Golf tourism in Thailand set to rise
Though most of Thailand's foreign golfers come from Australia and Europe, there's been a noticeable rise in players from Japan and Korea, according to eTurbo News. If the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) projections are accurate, the country's golf courses can expect to welcome up to 600,000 foreign golf tourists in 2012.
Travel website eTurbonews.com reports the value of foreign golf tourism to Thailand may reach 60 billion baht next year for the first time, with the bulk coming from Australia and Europe.
That number accounts for three percent of the total 19 million inbound visitors forecast next year.
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Thailand's five major golf destinations are Bangkok, Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.
The eTurbo report quotes Mark Siegel -- whose company Golfasian is one of Thailand's major inbound golf tour operators -- as saying golfers spend an average of 100,000 baht each on the ground -- three times the average of other tourists.
"It could be our best season ever," said Siegel. "The political situation is calm, there have been no natural disasters to deter tourism, and Thailand's cultural capability to attract tourists remains streets ahead of other markets."
For more TAT stats, check out the full eTurbonews report.
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