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AGL has developed the 'TIGER GDS' system, which allows for real-time price comparison and booking, marking the world's first.

The popularity of golf in South Korea has decreased compared to the peak period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Skyrocketing green fees and challenging golf course reservations have been major factors. Booking popular golf courses, especially during the prime golf season, is like finding a needle in a haystack. This has led many Korean golfers to venture abroad for golf trips. Japan and Southeast Asian golf courses, with their relatively inexpensive green fees, exotic ambiance, and convenient booking systems, continuously allure Korean golfers.

While overseas golf trips offer advantages such as lower green fees and stress-free bookings, there are more arrangements to take care of compared to domestic trips, including airplane reservations and accommodations. Many golfers choose to utilize golf travel packages provided by travel agencies due to lack of knowledge or convenience. However, the increasing number of overseas golf travelers have a greater desire to explore diverse and unseen golf courses.

Now, golfers are eagerly anticipating a powerful and convenient system that allows them to directly plan everything from selecting golf courses to accommodations and travel arrangements.

Jim Hwang, CEO of AGL, stated, "We have developed a system that enables users to search, compare, and book flights, hotels, and golf courses in real-time, not only in Korea but also worldwide." He expressed confidence that this system will revolutionize the golf travel industry globally.

Hwang's confidence stems from AGL's core technology, TIGER GDS. GDS stands for Global Distribution System, which enables real-time searches and payments for all travel-related transactions, including flights, car rentals, and hotel rooms. Hwang has transferred this widely-used GDS system from the airline and travel industries to the golf course industry. Through TIGER GDS, users can compare tee times and prices at golf courses worldwide and make reservations in real-time, making it the first of its kind globally. Partnerships with major global corporations, including Shinhan SOL, Asiana Airlines website, and Heytime, are currently in place, allowing users to utilize this system. Top global companies are expected to establish even stronger partnerships with TIGER GDS this summer.

What kind of company is AGL?

AGL is a global golf tech company leading the digital transformation of the golf industry through the development of the world's first golf Global Distribution System (GDS) called 'TIGER GDS'. This digital innovation aims to provide convenience to golfers and golf courses worldwide, thereby driving growth across the entire golf industry.

TIGER GDS system

The GDS system integrates various travel products with global portals, search engines, and online travel agencies (OTAs), enabling customers to easily book and pay in real-time. As a result, the global travel industry has experienced explosive growth and development. Unfortunately, golf travel has not kept pace with this trend. Compared to other industries, the digital transformation, including GDS, has been slow, and standardization of IT solutions remains lacking. Therefore, offline booking and payment services, primarily through travel agencies, still dominate the golf travel sector.

The TIGER GDS developed by AGL is the world's first and only solution that can address the structural limitations of golf travel. Through TIGER GDS, customers can search and compare golf courses worldwide through various channels and make real-time reservations and payments for their desired golf courses and tee times.

The motivation behind the development of TIGER GDS

I attended primary, middle, and high school in South Korea and Japan, then graduated from college in the United States. After graduation, I was fortunate to work my way up from an employee to a CEO at golf courses in the United States, Japan, and South Korea, gaining experience in various tasks such as golf course management, operations, marketing, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). I worked as the CEO of IMG GCM KOREA, the golf course division of the world's largest sports marketing group, IMG, and participated in golf course acquisition projects as the inaugural CEO of Golf Zone County (formerly Dunz Golf). During my time experiencing everything from A to Z in the golf course business, I also encountered the limitations and various issues within the golf industry. Especially when traveling to golf courses in various countries and cities around the world for global business, I realized the serious lack of reservation systems and the asymmetric structure of golf course information. The problems became even clearer when compared to reservation systems for flights and hotels.

Therefore, starting from 2006, I began conceptualizing the idea of integrating airline and hotel Global Distribution Systems (GDS) into the golf industry, and prepared for system planning and business development. In March 2019, after securing top-notch professionals in the golf industry and experts in global reservation, payment, and management systems, as well as successfully attracting billions of investment funds, I embarked on the full-scale business venture.

The system that golfers have been waiting for

Due to the spread of COVID-19, overseas golf courses have suffered tremendous impacts. Especially in Southeast Asian countries where foreign customers are abundant, golf courses were almost at the level of closure. In this process, there has been a high demand for diversification and expansion of the existing distribution channels.

Fortunately, when AGL introduced TIGER GDS connecting global channels and golfers, the response was very positive. Golf courses in countries with large domestic markets such as the United States and Japan are also hoping to expand their connections with TIGER GDS, which is a broader approach than the existing local booking sites.

