A properly developed sports tourism policy provides a good platform for success through implementation, clinical monitoring, and evaluation. Sports tourism involves the travel of persons for non-business reasons to participate in and or observe sporting activities (Hall, 1992). According to Zauhar (2003), sports tourism involves several activities.
In addition to participating in and attending 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 stadium’s appeal, sports tourists may also be interested in the sporting halls of fame and sports museums such as the Legends of Barbados cricket museum.
Sports tourism is about an EXPERIENCE. It is not only about the sporting event but about what else is available in the host country to experience that may or may not be related to sport.
For instance, some highlights of attending the 2018 FIFA World Cup were visiting Red Square, Vladimir Lenin’s 94 years old (now 99 years) embalmed body, and St Basil’s Cathedral, to name a few non-sporting interests. The overall experience was so rewarding; revisiting Russia is on the cards [once the matter with Ukraine is ‘resolved’.
The same is for visiting Antigua in 2018 to attend the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals and final and to experience the culture and a few of the island’s 365 beaches. Sports tourists may only sometimes be interested in traditional competitive sports and may find adventurous activities far more inviting and appealing to their leisure taste.
These adventurous activities may include bungee jumping stations, zip line canopy tours, hiking trails, and water adventures such as snorkelling and golf. The key is understanding the demands of sports tourists. Socio-demographic data cannot be underestimated.
Sports tourism offers several economic benefits to local communities, the region, and the country. An estimated 680 000 persons from overseas attended the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. These visitors generated enormous economic activity through different expenditures on sporting and non-sporting activities.
There was an increased demand for various accommodation hotels and guest houses. Similarly, there was an increased demand for sporting paraphernalia such as replica tee shirts, sneakers, etc.
Non-sporting products expenditure included food, beverages, phones, cameras, and other electronic accessories associated with travellers. According to Hassen (2003), the 2003 Cricket World generated 1.3 billion Rands for the South African economy.
Sports tourism provides a host country with high media coverage. The media coverage will cover the sporting event as well as provide awareness of a country’s socio-cultural, economic, and entertainment identity, such as the four International Cricket Council [ICC] World Cups in the Caribbean in 2007, 2010, 2018, and 2022 and the scheduled ICC T20 Men’s World Cup in 2024.
The same high-profile regional benefits are associated with the ten editions of the Caribbean Premier League [CPL]. For example, Trinidad and Tobago would have benefitted from the media coverage when it hosted the 2001 FIFA U17 World Cup for boys and the 2010 FIFA World Cup for girls.
The same will happen when Trinidad and Tobago host the VII Commonwealth Youth Games on August 4- 11, 2023.
Mega and minor sporting events offer athletes and officials opportunities to establish strong social bonds and allow sports tourists to forge long-lasting social connections with persons from host cities and countries. These bonds have the potential to result in future travels between countries, deepening the benefits of tourism.
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 country’s cultural heritage, such as its history, historical sites, food, music, art, architecture, and overall, what makes the most unique and exciting to want to return in the immediate future.
Sports tourism not only results from tourists’ visiting and expenditure but also involves the development of local infrastructure such as stadia, hotels, transportation networks, roads, telecommunication, airports, and other infrastructure. Such actions also provide long-term benefits to communities.
Sports tourism success depends upon policy, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.