SPORTS TOURISM
The sleeping giant I
n Barcelona 2001, the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO),
together with Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), were joint signatories to a communiqué recognising sport and tourism as 'forces for mutual understand- ing'. This symbolic gesture resounded around the world like a starter’s pistol, releasing what has become the fastest growing sector in the global travel and tourism industry. It can no longer be regarded as a niche sector of tourism.
The London Marathon attracts sports tourists to the UK
Travel and tourism already generates
more than US$5.890bn (£3.659bn, €4.274bn) of economic activity, constitut-
ing almost 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). By 2018, this is expected to increase to 10.5 per cent, with revenues exceeding US$10bn (£6.2bn, €7.3bn). Many observers regard interna-
tional sports tourism as being one of the primary reasons for this growth. It is estimated that sports tourism already constitutes more than 10 per cent of the international tourism markets which, according to the World Destination Expo, is valued at US$600bn (£373bn, €435bn) but increasing at 6 per cent per annum (UNWTO, 2011).
PROVEN GROWTH The growth phenomenon of sports tourism over the past 10 years was predicted in the mid 1990s when sports tourism was referred to as 'the sleeping giant of tourism'. This was on the back of the arrival of the new generation of sports stadia (post Taylor Report of 1989 into the Hillsborough Disaster), the suc- cess of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in transforming the city’s tourism industry, and the global media’s growing interest in the revenue potential of major sporting events.
34 SPORTS MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK 2012
Year 1936
The recent surge of growth in tourism, driven by sports events and activities, provides a perfect opportunity for countries to market themselves as sports destinations and reap huge financial rewards. Terry Stevens of Stevens and Associates consultancy firm reports
This final statement is well illustrated
by the spread of television broadcasting of the Olympic Games since 1936.
Table 1: Countries receiving TV broadcasting of the Olympics
City Berlin
1956 Melbourne 1964
Tokyo
1972 Munich 1992 2010
Barcelona Beijing
No. Countries 1 1
40 98
193 220
Source: IOC Olympic Marketing Fact File 2011. Over the past 20 years, researchers have
defined sports tourism in many different ways. A universally accepted starting point was provided by Standeven and De Knop (1999) in their book Sports T
“All forms of active and passive involve- ment in sporting activity, participated in casually or in an organised way for non-commercial or business/commercial reasons that necessitates travel away from home and work locality”. Clearly this broad definition embraces
all types of participation in sports. From low-impact rural activities (such as hands- free rock climbing or fishing) or those in an urban setting (such as Parkour) to mass participation activities such as the 10,000
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ourism:
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