Saudi Arabia Becomes Most Exciting New Market In Golf Tourism

Saudi Arabia is on a mission to become the fastest growing golf destination in the world and Golf Saudi is the central driving force behind the development of the game in the kingdom.

A wholly owned subsidiary of the Saudi Golf Federation, Golf Saudi is backing its vision with a capital investment of almost US$1 billion to cover wide-ranging infrastructural developments, including the building of up to 13 golf courses.

“After an extensive period of evaluation and dialogue with the industry, we now have a robust strategy for golf’s evolution in Saudi Arabia,” said Yasir Bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, chairman of the Saudi Golf Federation. “Our development programme will see an initial investment of up to US$1 billion in building a number of new golf courses with varied characteristics nationwide. Within this we have committed to urban-based entertainment focused golf developments, with a healthy portion to nurturing participation via modern consumer engagement techniques.”

Despite its relative youth, Golf Saudi is already commanding significant interest from the global golf community thanks to a string of high-profile hires and partnerships, including with the Golf Environment Organisation, STRI (a leading sports turf consultancy) and Troon. The organisation also recently took its place as Presenting Partner with the World Golf Awards, which hosted its 2019 event in Abu Dhabi. Its fundamental pillars are founded on consumer access and understanding modern consumption habits, allowing golf to find a voice among a youthful audience – 59 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s population is under 30. Taking the game to high footfall areas and providing opportunities to try the sport in the context of entertainment, rather than sport, will be central to this.

We are in the fortunate position of being able to evaluate modern trends and, as such, we are creating an offer which marries the internal social changes happening in Saudi Arabia with those of the wider golfing world,” continued Yasir Bin Othman Al-Rumayyan. “Our focus is to create a first impression that lasts and set new players on a journey to get to know and hopefully fall in love with the sport.

As ambitious as its infrastructural ambitions are, Saudi’s objective is to become a serious and respected player in the global golf picture – as proven by the Golf Saudi Summit. This specialist trade event will bring together captains of industry to explore new solutions to set and reach higher benchmarks for golf’s future.

“We have seen a stagnation in traditional uptake regionally, while international growth in socially competitive, entertainment-driven golf has flourished,” said Majed Al Sorour, chief executive of the Saudi Golf Federation. “Our analysis leads us to conclude there is a clear necessity to include broader access points to the game within our model to create a healthy ecosystem that can sustain high participation rates. As such, we have also planned a blend of course types. High profile tournament courses that can stage professional events, championship and resort developments to rival the best in the world and accessible ‘municipal’ style courses that promote access and enjoyment, which in turn leads to and encourages a strong population of Saudi golf industry professionals.”

Saudi Araba’s golf project is expected to create some 3,500 jobs, with designs on the establishment of a national golf and hospitality skill set in the mid to long term. A comprehensive school program will also set out to embed golf into the sporting curriculum, giving youngsters their first experiences of the game and impart the fundamentals behind what makes it so great. Golf Saudi’s incredibly ambitious programme plans to irreversibly

change the fortunes of the game for the future and, in the process, become the fastest growing golf destination in the world.

MORE INFORMATION Golf Saudi has been conceived to drive participation in Saudi Arabian golf through the delivery of world-class facilities, operational excellence and the implementation of best practices. Partnering with industry leaders from around the world, Golf Saudi will take advantage of the wider commercial opportunities the sport provides to champion the game within the Kingdom, harness the talent of its people and create a thriving programme that establishes Saudi Arabia as a leader on the global stage.

For more information visit www.golfsaudi.com.