On the first day of EPEX 2025, we caught up with Zohaib Haidar, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Event sales for Dubai Golf, and Mike Walton, Head of Director of Operations of Topgolf brand. In a conversation with Travel and Tour World, Haidar and Walton shed light on the growth of golf as a sport in Dubai and how tourism is impacting it.
So Zohaib and Mike, could you begin by introducing yourselves?
My name is Mike Walton; I work with Dubai Golf. I’m the head of director of operations with the Topgolf brand that we have under Dubai Golf. We are here in Dubai and soon to be in Abu Dhabi, and then we came out today to the event to be part of it.
Good afternoon, my name is Zohaib and I’m the head of strategic partnerships and event sales for Dubai Golf, which consists of three golf clubs in Dubai, three in Abu Dhabi and on the entertainment side, we have Top Golf, Wicket Tiger Strikes, and a dining portfolio of 19+ restaurants; to name a few.
Zohaib, how was your experience at EPEX 2025?
My experience at EPEX 2025 was good; it was quite a diverse selection of exhibitors and hosted buyers along with the panel discussions that were done between Dubai Tourism and Karina Lance to be specific, and I think a lot of the key learnings that we took away is that it is good to see that the MICE industry is now looking outside of hotels and looking at experiential venues more than the traditional ones that used to exist in the past.
Mike, how has Topgolf become the preferred destination?
Honestly, it’s been amazing. It’s been five years now, and very well received in the market. While Topgolf gives any event planner of that scale, it gives them the ability to do anything.
From a small event of 12 people to as high as over 1000. That ability, that experience, that social, is like gaming experience. I think what it does is it gives you an opportunity to really build out a once-in-a-lifetime type of event. And the best part about it is that it can be hosted here in Dubai, which is iconic. And so, I think that’s it has become something people are really enjoying, and they love to add it to their itinerary and their bookings.
How do you think the tourism sector in Dubai helped enhance the growth of golf clubs?
Dubai is the place to go to. It’s coming from where we came from and topped off back in the U.S. to here. We didn’t hear about this part of the world, but once you come here, you see how many people are on vacation.
This is the ultimate holiday destination, and I think it is now quickly becoming a place where not only tourism, but also these large events are coming out too. It is also safe here and a wonderful place to come easy in, easy out, has great transportation, and the people are amazing. So, that is helping the market.
This one is for you Zohaib. Since Dubai Golf, or Topgolf specifically, offers a mix of sports, entertainments, and events, how do you balance offering both professional setup and fun experience?
With Topgolf, it is such an easy entry to golf, and you can enter there with your jacket, tie, and take a swing at the ball on the tee line. Your team builds activities with your company, colleagues, and you can create that experience after you from the tea land.
You can go into the bunker and arcade and play some video games. From there, you can go up to the hall and enjoy one of the best Sunday rolls in town. In all, I think the venue itself has become a one-stop destination for someone that is really a corporate, or I would say, a traveler visiting town or a group coming in would kind of experience everything under one roof without having to go through the effort of trying to learn a new sport.
Mike, are there any technologies or sustainable initiatives that you are planning, or are already implementing, to enhance the golf experience?
I think one of the things that we have done (not sustainable) is that we have added air conditioning on the tee lines, which allows people to play during the summer, while cooling the Bay.
Another thing we have done that is very sustainable and green is we’ve added solar power panels across all our parking lots, which has given us around 45% of our energy from the panels to date.
The gaming technology changes constantly. For twice a year, we have updates to our entertainment which allow us to really enhance that team-building experience which a lot of these mice are looking for as they are booking out their corporate events. At the same time, we’re adding our newest Abu Dhabi venue that’ll open in Q4 2026. It’s going to bring a whole different level of gaming experience and continue to grow in the UAE.
What is your industry outlook and how much further can it grow?
We’ve reached close to 750,000 visitors per year. Most of them are novice or have never played golf before, which means they go out just to have fun. So, I think we’re growing. It’s one of our initiatives where we’ve always said: “get them to golf, grow the game of golf,” introducing people to something that they wouldn’t have wanted to try.
In Topgolf, it’s a judgement free zone. Whether you swing great or you don’t swing great, it doesn’t matter. It’s about having fun. We see the market really being great by going into places like Ras Al Khaimah. So, we can see how Topgolf can really influence the game and tourism for the future here in the UAE, continuing to grow that golf experience for people.
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