Global online travel agencies such as Expedia, Agoda, and Trip.com, as well as search engines and portals, are actively seeking partnerships and contracts to secure golf travel products that were not available previously. Although it is still cautious to mention, we are in the final stages of service partnerships with global companies that will be offered from this summer. Once this is achieved, individual golf trips will become more abundant and diverse. Real-time golf course booking is the foundation, and a powerful service that can solve everything from nearby restaurants to travel spots will unfold.

To this end, AGL plans to introduce golf travel services based on its own patented technology and TIGER AI-based machine learning technology soon. We believe that this service, combined with various partnerships and big data, will bring innovation to the global travel industry.

The number of golf courses currently partnering with AGL and the future goals

TIGER GDS has completed supply contracts with over 1,400 golf courses worldwide. These include a diverse range of courses, from high-end courses, including over 30 of the world's top 100 courses, to public courses and landmark golf courses. As of 2019, there were 38,864 golf courses operating worldwide, and our goal is to secure contracts with around 20,000 of them.

By the end of 2023, TIGER GDS was generating and distributing over 430,000 tee times on average per day. Considering that a single golf course can generate up to 20,000 to 25,000 tee times annually, this represents one of the largest platforms in Asia, surpassing domestic boundaries. Recently, we have integrated over 200 golf courses across Japan into our services.

Moreover, we have formed partnerships with leading companies in various industries, including finance, travel, aviation, e-commerce, and portals. Domestically, we have partnered with 31 companies, and internationally, we have partnered with 12 companies, to sell and market golf course tee times and packages. This year, we have established partnerships with global search engines, OTAs, B2B platforms, and major travel agencies.

AGL is the only domestic venture company to attract investment from the four major financial groups

Recently, South Korea's four major financial groups, Shinhan Financial Group, KB Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, and Woori Financial Group, along with the state-owned bank KDB Industrial Bank, have invested in AGL. Moving forward, AGL plans to offer specialized golf travel products targeting customers of its financial partners.

Another optimistic aspect is that with the membership base of Shinhan Bank at 12 million, Asiana Airlines at 22 million, and Lotte Members at 40 million, AGL can promote golf courses to almost all golfers in the country through its members alone.

Furthermore, with the recent opening of a global travel platform based in Singapore and the launch of services, AGL expects to effectively promote domestic golf courses to foreign golfers through its international partnership channels. This will undoubtedly be good news for individuals or groups who have been hesitant to use Korean golf courses due to difficulties in making reservations.

TIGER PASS, A golf course mobile check-in service

In short, TIGER PASS can be described as the "early version of golf course automation." It allows golf courses to simplify and automate their operational processes, including companion invitations, check-ins, and payments, all handled through mobile devices. Golfers can conveniently manage everything from booking to checkout in one go, making smart use of the golf course via their mobile devices.

Moreover, AGL aims to actively introduce and provide the proven reliability and performance of TIGER GDS to domestic golf courses from this year onwards. This effort is hoped to contribute to the sale of tee times at domestic golf courses and stimulate growth and activity in the golf market. Importantly, TIGER GDS is not intended as a replacement for existing operational systems at domestic golf courses but rather serves as an enhancement tool for promotion and marketing, offering flexible adoption and utilization options.

Last message to deliver

The most important aspect we emphasized in developing and commercializing TIGER GDS was the expansion of the entire golf industry ecosystem through the system (GDS) itself. We believe that this can only be realized through a win-win strategy of active collaboration with various partners. As the nature of GDS requires active collaboration not only with golf courses as suppliers but also with various affiliate partners as demand generators, the cooperation of all parties is crucial. In the early stages of the business, I am truly grateful to CEO Lee Jung-yoon of Ravi Bellcon Triclub for generously providing us with half of his office space free of charge, which greatly helped our developers understand the field.

I aspire to contribute to the meaningful growth of the golf industry through TIGER GDS and to pursue this growth together with all our partners in the golf industry ecosystem, not only AGL.

Lastly, since the inception of our business, AGL has been operating TIGER PRESTIGE CLUB separately, with major golf courses in countries such as the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. We aim to lead global golf trends and mutual benefits through member and staff exchanges, friendly rounds, and collaborations among landmark golf courses worldwide. If you have any interest in Korean golf courses, please consider partnering with AGL.

Sources : MK Health (https://www.mkhealth.co.kr/)

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