The Future of Sport Tourism

Managing and Developing the Sport

Tourism Profession

 Tom Robinson

 Senior Lecturer

 Hanze University Groningen

THE EMERGENCE OF SPORT TOURISM
 One of the fastest growing sectors of the global
travel and tourism industry.
 Value in 2003 as high as $51billion, equivalent to
10 per cent of the global tourism market.
 By 2011, travel and tourism is expected to be
more than 10 per cent of global GDP
 The economies of cities, regions and even
countries around the world are increasingly
reliant on the visiting golfer and skier or the
traveling football, rugby or cricket supporter.

Source Nov. 2004 Sport Business report (900 Euro)

sportbusiness.com
Future of Sport Tourism
 www.sportstravelmagazine.com

 Sports-related travel is a
$182 billion
industry, generating over 47 million hotel
room nights annually.

 Sports related corporate incentive travel

 Team and sports event participation travel
 Family and sports spectator travel
 Adventure and sports fantasy travel
 Sport Tourism
 Sport is regarded as the world’s largest
social phenomenon

 Tourism is the world’s biggest industry

 Is SPORT TOURISM greater than the

sum of its parts?
 Areas to address:

 Academic scientific research and scholarship

 Education: curriculum / specialist courses. Body
of knowledge ?
 Training
 Professional organisations
 Policy strategy
 Trends in Tourism and Sport
 Technology
 Conceptualisation of Sport Tourism
 What is Sport Tourism
 3- dimensional concept involving sport and
tourism? (Delpy, L.1998 )

 Travel to play sport

 Travel to watch sport
 Travel to sport attractions

…..but what about….

 Vacations where sport is secondary motivation
 SPORT
SPORTTOURISM
TOURISM
Hard
Harddefinition
definition Soft
Softdefinition
definition
passive
passiveor
oractive
activeparticipation
participationat
ataa Primarily activerecreational
Primarilyactive recreational
competitive
competitivesporting
sportingevent
event participation
participationininsport
sport
National
National / /International
Internationalevents
events “Fun
“FunRuns”
Runs”
Rotterdam
RotterdamMarathon
Marathon Hiking
Hiking/ /walking
walking
Olympic Games
Olympic Games Skiing / Skating
Skiing / Skating
Soccer
Soccermatches
matches Cycling
Cyclingtours
tours
Wimbledon
Wimbledon Canoeing
Canoeing
International
Internationalcricket
cricket Disney
DisneyWorld
WorldofofSports
Sports/ /Fantasy
FantasyCamps
Camps
TOURISM
TOURISMSPORT
SPORT
Soft
Softdefinition
definition Hard
Harddefinition
definition
Visitors
Visitorswho
whoengage
engagein insome
someminor
minor Tourists
Touristswho
whoasasaasecondary
secondary
form
formofofsport
sportor
orleisure;
leisure; their
their reinforcement
reinforcementpassively
passivelyor
or
participation purelyincidental
participationisispurely incidental actively
actively participate
participatein
insport
sport
Mini-golf
Mini-golf Landal
LandalGreen
GreenParks
Parks
Bowls
Bowls Centre Parcs
Centre Parcs
Swimming
Swimming Halls
Hallsofoffame
fame
Tennis
Tenniscourt
courthire
hire Sports
SportsCruises
Cruises
Rowing / Punting
Rowing / Punting Sport museums
Sport museums
Pool
Pool/ /snooker
snooker Stadia
StadiaTours
Tours

Diagram
Diagram1:1:AAconsumer
consumerclassification
classificationofofsport
sportand
andtourism
tourism (Robinson
(Robinson&&Gammon
Gammon1997)
1997)
 Sport or Sports Tourism?
 Parks et al point out when discussing the differences in
Sport and Sports management:
 “Sports implies a collection of separate activities such
as golf, soccer, hockey, volleyball, softball, and
gymnastics - items in a series that can be counted.
Sport, however, is a collective noun that includes all
activities that meet the criteria, not just a few that may
be placed on a list” (Parks et al, 1990:6).

