Jumpstartingsports tourism in the Gulf

WIhen it comes to sport, few things compare to being part of the excitement and roar of a crowd, whether you’re pitch, pool or track side. That excitement has been missing for the last couple of years as large gatherings for live sport were one of the first and hardest hit sectors when pandemic-related restrictions were first implemented.

As we tentatively enter the post-COVID recovery period, people are just starting to travel again to watch and cheer on their favourite team or to take part in adventure sports or a mass participation event.

Globally, some cities such as Townsville in Australia have specifically set out to attract sports events and championships as an intrinsic part of the region’s economic and social recovery from the pandemic.

The release of all this latent demand reflects the fact that sports tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors in global tourism and even before the pandemic, sports tourism represented 10% of the world’s tourism industry, with a turnover of about US$800 billion according to UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) figures.

So-called mega events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games and FIFA World Cups have demonstrated the potential to drive urban regeneration, create employment and can be a catalyst for longer-term tourism development.

Ten years on from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, two business districts have set up at the Olympic Park, 25,000 jobs have been created, and 11,000 homes have been built. However, despite the reforms introduced by several of the biggest rights holders to make bidding and hosting more affordable, only a relatively small group of global cities have the capability and money to bid for and host mega events. Even then, they often struggle to capture the public’s imagination and the support needed; many bids for mega events in recent years have collapsed when put to a referendum as the cost-benefit analysis is often unconvincing.

The Significance Of Smaller

Outside of the mega sport events circuit, an increasing number of cities and towns are recognising that bigger is not always better and that a balanced portfolio of smaller or lower profile sport and other events not only require less public investment to get off the ground but still have the potential to attract a steady flow of visitors, generate regional and sometimes international publicity, boost the local economy, strengthen community spirit and reinforce their image and reputation.

This is especially the case for emerging sports tourism ‘players’ with perhaps strong natural or existing built assets and good accessibility looking to looking to establish themselves on the sports tourism map.

The Cayman Islands is one example. The British Overseas Territory has a population of less than 70,000 but in recent years, it has hosted the Intertrust Marathon (a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon), Flowers Sea Swim, which attracts more than 1,000 participants and the Classic Basketball Tournament, a pre-season mens’ division 1 college tournament that attracts teams from across North America.

In the Gulf, both Oman and Jordan have established themselves as emerging destinations for adventure sports tourism.

In Jordan, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that the adventure sports and travel sector can create up to 500 formal jobs and generate more than $10 million in direct and indirect revenue generation for micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

So, what are some of the key strategic considerations when planning sport events (big or small) and activities to spur lasting, positive legacies in host communities?

Have A Clear Vision And Plan

The most successful event hosts and sports tourism destinations have a vision statement that captures their desired ultimate outcome – event hosting is an increasingly competitive market and it will only be those destinations that show clear vision and leadership that will succeed.

Preparing a simple strategy document also gives direction, provides mechanisms for resourcing event organisations, identifies the benefits and how these will be measured and encourages and recognises volunteers.

A key outcome of an event hosting or a sports tourism strategy is a process or set of guidelines to help inform the events to prioritise and to invest in as all too often, decisions about which events to bid for are not made strategically, but in response to short-term pressures, which are frequently political. When considering bidding for or creating an event, the decision makers should ask: “Is this event better than all the other ones out there that we could be bidding for and why?”

Fund Creatively

The City of Round Rock in Texas has developed a successful sports tourism programme – Go Round Rock! – that generates $16 million in economic activity every year by hosting national, state and regional tournaments in a wide range of sports. The 9 % Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) paid by visitors who stay in one of Round Rock’s 4,544 hotel rooms has paid for nearly all of the facilities and programmes focused on sports tourism, most of which were built and are maintained with HOT funds.

ALIGN WITH EXISTING ASSETS, VALUES AND THEMES

Sport events and adventure sports provide great opportunities for destinations to promote and strengthen their existing natural and built tourist attractions and align to the destination’s demographic without the need to necessarily invest heavily in new infrastructure.

Building on Extreme E’s 2021 inaugural X Prix in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, which attracted a cumulative worldwide audience of 18.7 million, the opening race of the second season also took place in Saudi Arabia at NEOM, showcasing the dramatic desert landscape and highlighting the impact of climate change in the world.

About

Andy Preece

Queenstown in New Zealand has also successfully capitalised on its adventure tourism credentials and brand to develop the Queenstown Winter Festival, a hallmark event that has been hosted annually since 1975 and attracts more than 45,000 people with a global reach of 89 million.

THINK OFF-PEAK

Sport is a year-round pastime, but an effective event hosting or sports tourism strategy should particularly look to promote events during the slower tourism periods (shoulder and off-peak months) when accommodation is more readily available and more affordable. One of the world’s leading superyacht destinations, Porto Montenegro, off the Bay of Kotor in Tivat, Montenegro, has created high-profile invitational sports events such as triathlons and adventure races that capitalise on the dramatic coastal and mountain landscape.

The Malta Tourism Authority and the Malta Sports Council worked together to increase tourism during off-peak and shoulder months by offering subsidies to the National Sports Associations per number of hotel beds booked during sports events This incentive generated 60,000 additional ‘bednights’ over an initial three-year period.

Package And Incentivise

The Travel Activities and Motivations Survey (TAMS), which looks at the travel patterns of Americans and Canadians, suggests sport tourists are also more likely than your ‘average’ tourist to attend festivals, concerts and live theatre during their stay – many of these attractions are already on offer in established and emerging travel destinations throughout the world. Generating the greatest benefits from smaller-scale sport events and sport tourism lies not only in promoting the event or activity but giving sport tourists reasons to arrive at the destination earlier, stay later and spend more. To do this, tourism boards and sports bodies need to work together to create attractive travel packages and incentives, such as discounted hotel rates for particular sport events and associated cultural programmes. For larger events, creating a dedicated stakeholder group or bidding organisation can help promote collaboration and align different agendas.

Andy Preece is a Director of the Buro Happold Sport and Entertainment Consultancy Group and has worked as a management consultant in the sport, tourism and events sectors for more than 32 years. Andy has held senior roles with some of the leading global consultancy and multidisciplinary firms and has completed sport tourism strategic planning projects for the Barbados Ministry of Tourism, the City of Ottawa, Tourism British Colombia, Porto Montenegro, NEOM and Diriyah Gate. In the major events sector, Andy has helped cities, local organising committee’s and international federations evaluate, bid for, plan for and deliver multi-sport and single sport major events with a particular focus on legacy planning and implementation.

Success Through Association

An increasing number of destinations are recognising the value of developing their own hallmark events which tend to be recurring events developed mainly to enhance the awareness, appeal and profitability of a tourism destination. Over time they become intrinsically associated with the destination (Melbourne being a prime example) and can be tailor-made to generate specific benefits for the host community. For example, the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens has been taking place since 1969 and has featured in the World Rugby Sevens Series for 16 consecutive years, attracting more than 100,000 attendees each year and an estimated 593 hours of television coverage across 359m households in 145 countries.

The Gulf region has already enjoyed significant success securing a number of mega events such as the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2030 and 2034 Asian Games in Qatar and Riyadh respectively.

Top sports tourism destinations however have built their success around a broad portfolio of events of different sizes (and complementary cultural and business events), recognising that different events result in different impacts and can play a key role in driving city-wide economic and social objectives rather than just being seen a good thing in their own right.

Long-term success also requires destinations to clarify, articulate and exploit their USPs and differentiators and this will be critical as the event and sports tourism sector becomes ever more crowded in the region.