Sports Tourism Statistics UK

What do you like doing in your space time?

Watching a rugby or football game?

Playing golf, football, tennis or basketball?

Most people like sports. They grow up playing sports or participating in athletics and some eventually play professionally. Others play sports like golf for business or pleasure. Some play sports as amateurs but do so because they love the game like our local rugby teams.

There are many people around the world who love to go and watch sports. Many sports fans travel around the country, continent and even around the world in order to watch or play their favourite sport.

Sports tourism plays a significant role in tourism globally and also locally. Athletes from abroad come to Kenya to train, for holiday or even to carry out charity activities. Kenya brings in quite a few tourism dollars from sports, from the marathons like Lewa Marathon, the Standard Chartered Marathon, to Safari Sevens rugby tournament, the famous Kenya Open Golf tournament, to our famous Safari Rally and Rhino Charge. Then there are the regional tournaments for football, rugby, golf, cricket and basketball etc.

Globally, there are sports events like the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the European Football Championships, the IRB Sevens, the Rugby Union World Cup and the Formula 1 Grand Pix, the Grand Slam Tennis tournaments, The Masters, and the Grand National.

Some statistics on sports tourism.

The FIFA World Cup in 2010 attracted 309, 554 foreign international tourists and they spent R 3.64 billion which was impressive during a time when there was a global financial crisis.

Check out some statistics by FIFA on the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

• The total awareness of South Africa as a leisure destination increased by nine per cent after the FIFA World Cup. Tourists also found their experience in the country much better than they expected before arriving.
• The 2010 FIFA World Cup did help improve the negative perceptions South Africa has on safety and security issues and as a value-for-money destination.
• Even though the tournament was held in winter, the Fan Parks were a popular choice for many supporters. The most visited Fan Parks were also in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape.
• About five per cent of the 2010 FIFA World Cup tourists indicated that they visited other African countries during their trip to South Africa

For more information check out this

• The average person who visited the country during the event spent just over ten nights in South Africa. There were a number of issues contributing to time spent in the country. Some fans returned home after their teams were eliminated and some arrived in South Africa during the event following the success of their teams.
• Out of the places fans visited, Gauteng (Johannesburg, Pretoria), Western Cape (Cape Town) and KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) were the most visited provinces. Shopping and enjoying nightlife were the two most common activities which tourists engaged in, apart from watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The London 2012 Olympics attracted 680, 000 overseas residents to the UK to watch, participate or work at the games, and also others who attended a game while in the UK for another purpose.