Indians were glued to their television screens to watch Indian athletes win medals across disciplines at the recently concluded XXII Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. There is a renewed enthusiasm amongst Indians to follow their countrymen/women competing in global sports.
This trend has been observed for a few years and this has prompted the travel industry to target this niche of travellers who travel across the world to either follow their favourite athletes or just soak in the atmosphere at the big event.
A series of important sporting events are around the corner, beginning with the Asia Cup to be held in Dubai later this month, the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and the most important sporting event of the year, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
This provides a unique opportunity to tour operators to tie up with partners who have the rights to the games to provide Indian sports enthusiasts with an opportunity to be part of this extravaganza. This will also help tour operators to diversify their product portfolio.
Sports Tourism is big business. The last edition of the FIFA World Cup that was held in Russia attracted over 5 million tourists out of which 2.9 million were foreign tourists. This indicates the level of movement of people enabling host countries to reap the benefits of tourism numbers.
Qatar Tourism and the football organizing committee have been holding roadshows across India as they see India as a huge growth opportunity. It is the first time ever that the FIFA World Cup is being held in the Middle East and India is just two or three hours away from the destination. The direct connectivity of flights will act as an impetus for Indian fans to travel to Qatar.
Similarly, for the upcoming Asia Cup in Dubai. Cricket has been more of a religion for Indians and the early figures point out to a large number of them already packing their bags to travel to the desert kingdom.
Likewise, Tourism Australia has renewed its marketing push and is enticing Indian fans to travel to Australia for the ICC T20 World Cup. Australia is a destination with diverse offerings and Indians are being wooed to take that long pending vacation.
One should not forget that India recently hosted the World Chess Championship in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which attracted participants from over 180 countries.
All this points to the immense opportunity that sports tourism can offer to the travel industry. Indian corporates structure their incentive meets around these international sporting events and this is the first time that events of such scale are being organized post the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Indian travel industry should work closely with such organisers to tap the vast potential that this stream of business has to offer as the new generation of Indian travellers are open to experimentation and are seeking new ways to enjoy their holiday.
