How Sport Has Influenced The World Of Tourism
Perhaps sport and tourism don’t have the most obvious connection on the surface but it is prevalent on both a national and international level in a whole host of sports including football, motor racing and basketball. If we take football as an example and look at the FIFA World Cup which was held in South Africa in 2010 and is set to be held in Brazil in 2014, over 300,000 people visited the Rainbow Nation of South Africa in the months of June/July. As you can imagine South Africa was not the only country to benefit from the successful tourism boom in these two successive months. Many people combined trips to South Africa to watch a world cup match with a safari elsewhere on the continent including in Tanzania where people visited the Tarangire and in Kenya where people visited the Masai Mara. Accommodation in Tanzania including the Serengeti Bushtops saw a boom in tourism directly related to the world cup being held in South Africa.
The world cup is recognised as the most popular sporting event on the planet attracting a few hundred thousand fans and a television audience of around 100 million people. South Africa benefited greatly in a time of recession, which proves to you the power of sport, people are willing to travel to see their team play whatever the circumstances are. Africa saw many people visiting neighbouring countries and destinations a little further afield combining a trip to the world cup with a holiday. Zanzibar Island, just off the coast of Tanzania saw a boom in Tourism in these two months and so did some of the accommodation on the island including the Zanzibar Serena Inn.
The Olympics is another wonderful example of how sport can increase the level of tourism in a country. The Beijing Olympics held in 2008 brought in 12.6% more tourists than the previous year and London 2012 is supposed to expect similar results. Not only is it an honour for a country to be able to host an Olympics or a FIFA world cup but the repercussions are excellent with new infrastructure, job creation and a tourism boom all part of the package.