market is dwarfed by the 700,000 who visit Thailand each year, and is well below numbers visiting Malaysia and Vietnam.
But Golfasian managing director, Mark Siegel, says there is great potential for growth. “The number and quality of courses in Indonesia, service standards and infrastructure mean there is huge potential to grow the market, which is a major reason why Golfasian and Asia World Indonesia are joining forces,” he says. “It is a perfect combination to use Asia World Indonesia’s on-the-ground operational capabilities and Golfasian’s sales and marketing expertise.
“Last year, Golfasian hosted 15,000 foreign golfers in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia. I believe the arrangement with Asia World Indonesia will increase this number substantially.”
One of the first activities of the new venture will be to host 60 international golf tour operators in Bali immediately after the Asian Golf Tourism Convention, to be held in Jakarta in late April, the first time a major golf tourism event has been held in Indonesia.
Asia World Indonesia’s managing director, Renato Domini, says he and Mark Siegel share the same high standards in servicing guests. “Asia World Indonesia is a well established destination marketing company in Indonesia. We know the destination and Golfasian knows golf. This is a perfect combination. Golf in Indonesia is growing rapidly and I’m sure there will be strong demand for golf tours here in the next few years.”
Golfasian Indonesia will operate from Asia World Indonesia’s office in Bali.
Golfasian Indonesia http://www.golfasian.com/golf-holidays/indonesia/