20 Media Destination Sport GAPOR SIN E S E IN R G O A P P O A R G E N CANADA I NORWAY NORWAY S S I N E G R A O P UK NMARK D DE EN K M R A A R K M N D E E D N M K A R R A K M N D E UNITED ARAB EMIRATES FINLAND SOUTH AFRICA www.sportcal.com Q2 2016 Sportcal Insight 21 GAPOR SIN E S E IN R G O A P P O A R G E N CANADA I NORWAY NORWAY S S DESTINATION I N E G R A O P UK SPORT A major shift has taken In the past, world championships were the key drivers for many destinations place in the priorities of looking to attract largely European and sports destinations in the North American visitors, but as the price for these events has escalated so has NMARK D last five to 10 years, with the focus shifted to a different audience: DE EN more and more destinations high net-worth Asian tourists. K M Sport has typically been viewed in the R A focusing on attracting past as a tourism or brand driver but A R K low-risk, annual or regular cities and governments now want more M for their investments. Sustainability, N D E events that generate a E social cohesion, healthier and happier D N populations are increasingly the driving M wider range of financial and K A R forces behind sports strategy and event R A K M N D E social benefits rather than hosting is becoming just one of many irregular, peripatetic world priorities rather than the primary one. UNITED ARAB Obesity and health issues are costing championships that come governments billions of dollars in EMIRATES with higher risks and, for medical bills, and while sport can’t solve these problems on its own it is seen as some, increasingly inflated a key catalyst to getting people more hosting fees. active and encouraging them to lead healthier and happier lifestyles. As the cost for hosting some of ROM AUSTRALIA TO the major world championships has SINGAPORE, SOUTH AFRICA soared, fuelled by oil-rich nations F TO THE UAE, FINLAND TO looking to use sport to drive brand FINLAND Norway, Denmark to the UK, and awareness and global tourism, so SOUTH AFRICA Canada to USA, governments, cities and many other destinations have destinations are re-thinking their sport switched to continental or annual strategies to create more benefits from world series events. sport than just tourism and branding. As part of Sportcal’s Global Sports Some are also switching their focus away Impact project Mike Laflin, chief from European visitors to focus more on executive of Sportcal, spoke to a range Asian tourists. of destinations, national governing Yet European athletes and European bodies and sports tourism organisations destinations, as evidenced by Sportcal’s to see how they are using sport to drive recent Global Sport Impact Report 2015, their policies and how they are changing dominate world championships. their hosting strategies. SOUTH AFRICA 22 Media Destination Sport OCEANIA FINLAND GAPORE SI IN NG S A P E O R R E O P S A I G N N G SOUTH AFRICA I A S P O E R MARK DENM EN AR D K K D R E N A M M A N R E K D D K E R N A While tourism is the key driver in Australia, M O’Sullivan recognises that sports tourism brings with it “a muchFINLAND wider range of impacts than GLOBAL SPORTS GAPORE SI IN NG AUSTRALIA S A P just visitors.” NATIONS INDEX O E R R E O P S Volunteering was a key legacy from the TOURISM AUSTRALIA A I G N N G I A S P O E Australia was one of the pioneers of sportsR Olympic Games in 2000 and it established a destination marketing in the late 1990s and early culture of volunteering that is still visible in many MARK DENM EN AR 2000s, hosting the Olympic Games in Sydney airports and visitorD centresK throughout Australia. K D R E N A M M A N R E in 2000, the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and the K The CommonwealthD Games in 2018 is being D K E R N A Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006. used as a catalystM to regenerate business on the 15TH Gold Coast at a time of challenging economic Key strategies for Tourism Australia include: conditions, and to increase consumer confidence • Driving awareness of the sporting calendar and visitor numbers. GLOBAL SPORTS in Australia One of the new initiatives around sport is that CITIES INDEX • Attracting international visitors to tourism is trying to work more closely with other those events government departments like health to tackle the CANADA • Encouraging extended stays for growing problem of obesity and inactivity those visitors in Australia. • Increasing Australia’s global reputation for CANADA hosting good events TOURISM WESTERN AUSTRALIA John O’Sullivan, chief executive of Tourism Tourism Western Australia was one of the first TH Australia, says: “Seventeen per cent of agencies established in the Australian market 18GOLD COAST international visitors (approximately 1.1million to attract major sporting events to Australia. visitors per year) attend a cultural or sporting Its initial brief was focused on bringing large- event during their stay, with 10 per cent visiting scale international sporting events like sailing’s to attend a specific event.” America’s Cup and the FINA World Swimming These international visitors tend to generate a Championships to Perth and Western Australia, higher yield for the economy, spending twice the and with them tourists and their dollars. average of other international visitors and often The philosophy was simple: attract major ST extending their stays around sporting events. sporting events, and athletes, officials and PERTH 71 As competition has increased and the costs of spectators would travel to Australia to these events has escalated so the strategy has participate or watch the event and would changed to focus on annual regular events like then holiday in Australia Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Tourism and media exposure are still key cycling’s Tour Down Under in Adelaide and the drivers for Australia’s sports events strategy in Ironman long-distance triathlon in Queensland. 2016, according to Gwyn Dolphin, executive The focus of bidding to host major director of tourism for Western Australia, who AFC ASIAN CUP 2015 sports events has shifted to tourism said: “Australia is so far away that if you are from Asia as the recent hosting of going to come here you are going to stay A$81m direct impact the 2015 Cricket World Cup shows. for a while. A$7.3[bn] boost to GDP This sparked a 46-per-cent spike in “Major sports events are a great way of the number of visitors from India, the bringing people to Australia and invariably they 650,000 tickets sold largest number of Indian visitors ever to extend their stay after a major event. Spectators, 8 sold-out games visit Australia. athletes and officials alike all take the opportunity Soccer’s AFC Asian Cup, also hosted to explore Australia after the event finishes.” 300 jobs created by Australia last year, also benefited But the focus in Western Australia has shifted from tourism from Asia with the event from attracting major world events that would 150,000 overseas tourists generating an estimated A$81 million bring tourists from Europe and North America to 30,000 inter-state tourists ($60 million) of direct expenditure and continental events and sports that are attractive an A$7.3-million boost to GDP. to Asian visitors. SOUTH AFRICA www.sportcal.com Q2 2016 Sportcal Insight 23 FINLAND ASIA GAPORE SI IN NG S A P E O R R E O P S A I G N N G I A S P O E R MARK DENM EN AR D K K D R E N A M M A N R E K D D K E R N A M This is partly because of the spiralling costs of hosting major world GLOBAL SPORTS championships, with some hosting fees SINGAPORE NATIONS INDEX increasing tenfold in the last five to 10 SINGAPORE years, fuelled, it is claimed, by oil-and Singapore has been positioning itself as an international gas-rich nations eager to gain global sports hub for many years and sport is at the heart of the exposure. government’s strategy, both for destination marketing and Unable to justify these huge fees from for generating a happy and healthy population. the public purse Australia’s focus has In 2010 Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympic moved to continental events like the Games, which was used as a major branding exercise TH to put Singapore on the sporting map. The cost of the 47 AFC Asian Cup, international one day cricket matches, and national events like games was around $387 million, substantially higher than GLOBAL SPORTS CITIES INDEX cricket’s Big Bash league. the original budget, but the first ever Youth Olympic The Western Australian government is Games did generate significant media coverage for the investing in the developmentCANADA of a new city and nation. 60,000-seat stadium in Perth to support However, Singapore hosts very few world the continuing interest in hosting major championships. Instead it has developed an impressive continental, national, regional and local range of annual major sporting events, spearheaded by events.