Sports tourism involves the travel of persons for non-business reasons to participate and or observe sporting activities (Hall, 1992). According to Zauhar (2003) sports tourism involves a number of activities. In addition to either participating and or observing sporting events, persons who travel for sports tourism may also have a vested interest in visiting state of the art sporting facilities such as stadiums. These may include, for example, Lord's cricket ground in England, Roland Garros in Paris, Maracanã Stadium in Brazil and the Millennium rugby stadium in Wales. In addition to the iconic sporting stadiums appeal, sports tourists may also show an interest in the sporting hall of fame and sports museums such as the Legends of Barbados cricket museum.
Sports tourists may not always be interested in traditional competitive sports and may find adventurous activities far more inviting and appealing to their leisure taste. Some of these adventurous activities may include bungee jumping stations, zip line canopy tours, hiking trails, water adventures such as snorkelling and golf.
Sports tourist offers several economic benefits to local communities, the region and or the country. According to Hassen (2003), the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup generated 1.3 billion Rands for the South African economy. Visitors generate economic activity through different forms of expenditure on sporting and non-sporting activities. There may be an increased demand for various forms of accommodation-hotels and guesthouses. Similarly, there may be a demand for sporting paraphernalia such replica tee shirts, sneakers etc. Non-sporting products expenditure includes food, beverages, phones, cameras, and other electronic accessories are associated with travellers.
Sports tourism provides the host country with high media coverage. This coverage will cover not only the sporting event but also provide important information about the country's cultural and entertainment locations as well as an overall country profile. Such information is being currently provided as Guyana, St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda host the ICC T20 World Cup for women. The same would have happened in 2007 and 2010 respectively when the region hosted to 2 ICC World Cups.
According to Morrison (2005), mega sporting events provide a platform to incorporate social and cultural features of the host community/city/country into the overall tourist experience. These events are good occasions to showcase the cultural heritage of the country such as its history, historical sites, food, music, art, architecture, and overall what makes the host country unique and interesting to make a visitor wants to return in the immediate future.
Sports tourism does not only result from the visiting and expenditure from tourists but also involves the development of local infrastructures such as stadia, hotels, transportation networks, roads, telecommunication, airports and other infrastructure. Such developments will provide long-term benefits to communities where they have been established.
The overall success of any sporting tourism event is dependent upon management. Poor management due to financial impropriety, poor planning, lack of efficient customer service, and a host of other management's drawbacks may serve as a major Achilles heel for the success of any sports tourism event.
According to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2011) sports tourism has the potential to being a powerful tool for development and progress. However, for this to be accomplished proper planning and management of events have to be undertaken.
"I don't feel it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning." Michel Foucault
Anand Rampersad (Phd)
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