Another successful show, attending the Asia Golf Tourism Convention 2017
And why not? Golf in the region is astonishingly
varied and affordable. There are trips for every
budget from extremely comfortable mid-range
packages to ultra-luxurious pampering where
every detail is thought of. A two country trip
is easy from the major hubs with incredible
choices of options,
Another random interesting fact from Mark
– There is a golf course at the Don Mueang
International Airport between the active
runways. You literally play with commercial
airliners going about doing what they do. There
is a taxiway crossing several holes and planes
have the right of way over golfers for some
reason. When is the last time you had to wait
to let 737 play through?
The most popular trip? The Best of Indochina
Tour. Hands down, Thailand, Vietnam, and
Cambodia combine for a trip of incomparable
diversity, of cultures, cuisines, and great golf.
Even the caddies are different from country to
country. Mark suggests a couple of days at the
point of entry, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City
has excellent golf, and give a traveler time to
get acclimated before heading to resort. People
can then see several destinations. Golf Asian
specializes in these longer haul trips.
Up and Coming? Says Mark, “Indonesia is the
“Sleeping Giant” and has plentiful great golf, is
inexpensive, tourist friendly, and an excellent
service ethos.”
As an American who is in love with Asia, I was
interested as to why American Golf travelers
are not so plentiful here. America has a
massive amount of golfers but rarely do you
see many golf tourists here.
Mark thinks it is a matter of educating his
countrymen to the wonders of Asia and
removing some of the apprehension of travel
so far out of their cultural comfort zone. If
that is the case, I would be remiss to miss the
opportunity to say, “SE Asia is easy!” Once you
get here the variety and flexibility and options
is astonishing. It is no wonder that so many
Americans are repeat visitors. Once bitten
buy the SE Asian bug it is impossible to shake.
Culturally friendly, wildly entertaining, safe, a
great value, with endless golf, luxury if you like,
and as much adventure as you can bite off.
Come on over, but don’t say you weren’t
warned.
SAM SAKOCIUS
Sam Sakocius is an internationally acclaimed, award winning, real-estate, resort, and golf development/
tourism expert. When he is not authoring a new perspective or discovering developing markets, he
manages his consultancy, Qualitas Project Control LLC,
www.qualitasprojectcontriol.com
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