A Case Study
Introduction
Sports Tourism or Sport Tourism in general is the activity of traveling to different locations around the world to witness or take part on a sporting event. This activity is all about sports participation and is reinforced by leisure. In the late 1990s, information published connected to this topic is about Sports and Tourism. The role of sports to promote holiday tourism, meaning sports only played a minor role to attract travelers into a certain area in the world (Bull & Weed, 2011). So it is clear that Sports Tourism right now, doesn’t have the certain factors to generate travelers and big investments unlike to tourism.
The Case Scenario
Sports Tourism can be a huge factor to contribute to the economic growth of a certain city, state, or country. Sports Tourism is starting to develop these days because there are thousands of travelers traveling just to be part of a sporting event either as spectators or players. One of the biggest examples is the NBA season every year. Millions of people around the world are eager to seat on the arena and watch as their favorite players from their favorite teams square off on the court. NBA is a great economic backbone for each state or city. Not that many people are interested in traveling from one place to another just to simply watch a sporting event live. The default mindset would be that it isn’t financially wise to spend money for travel arrangements and access to sporting events. Therefore, it would be difficult to for Sports Tourism to generate travelers and money like the way tourism does. There are also millions of people who aren’t that interested in any sporting events at all. This case study will help Sports Tourism around the world recognize the factors that are essential in the activity’s development or decline as an economic booster for a country.
The Problems
There are a total of five questions needed to be solved for this case study.
What are the threats that hinder the development of Sports Tourism?
What characteristics should a sporting event possess to generate audiences of participators around the world?
What are the factors of Sports Tourism in need of development for the activity to become an economic booster for a certain city, state, or country?
How will sports organization, companies, councils, and groups encourage people coming from different places around the world to travel for the sole reason to be spectators or players for a certain sporting event?
What are the countries that have a huge potential to be great destinations for Sports Tourism?
These are the five questions in need of explanation and conclusion in order to contribute to the development of Sports Tourism. The proponents for this case study will engage on analytical research to present accurate and direct information for the conclusions or answers to be complete and credible. The proponents will make use of published materials as references mainly books, journals, and news articles. Interviews with sports analyst would also be a huge factor in order to gather data for a wider perspective to be presented in this case study. This case study won’t be limited to common sports like basketball, American football, soccer, baseball and more. Unique and unusual sports would be included in the discussion to introduce new set of information that the readers or audience aren’t familiar of. The main aim of this case study is to help Sports Tourism and every individual interested in the activity to better understand the factors affecting its promotion and growth as a worldwide activity.
Sports Tourism around the World
There are so many amazing sporting events around the world that most people aren’t even aware of.
Calgary Stampete
For example in, Calgary in the state of Alberta in Canada, one of the most anticipated in the city is the Calgary Stampede. The sporting event is also an exhibition and festival celebration in the city. People from all around Canada would gather in the city to watch amazing shows and see the industrial exhibitions produced by the locals themselves. But the main event of the event is the Rodeo which is divided into specific rodeo events, bareback riding, saddle bronc, tie down roping, s bull riding teer wrestling, and barrel racing. The most famous rodeo event of all is the Chuckwagon racing. The Calgary Stampede is recognized as the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.” The contribution of the event to the city has been immense in terms of economically and socially. The event and the sponsors are promoting the event to the world for everyone to join the excitement and the adrenaline rush by watching each rodeo event.
Chess Boxing
In Germany and United Kingdom, there is an emerging sport called Chess Boxing and the setting of the sport is obvious, a combination of chess and boxing. Players make use of their brain and fist to emerge victorious in a total of 11 rounds, 6 for chess and 5 for boxing. The sport is growing with the establishment of the World Chess Boxing Association (WCBA) in 2013.
Quidditch
Anyone a fan of Harry Potter? In Middlebury College in Vermont, the International Quidditch Association is founded a few years back. Over a hundred teams signed up for the not-so-magical sporting event.
Underwater Hockey
United Kingdom takes pride on their sport called Octopush or to be more specific, Underwater Hockey. Underwater hockey is actually more dangerous compared to ice hockey where there is a lot of hitting. You have to worry about drowning, underwater cramps, or being tackled by your opponents underwater. The sport was first played in 1954, in Southsea, England.
These are just some of the many unique sports around the world. The biggest sporting events in the world are the Olympics, NBA finals, Superbowl, FIFA, and FIBA. These grand events attract spectators and players around the world to participate in a certain country.
