Modoo Tour successfully concluded the '1st Modoo Tour Shandong Park Golf Tournament' in Yantai, Shandong Province, and announced plans to expand its overseas sports-themed travel business by combining tournament operations with local tourism and leisure activities.
The tournament took place from November 3 to 7, spanning four nights and five days, with a total of 33 participants. Competitors traveled to Yantai via a ferry departing from Incheon Port, followed by practice rounds before the main event held at Namsan Park Golf CC on November 5. The tournament featured a prize pool of 5 million won.
Namsan Park Golf CC is a facility that converted nine holes of a regular golf course at Yantai Namsan International Golf Club into a park golf course. Participants stayed at The Castle Hotel within the golf club, balancing tournament schedules with leisure activities. Modoo Tour operated the event as a comprehensive program, integrating ferry transportation, accommodation, practice rounds, and the main tournament to enhance participant convenience.
Since launching overseas park golf products in the second half of 2024, Modoo Tour has expanded its travel destinations to major Asian regions, including Japan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. The company offers packages that combine rounds of golf with local sightseeing, hot springs, and culinary experiences. Recently, it diversified its offerings with products linked to ferry services in Weihai and trips to Fukuoka, Japan. Notably, the Yantai tournament marked a shift from traditional tourism-focused park golf products to 'tournament participation content.'
Park golf has gained popularity, particularly among seniors and clubs, as a theme product that combines travel with rounds of golf. According to the Korea Park Golf Association, the number of registered members surged from 45,478 in 2020 to 229,757 last year, more than a fivefold increase in five years. The number of park golf courses nationwide also rose from 308 in 2021 to 564 as of January this year.
In response, Modoo Tour is working to connect club-level tournament participation with local schedules and is collaborating with relevant organizations, including the Korea Park Golf Association and regional sports councils. The company is also exploring partnerships with specialized firms like Smart Score.
Based on the experience gained from this tournament, Modoo Tour plans to hold biannual tournaments starting in 2027, expanding beyond Yantai to include major cities in Shandong Province, such as Qingdao and Weihai. The company aims to broaden the range of overseas park golf travel options by linking regional park golf courses with local tourism resources.
Yoo Young-kwan, head of Modoo Tour's product division, stated, "This tournament is the first case confirming the new operational potential by integrating tournament content into existing overseas park golf products. We will continue to enhance the competitiveness of overseas sports-themed travel by expanding regular tournaments and regionally specialized products based on collaboration with professional institutions and accumulated local operational know-how."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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