The price of Japanese golf membership reached a 15-year high.As demand for corporate hospitality is ..

It is expected that both individuals and corporations will continue to rise for 2 consecutive months to KRW 28 million in Kanto region, and that the third golf boom is expected to be bought by both individuals and corporations

사진 확대 View of Narita Forest Golf Course in Chiba Prefecture, Japan [PGM]

The price of Japanese golf membership reached a 15-year high.

As demand for corporate hospitality is recovering, some expect it to be a “third golf boom.”

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported on the 17th that the average price of membership at 150 major golf courses on the Kanto Golf Membership Exchange in July rose 0.8% from the previous month to 2.98 million yen (about 28 million won). This is the second consecutive month of gains, the highest in 15 years based on the total amount denominated.

Japan’s golf population, which had been steadily declining since the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s, is showing a reversal in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. According to membership trading company Sakura Golf, the total number of visitors to golf courses nationwide last year was 87.93 million, higher than 86.56 million in 2019 before COVID-19.

The number of golf courses in Japan is currently about 2,200, which has not changed much since 2020. As the golf population increases and the number of golf courses remains stagnant, both individuals and corporations seem to be interested in purchasing membership.

In the case of individuals, they are making purchases mainly by middle-aged people who have enough funds. In particular, between 1.5 million yen and 3 million yen, compared to membership in the price range of 3 million yenThere is a growing movement to buy memberships between 5 million yen. This is because the more expensive the membership, the more satisfactory the treatment from course management to service.

As profits increase, with the net profit of Japanese listed companies reaching an all-time high for the last four consecutive quarters, corporate demand for hospitality is also increasing. Some companies purchase memberships for prestigious golf courses and provide entertainment of 70,000 to 80,000 yen per person. For this reason, membership at prestigious golf courses near Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, the metropolitan area, is in short supply.

Some call it the third golf boom, following the first golf boom from the late 1960s to the oil shock of 1973, and the second golf boom during the bubble economy in the 1985-1990s.

Some golf courses have recently increased membership fees by taking advantage of the popularity of golf. Analysts say that the price of membership will continue to rise for the time being as the economy in Japan is unlikely to return to a sharp downturn.