 Therefore Sports Tourism focuses upon

competitive sporting travel, whereas the term Sport
Tourism is a far broader concept which embraces
sport as being both recreational as well as
competitive; both institutionalised and transitory.
(Gammon and Robinson 1999)
 Academic perspective
 Journals
ESMQ,
Sport in Society
Journal of Vacation Marketing
 Journal of Sport Tourism
 Serving the trade and academic community
1995 →2003 electronic, 2003-2005 hard copy
 Journal of Sport and Tourism
Renamed and repositioned - academic
 Academic perspective
 Body of knowledge

 Educational programmes

 Training courses

 Sport Tourism International Council

 THE TEN IMPORTANT WORLD
TOURISM ISSUES FOR 2008
 Safety and Security in Tourism
 Best Practices for Managing Sustainable Tourism
 New Developments in e-commerce tools in Tourism
 Tourism Policy and Planning
 Tourism Education and Training
 Effect of Climate Change on Tourism
 Influence of the World’s Economy on Tourism
 Marketing Quality Tourism Products and Experiences
 Partnerships and Strategic Alliances in Tourism
 Impact of Natural Disasters and Health Concerns on
Tourism
Source: Edgell, D. 2008
 Future Trends
 The increasing development of individual sports as
opposed to collective sport
 Diversification of sport participation models
 Exaggerated segmentation of sport disciplines
 Adaptation of sports activities to the constraints of
urban life
 Development of a mythology of adventure in a
natural environment
 Political trends
 Globalisation
 Socio-demographic trends
Hinch and Higham 2004
 New motivations for tourists
 According to World Tourism Organization
(WTO), two significant travel trends will
dominate the tourism market in the next decade
2000-2010:
 Mass marketing is giving way to one-to-one
marketing with travel being tailored to the
interests of the individual consumer.
 A growing number of visitors are becoming
special interest travellers who rank SPORT
as one of the top 10 reasons for travelling.
 Sydney, 23 September 2000. View of the
start of the women's mountain biking event
 Changes in TOURIST interests
OLD TOURISTS NEW TOURISTS
 Lie in the sun  Get up and get active
 Get sunburnt  Keep clothes on
 Like attractions  Try out local food and
 No special interests drinks
 Eat in hotel dining  Like sports
room  Special interests

Poon 1993
Old Tourists

 Sun
 Sand
 Sea
 New Tourists

 Small scale
 Segmentation
 Satisfaction
 Sensitive
Future Tourists

 Emotion

 Education

 Entertainment

 Experience
 What is an Experience?
“An experience occurs when a company
intentionally uses services as the stage,
and goods as props, to engage
individual customers in a way that
creates a memorable event”
Pine and Gilmore (1998)
 Increasing sport event calendar

 1970 – 55
 2004 – 35,000
 Bigger and more of them
Active sport tourism market
 Sport tourism Attractions
 Olympic Museum  Hall of Fame
Lausanne, Switzerland Cooperstown, N.Y.
Sport as a secondary motivation

Kerst en Oud & Nieuw bij Landal

Nordic Walking arrangement
GVB (Golf) arrangement
Landal Green Parks
 Assen Circuit new Attractions
 a hotel with conference facilities
 a retail business building
 a motor café with adjacent bowling centre
 a fun factory / game hall
 a flight simulator
 a go-cart centre with an adjacent sports car
assembly facility
 a motorcycle experience centre, including a
motorcycle museum
 a fitness aqua wellness and spa centre
 facilities that support the racetrack
 Wimbledon Museum
The state of the art
museum features
exhibits and artefacts
never seen before, as
well as audio guides
in eight different
languages.
 McEnroe's Ghost
 a scene from
Wimbledon's past. In a
recreation of the
1980s Gentlemen's
Dressing Room, a
ghost-like image of
John McEnroe
appears and takes you
through a tour of the
normally off-limits area
Virtual Sport Tourism
Emerging markets
CHINA

 Table tennis
 Football
 Badminton
 Gymnastics
 Diving
 Summary
 Remarkable increase in opportunities in sport tourism
 People focused profession
 Specific knowledge and skills needed
 Education and training programs are relatively rare
 More research needed - profiling
 Sector needs professionalism - linked to quality of experience
 Recognition needed from academia / industry
 Body of knowledge needs to be developed
 Need to develop links between academic institutions and
industry to meet present and future targets for trained
professionals in sport and tourism.
 The development of new courses to meet the needs of the
specialist sport tourist and develop a framework for the industry.
The next Olympic Sport? 
Space Sport Tourism
 30 million US dollars
 Russian Space
Agency

 When will space sport

tourism activity take
place?

 2020? 2050? 2100?

6th February 1971: Man plays golf on the Moon
Alan Shepard hit two balls just before lift-off, and drove
them, as he put it, "miles and miles and miles".