At the end of last year, in December and October I had already written about the success of Abu Dhabi in golf tourism. Abu Dhabi Golf Club became the Best Course in the Middle East at the coveted Asia Pacific Summit. The International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO), named the emirate 'Golf Destination of the Year, Africa & Gulf States 2012'.
Encouraged by this success Abu Dhabi is looking for bigger slice from the approximately 17bn USD golf tourism revenue. It is really a daring target. In KPMG's last golf tourism survey that was published in April 2012, Abu Dhabi was not among the TOP10 hot spots for golf tourism. I think if Abu Dhabi is able to meet the 3 major expectations (quality of golf courses, price of package and accessibility) then they can expect more significant income from golf tourism. I think we do not have reason to complain about their 3 golf courses (Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club and Yas Links).
I found interesting results about Abu Dhabi's golf tourism performance:
- The 3 above mentioned golf course recorded 94.5% growth in the number of overseas rounds played last year compared to the equivalent in 2011. This is equal to 13,171 overseas rounds.
- 43% of total number played in 2012 came via international tour operators and 44% through hotel reservations.
- If you want to avoid big crowd, then you should not go in November.
