Football scores highest in sports tourism survey

Hosting an international football tournament will do more to boost a nation than any other sporting event, according to a poll of travel professionals.

With less than two months to go before FIFA announces which country will host the 2018 Football World Cup, research published today by Pangaea Network found football was almost four times more popular than motor racing, in second place, followed by athletics, in third place.

Some 22% believe that England will win the bid to host the 2018 Football World Cup, with Russia (polling 14%) second most likely and Portugal and Spain (12%) in third place.

An overwhelming 88% of respondents believe that a sporting event can change the perception of a country.

Other aspects can be boosted, such as employment prospects (25%) and tourism (20%).

Asked whether other regions in addition to the host city can benefit, 76% believed that they can, particularly if the host nation is a long haul holiday destination.

However 65% believed that up to a quarter of travellers would avoid a host nation during the actual event.

Within the travel sector hotels and airlines are considered to benefit the most from a global sporting event.

Asked if a country had hosted a sporting event well or poorly, most countries were placed on both lists, with the exception of Australia, China, South Africa and Switzerland, which were only mentioned positively.

The perception of Spain (which hosted the Barcelona Olympics in 1992), South Africa and New Zealand have all changed for the better as a result of hosting major events whilst India’s recent staging of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was considered to have had a detrimental effect on the country’s standing.

Sporting events consistently buck the current late booking trend with 58% of travellers booking tickets to an event more than seven months in advance.

Travellers were booking more than seven months ahead for accommodation (46%) and travel arrangements (53%). In addition 63% of respondents believed that those attending a sporting event did so in addition to their main holiday.

Whilst 61% of those asked believe people will pay a premium to travel to a sporting event, a huge 92% think that charges made by their own industry during events are too high.

“This research reveals that perception is everything,” said Jo Johnson, chairman of Pangaea Network.

“It demonstrates that tourism has to be an integral part of the hosting strategy and, if successful, can bring significant long-term benefits to a nation. Hosting nations have a window of opportunity when the world’s spotlight is on them, rather than their competitors – there can’t be a better tourism marketing opportunity than that.”

The research results will be discussed at a Pangaea Network sponsored panel session during the Global Sports Congress in London today (Monday November 1).

By Bev Fearis