Threats to the Development of Sports Tourism
However, these events only took place only for a few weeks or days, not to mention the Olympics, FIFA and FIFA are only held every four years. The time-frame doesn’t favor Sports Tourism as an economic booster. Another factor to consider is travel expenses and the presence of the internet and live television. People would prefer to sit at home and watch the games on their television or computer rather than spent thousands to see the games live. However, hardcore fans for teams or team countries are eager to travel just to cheer for their home team. Whatever perspective you look at it, when a certain activity is connected to tourism, people would still focus on leisure and relaxation. Another threat is the reality that sports can be played almost everywhere as long as the players know the rules, possess the equipment, and have access to the required venue. Sports Tourism isn’t also a priority of most country because right now the components and capabilities of the activity as a financial provider is lacking. Studies and research about Sports Tourism are also limited. Wasche, Dickson, and Woll (2013) suggested more researchers to tackle the quality management of Sports Tourism according to regions, because the published materials and reports about this topic are scarce.
The Development of Sports Tourism around the World
In Tasmania, the tourism of Australia evolved to sports-tourism when the state government established a partnership with Hawthorn Football Club. According to Shams and Lombardi (2016) football plays a huge role for the community of Tasmania and it attracts travelers and visitors from all over Australia and the World to participate and visit the best travel destinations in Tasmania. As added by Shams and Lombardi (2016) this partnership resulted to the development of socio-economical factor of the state resolving many issues for the welfare of the citizens. The stakeholders are convinced that the partnership between Tasmania and Hawthorn would be very beneficial for their economic status and for the public as well. According to Kim, Jun, Walker, and Dane (2015), sports tourism is growing on a regional level all around the world with proper marketing management and community support. This kind of tourism should be promoted wisely and effectively to the public. In South Africa, mega-sports event like the FIFA in 2010 and the Comrades Marathon held every year aids the country with its economic crisis. Giampiccoli, Lee, and Nauright (2015) engaged on a research to determine the level of development that sports tourism can provide to the country. The results of their research showed promising potentials mainly in the field of sports. Countries like Kenya, Canada, USA, India, and more providing extensive effort in developing their Sports Tourism because they predict amazing results if this activity grew worldwide. Toronto, Canada is the recipient of the North America’s Leading Sports Tourism Destination 2015 award by World Travel Awards. Sports and Tourism compliments each other. However, Tourism can stand alone and still be able to attract travelers around the world while Sports Tourism still needs more key components like promotion and management to be at the same level with Tourism.
Conclusion
Sports Tourism can truly help a country developed and solve its economic problem. But right now, the intensity of this activity isn’t that strong to provide a continuous support for its respective country. Sporting events should appeal well to people all over the world that is why the need for better strategies for promotion and quality management is essential. Canada’s Sports Tourism is developing year by year with the involvement of sports associations in the country and stakeholders. USA and South Africa are also doing extensive research to develop a set of information to resolve the biggest issues and questions about Sports Tourism. So right now, Sports Tourism isn’t that strong as an economic booster for a certain country because of many reasons like financial restrictions of travelers, the presence of modern technology, and the abundant sports resources because people could just prepare the venue and equipment needed to play a certain sport rather than visit the country or city that created the sport. Sports Tourism still has the potential to be a great provider of economic support for a country if further developments are accomplished and worldwide studies are published.
Recommendation
Future researchers who are interested in this topic should expand their research resources and engage on interactive research from scholars, athletes, and analyst who are interested in Sports Tourism. This way, a new set of data can be gathered with strong credentials.
References
Giampiccoli, A., Lee, S., &Nauright, J. (2015). Destination South Africa: comparing global sports mega-events and recurring localised sports events in South Africa for tourism and economic development. Current Issues in Tourism,18 (3),229-248.
Kim, W., Jun, H. M., Walker, M., &Drane, D. (2015).Evaluating the perceived social impacts of hosting large-scale sport tourism events: Scale development and validation.Tourism Management, 48, 21-32.
Shams, R. & Lombardi, R. (2016). Socio-economic value co-creation and sports tourism: evidence from Tasmania. World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management, and Sustainable Development, 12 (2-3), 218-238.
Wasche, H., Dickson, G., & Woll, A. (2013).Quality in regional sports tourism: a network approach to strategic quality management. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 18(2), 81-97.
Weed, M. & Bull, C. (2011).Sports tourism: Participants, policy and providers. New York, NY: Routledge.
