Live Sports Tourism in South Africa

‘Sport Tourism’ refers to the growing interest in hosting sporting events across the continent, particularly in places that do not have the requisite infrastructure, or in regions where they would be able to contribute to growth, tourism and the sports industry in general.

This is becoming increasingly important as there are sporting and sporting tourism opportunities across the continent where less and less people are able to afford and travel to traditional sporting and sporting tourism destinations.

South Africa has always had a world class sporting infrastructure and sporting tourism for the last two decades, with venues as abundant as the number of online casinos South Africa has on offer. However, with the increasing interest of sports companies from across the globe in hosting events, the gap has widened with a lot of people only going to South Africa for the ultimate sporting experience, the ‘one-stop shop’ and a ‘bit of home’.

Sports travel professionals tend to take their luxury itinerary to a traditional sporting destination or sport tourism destination which is expensive and out of reach for most. Sports tourism across South Africa can still be affordable, especially if there is an opportunity to attend and host the sporting events.

Sport tourism is gaining momentum globally and the report by Sports Tourism Showcase 2013 confirmed that half of sports consumers go to a specific destination to meet and engage with a sportsperson and use that as a lure for future travel.

Recently, the International Sports Tourism Outlook Report revealed that sports is likely to become a major area for sports tourists in the next few years. Sports Tourism in South Africa offers a host of opportunities that help grow the sports industry, travel tourism and the wider economy.

Opportunities in Sport Tourism for the Greater Cape Town Region

Sports tourism offers numerous opportunities to promote and develop the sports industry. It has proven to be a viable means to encourage tourism and economic growth in a variety of regions and industries around the world. These regions include Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

With France joining in on the Rugby action traditionally dominated by Southern Hemisphere nations, a lot more meilleur machine a sous en ligne searches emerge out of the hotel rooms occupied by traveling French spectators.

The South African Tourism Board (SATB) and Tourism South Africa (TSA) continue to encourage sports tourism. On the other hand, Sport and Recreation South Africa (SARSA) continues to promote sport tourism through various events such as Sports Tourism Days and Sports Tourism Showcase.

Tourism South Africa (TSA) and Sport and Recreation South Africa (SARSA) have recently launched a joint campaign to promote sport tourism and create a marketing strategy to promote the sports tourism industry.

Government investment in sport tourism

The city of Cape Town was recently awarded the National Sport & Recreation Strategy (NSRS) Cycle Tour Planning Grant by Sport and Recreation South Africa (SARSA). SARSA will be providing the City of Cape Town with $84.5 million for a 13-year cycle tour planning period.

In addition, government has announced the development of three new sport and recreation hubs, called Sport and Recreation Hubs, in the Greater Cape Town Region. These hubs are meant to stimulate sport tourism, sport participation, and promote regional participation.

It is planned that these hubs will feature hotels, sporting facilities and restaurants to encourage more people to come and visit sport and recreation destinations across the region.

It is important to highlight that sport and recreation hubs should not be branded sports and recreation, and sports and recreation destinations and facilities should not be branded to attract sport and recreation tourists.

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