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With the 2014 FIFA World Cup coming to an end, we have reached halftime of the annual sports calender which began with the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, in Russia earlier this year. The XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will begin in a few days from now. With the XVI Asian Games scheduled in Incheon, South Korea later this year, we are staring at a possible coming of age of the new Indian sports traveller.
Global Indian fanbase
India arrived at the sports tourism scene in 2010, with people travelling to Delhi to witness the commonwealth games and earlier in the year to South Africa for the FIFA World Cup, which for the first time was within accessible reach considering the geographies.
A large number of Indians travelled to Sochi and the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Indian fans can be seen cheering for various teams across the sporting globe.
According to official figures, Brazil 2014 has drawn close to 6,00,000 tourists from a total of 180 countries generating revenues close to 7 billion Brazilian reals. These include transportation, food, lodging etc. The equation as to how it will be seen in comparison with the costs incurred is a different case, but it surely will act as a catalyst for the Brazilian tourism going forward.
From the Indian standpoint, the upcoming Glasgow games will also be a keenly watched event, considering the Indian expat population, the volume of Indian tourists travelling to the UK every year. Of course, the entire drama of the last edition of the games will be remembered and Indians will be hoping that Glasgow does not disappoint on that front.
Buildup to the Asian Games
The Asian Games in South Korea should be interesting with all the build up with a major road show being planned by the Korea tourism board across Delhi and Mumbai to promote the event. The organizers are very confident of playing hosts to the largest number of travellers ever, to attend the Asian Games. Considering almost 1/3 of the world’s population lives on the continent, this could be a great affiliation factor which the organizers should look to leverage upon. With the last games in Guangzhou hailed as a success in financial terms post Beijing’s attempt at the Olympics, this time, one of the best performers at the Asiad, South Korea’s turn to recreate the magic of Busan 2002.
Looking ahead to the year and beyond, many tourism organizations are collaborating with the major sports events and national tourism boards for marketing rights. The broadcasting rights have been major cash churners for media companies as the CAGR of the entire sector is at an astounding 18-20%.
Sports and travel share the basic objective of bringing people together. Whoever wins the medals and trophies at these big sporting events across the globe, the tourists will surely make their presence felt. The hosts are leaving no stone unturned to welcome the visitors as the economic benefits are too obvious to be overlooked.
