Spotlight

MICE by the greens

With about 190 professional golf courses in India today, the country's hospitality sector can use the game's popularity to tap the domestic and international MICE markets. By Gayatri Vijaykumar

Golfing in India goes back a long way; it can be traced back to 1829 when the Royal Calcutta Golf Course - the first golf course in India and for that matter the first golf course to be set up outside Great Britain - was established. Today, the country can boast of having the highest green golf course in the world in Gulmarg located at an altitude of 2,650 meters.

With power to draw such interest (over 1.5 lakh people have reportedly taken to golf and the number of serious golfers has swelled to four lakh), it is safe to assume that the sport can be leveraged to the hospitality industry's advantage. It is after all popular with corporate executives and business tycoons alike.

According to Chitra Bhatia, MD of New Delhi-based Uniglobe Aashman Travel, groups from various international clubs visit India to play golf and cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar and Bengaluru rank high on their list. "A lot of companies organise golf tournaments. Brands like Tag Heur conduct events at golf courses with their brand ambassadors. With India hosting a lot of tournaments, awareness about golf is increasing," Bhatia explains.

Golf can also be considered as an attractive incentive option by companies. Explains Colonel Sajal Kumar Sinha, GM of Aamby Valley golf course, "Golfing holidays can be given to deserving employees. The golf course can also be used as a networking ground and to clinch big deals." True; the golf course is also a great way of breaking the ice among employees at different levels. Sanjey Roy, senior GM (Corporate Communications) at DLF that owns DLF Golf and Country Club, agrees. "Work can be combined with the game as it offers good networking opportunities. Where else can you get a person's undivided attention?" he says.

Initiatives are already underway. EmaarMGF's Boulder Hills in Hyderabad plans to integrate MICE with a spot of golf. The Hyderabad International Convention Centre and the Novotel developed by Emaar Properties', one of the parent companies of EmaarMGF, wants to showcase the golf course at Boulder Hills to the conference delegates and corporate groups that visit it.

An ace, not a putt

Of course, indirect promotion of the sport through events helps. India recently hosted the Johnnie Walker Classic 2008, one of Asia's most celebrated golfing events at the DLF Golf & Country Club, Delhi. DLF is also host to the DLF Women's Indian Open. This US$ 1,20,000 tournament is part of the Asian Ladies Tour and draws a full field of women professional golfers from around the globe. Similarly, The EmaarMGF Ladies Masters that was held in Bengaluru last year was the richest golfing event ever to be played on Indian soil.

The sport is definitely drawing larger numbers. Says Deepak Lalvani, VP and GM at The Leela, Goa, "Jeev Milkha Singh has just won the European Tour's Austrian Open and Arjun Atwal and SSP Chowrasia won the European Tour Tournaments earlier this year. So golf is the only sport that draws the biggest spend in the world and the second biggest corporate spend here in India after cricket."

With countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore already emerging as top golfing destinations in Asia, India would have to focus on developing more international standard golf courses in order to tap into the growing domestic and international MICE market. As Colonel Sinha believes, with clubs promoting junior golf programmes, golf sponsorships by corporates and the aspiration for membership to these clubs, the golf boom in India is here to stay.