The paper concentrates on one of the most popular sports in the world, golf,
and its impact on the tourism industry. The fast-growing golf tourism segment seems
incongruous to the controversial stagnation of Hungary, a country, where the roots of
this sport had been well-destroyed by the communist regime. Nevertheless, huge
efforts have been made since political change occurred in the past 30 years.
Hungarian golf has remained both small-scale and independent from the international
golf market despite strong diversification in the sport. This work focuses on the brief
history of the sport and explains the geographical environment, its impact on the
location of the golf courses, and the potential scenery that is so much a part of golf
tourism in Hungary. The Hungarian golf industry and its developmental options have
determined the growth directions for this activity. Based on in-depth interviews with
local industry representatives, the author explains which tourism products may wish
to join golf tourism, making it more popular and setting up common cause with it. The
notions of health and medical tourism are explored as they become associated with
golf tourism in the near future.