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 TOURISM. Hard definition. Soft definition SPORT TOURISM Hard definition Soft definition passive or active participation at a Primarily active recreational competitive sporting event participation in sport National / International events “Fun Runs” Rotterdam Marathon Hiking / walking Olympic Games Skiing / Skating Soccer matches Cycling tours Wimbledon Canoeing International cricket Disney World of Sports / Fantasy Camps TOURISM SPORT Soft definition Hard definition Visitors who engage in some minor Tourists who as a secondary form of sport or leisure; their reinforcement passively or participation is purely incidental actively participate in sport Mini-golf Landal Green Parks Bowls Centre Parcs Swimming Halls of fame Tennis court hire Sports Cruises Rowing / Punting Sport museums Pool / snooker Stadia Tours Diagram 1: A consumer classification of sport and tourism (Robinson & Gammon 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 Lie in the sun Get sunburnt Like attractions No special interests Eat in hotel dining room NEW TOURISTS Get up and get active Keep clothes on Try out local food and drinks Like sports 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 Lausanne, Switzerland Hall of Fame 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".