“Minefield” of sports tourism up for debate at WTM
Thursday, 08 Oct, 2010
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The pros and cons of drawing tourism through sport will be debated at World Travel Market this year, an issue highlighted by the Commonwealth Games in Dehli.
The keynote debate on the WTM opening day on November 8 will seek to counter many of the myths that surround sports tourism and hosting major sporting events.
Said WTM chairman Fiona Jeffery: “Undoubtedly sports tourism is a tough legacy for everyone. The myth is that those who successfully bid for a major sporting event automatically win the golden jackpot.
“It can be an absolute minefield. The rewards are indeed extremely high, but so are the risks and this has been clearly illustrated by the problems surrounding the Commonwealth Games in India.”
She added that she felt the controversial questions about sports tourism were not being addressed and that the panel of sports tourism experts at the Excel event this November would help to explain the issues more and look at the pros and cons.
Jeffery added: “Lessons have been learned from major international sporting events such as the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, a financial disaster when the city faced debts for many years afterwards.
“The costs of staging an international sporting event can be prohibitive; venues are often not properly utilized afterwards and sometimes fall into disrepair.
“Unless a destination/region has a long term business plan, integrating the sporting event into its strategic vision over 20 or even 30 years, as well as ensuring that the opportunities pre and post a sporting event are fulfilled and measured exhaustively, they are unlikely to reap the considerable benefits.
“There is also little understanding that not only is this an opportunity for host cities, but also for other towns and cities throughout that country to dovetail other tourism events, competitions, sports, festivals and promotions to maximise the surge of incoming visitors.”
Speakers at the WTM session include South Africa minister of tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk,, secretary general UNWTO Taleb Rifai, head of sports division at TUI Marc Bennett, head of 2012 Games unit at Visit Britain Chris Foy, executive director at European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) Tom Jenkins and lecturer in sports tourism at Bournemouth University Richard Shipway.
Dinah
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