Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho An Phong highly appreciated Mr. Greg Norman's contributions to the promotion of Vietnam tourism in his role as Vietnam Tourism Ambassador for the period 2018 - 2021.
Greg Norman is a professional, talented golfer who has greatly influenced and contributed to the sport of golf in the world. He has a great love for Vietnam and during his first term he had many activities and actively contributed to Vietnam tourism.
Deputy Minister Ho An Phong affirmed that this is the basis for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to appoint Mr. Greg Norman to continue as Vietnam Tourism Ambassador for the 2025 - 2030 term.
Deputy Minister Ho An Phong emphasized that this is a golden time to promote Vietnam's tourism in the new context, when the tourism industry is being interested by the Party and the State as one of the driving forces for socio-economic development in the new era of the country's development.
In the past two years, Vietnam's tourism has grown impressively, welcoming 17.6 million international visitors in 2024, including 3 million golfers to Vietnam. Vietnam's tourism has the best growth in the Asia Pacific region, a bright spot in Vietnam's socio-economic development picture.
Sharing at the ceremony, Greg Norman said: I am committed to promoting the image of Vietnam Tourism in general and golf destinations in particular, making Vietnam an ideal destination not only for golfers but also a country of heritage, nature, cuisine, friendly people, and spreading the image of Vietnam Tourism more strongly to the world.
During the 2025 - 2030 term, Greg Norman will focus on promoting Vietnamese golf tourism on a digital platform, contributing to enhancing the international recognition of Vietnam as an attractive golf destination.
The tourism ambassador also plays a role in connecting the organization of international golf tournaments in Vietnam, including a plan to coordinate with live golf to bring a top tournament to Vietnam.
He will deploy a series of Greg Norman Golf Academy to train the young golf generation and popularize golf in physical education; advise on the development of sustainable, environmentally friendly golf policies, combined with the development of green tourism, inspection and ranking of international standard golf courses.
Greg Norman will also support connecting golf tourism with heritage tourism through events such as Heritage Golf Festival in Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang; participating in tourism promotion at fairs in the US, Australia and key markets.
Greg Norman has held the role of Vietnam Tourism Ambassador for the period 2018 - 2021 and is considered a contributor to raising the position of Vietnamese golf tourism on the regional and world map.
He helped Vietnam be voted as Best Golf Destination in Asia for 8 consecutive years and won the title of Best Golf Destination in the World for the first time in 2021 awarded by the World Golf Awards.
During his previous term, Greg Norman participated in many activities to promote the image of Vietnam; shared experiences in Vietnam on social networking platforms with large followers; connected with international media outlets such as CNN, CNBC, Golf Digest... to promote Vietnam tourism.
He is also the architect of many domestic international standard golf courses such as The Bluffs Ho Tram, KN Golf Links Cam Ranh, Dragon Golf Links...
In addition to golf, he also supports the promotion of heritage tourism, cuisine and other special products of Vietnam to international friends.
