Ms. Lisa Delpy Neirotti, Professor and Director of the Sports Management Program at George Washington University, believes that the sports tourism market is huge and will grow strongly in the near future.
“The sports tourism market will continue to grow, as long as there are new opportunities to participate and compete. This trend is growing on a large scale,” Ms. Lisa Delpy Neirotti emphasized.
Sports tourists are willing to spend large sums of money on hotel rooms, restaurants, local shops and other tourist attractions. Ms. Delpy Neirotti said that there are more and more professional teams competing in international regions and fans are keen to attend such events. Through social media and word of mouth, international tourists are keen to attend major sporting events around the world.
For some countries, these events are an opportunity to raise their profile on the international stage. Like China, Qatar and many others, Saudi Arabia is using sports to showcase the country, not just to those attending, but to everyone watching the sports broadcast or streaming online.
In particular, Saudi Arabia also invests heavily in the sports industry, most notably football and golf, recruiting famous athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Dustin Johnson to the kingdom.
Observers say Saudi Arabia is stepping up its sports development to attract global favor and restore its global image.
Online accommodation booking platform Booking.com is partnering with Major League Baseball to help travel fans find hotels near ballparks, making travel easier for visitors.
Ms Delpy Neirotti asserts that the main goal of sports tourism is to increase travel, especially during slow or interrupted periods. Marking the end of summer travel, September is a “mid-season” month – understood as the time between the high and low seasons.
However, Singapore still saw hotel rates rise as high as S$590 ($440) over the weekend during the annual Formula 1 race, according to travel and hospitality software company Adara - A Rate Gain Company. Most hotels had occupancy rates of more than 90%. It is worth noting that some hotels can charge even higher rates, as high as S$800, said Jay Wardle, chairman of Adara.
Most popular sporting events in 2023
This year, a number of countries have organized large-scale sports competitions, attracting tourists from all over the world to promote economic development of the host country.
The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, to be held from October 5 to November 19, is expected to add between 180 billion and 220 billion Indian rupees (about $2.1 billion and $2.6 billion) to the Indian economy, according to an analysis by the Baroda Bank of Economic Research.
The 19th Asian Games will be held in China in September 2023. According to Chinese media, the event sold more than 3 million tickets between September 23 and October 8, generating revenue of more than 610 million yuan ($85 million). Licensed merchandise sales brought in another $107 million, while sponsorship income from 176 companies added another $623 million.
Meanwhile, FIFA President Gianni Infantino stressed in August that this year's Women's World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, had generated more than $570 million in revenue.
Additionally, Indonesia also hosts this year's MotoGP race in October while France hosts the Rugby World Cup from August to September. Like the global Formula 1 race, tennis Grand Slam tournaments also attract attention around the world.
The Olympics always attract large numbers of tourists who come here to seek the opportunity to meet big sports stars.
Companies that cater to sports fans
According to Booking.com, about 49% of American baseball fans plan to attend at least one MLB (American professional baseball sports organization) game this year.
In March, MLB announced it had become the official online travel partner of Major League Baseball — a travel development move that helps travelers find “hotels close to the ballpark” for sports-related trips, according to a press release.
Travel + Leisure and Sports Illustrated Resorts also announced plans to open a network of sports-themed resorts in American college towns. The first is expected to open in Tuscaloosa, Alabama – home to the University of Alabama – by the end of 2025.
Travel experience booking site GetYourGuide says sports-themed bookings have increased by 130% since 2019, with most bookings coming from travellers in the UK (37%), US (20%), Germany (17%) and France (15%).
