Developing sports tourism to stimulate local economy

09/26/2024 07:05

Sports tourism is an effective way to stimulate low-season tourism in Vietnam. Source: MTXD

(PLVN) - September and October are the months with cool weather suitable for sports activities. Therefore, many provinces and cities have joined forces to organize professional and grassroots sports tournaments to stimulate tourism , attracting many tourists to visit and experience.

“Warming up” tourist attractions

Last weekend, in Hanoi, the Techcombank Hanoi International Marathon took place, attracting 10,000 professional and amateur athletes to participate. The overnight race started at around 2:30 a.m. with many different running distances, the highest being 42km. A number of athletes from many provinces and cities participated in the race. The race took place right when Hanoi was holding the Hanoi Autumn Festival. Therefore, many athletes, after competing, stayed in Hanoi for a few days to travel and experience the atmosphere of the thousand-year-old ancient city.

In the near future, on online sports forums, the Aqua Warriors Van Don 2024 tournament taking place in Van Don district, Quang Ninh province (abbreviated as Aqua Van Don tournament) is being discussed by many athletes. It is known that this year is the first time Van Don organizes the Aquathlon tournament, including two combined events: swimming and running with many different distances. The tournament has more than a thousand participants. The participating athletes come from many provinces and cities across the country, bringing in large revenues for the Organizing Committee and accommodation facilities in Van Don. This is a way for Quang Ninh province to "heat up" the low season to welcome domestic tourists.

In fact, in recent years, when the weather changes to autumn and winter, many tourist destinations have cooled down due to the decline in domestic tourists. Many methods of stimulating demand have been applied by travel agencies and local provinces. One of them is tourism to participate in sports tournaments.

Sports tournaments (professional and amateur) attract thousands or tens of thousands of participants and stay for several days. Normally, athletes will travel in groups, teams or with their families to have support during the competition. After the tournament ends, they will stay for a few days to recover and combine sightseeing and exploring attractive locations.

Branding, creating sustainable sports tourism products

According to statistics from the Department of Physical Training and Sports (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), in 2023, the number of people practicing physical training and sports regularly nationwide reached 36.7%; the number of families practicing physical training and sports regularly reached 27.7% of the total number of households. Deputy Director of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Le Thi Hoang Yen said that the gap between mass sports, grassroots sports and high-performance sports has been significantly narrowed and affirmed that developing grassroots sports is also the foundation for high-performance sports.

This shows that Vietnamese people are increasingly investing in sports. Many experts predict that combining tourism with sports will develop in the near future. This is both an opportunity for provinces and cities to introduce attractive sports tourism products and, at the same time, shape the brand of tournaments.

Mr. Dang Manh Phuc, CEO of Outbox, commented that the sport tourism movement in Vietnam is developing very quickly due to the regular organization of competitions. However, "anything that is a trend will pass". The issue that needs attention is that the parties from the destination, the tournament organizers to the tourism businesses effectively take advantage of the blooming time to shape the brand of professional running competitions and create the premise for future sports tourism activities to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

To continue to turn sports tournaments into a typical tourism product that attracts tourists, there needs to be a connection between departments and sectors. Phung Quang Thang, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association, suggested that in order for the tourism industry to combine sports, in the coming time, localities need to create open procedures in granting licenses to organize sports tournaments to serve tourism and promote destinations. At the same time, it is necessary to socialize the organization of tournaments in the direction of encouraging travel companies to form alliances to sell products related to sports tourism. In the opposite direction, the sports industry will work together to promote events, landscapes, and Vietnamese culture, thereby attracting tourists.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/phat-trien-du-lich-the-thao-de-kich-cau-kinh-te-dia-phuong-post526635.html