Active sports tourism particularly, in which holiday-makers participate in rather than spectate sports, is expected to see an increased consumer interest post covid, due to the attraction of a more health-conscious lifestyle.
Sports tourism represents around 10% of the global expenditure on tourism and is set to be worth close to 7 billion euros by 2023. Active sports tourism particularly, in which holiday-makers participate in rather than spectate sports, is expected to see an increased consumer interest post covid, due to the attraction of a more health-conscious lifestyle.
Considering this, Gymcatch has evaluated the sports tourism facilities of the world’s top 50 holiday destinations, to find the countries with the most potential to become the global ‘sports tourism’ market leaders.
The study considers the number of yoga and wellness retreats, water-sport facilities, cycling routes, ski-slopes and hiking routes per tourist. By taking into account the average cost per traveler, the study can determine which countries are positioned to be the most attractive and affordable destinations for ‘active travelers’ as international travel re-opens.
Considering facilities and value for money, Australia came top of the study, and scored particularly well for hikers, water-sports enthusiasts and yogis.
Brazil placed 2nd, scoring particularly well for its cycling facilities. This substantiates Allied Market Research that developing nations like Brazil and India (which took 6th place in the study) are expected to drive the global sports tourism market as they invest in more sports infrastructure. Europe, which as per a 2018 report is the largest market in the global sport tourism industry, featured six countries in the top 10, including Norway which placed 3rd and
Switzerland which placed 4th.
The UK came 14th in the study, ranking in the top of 28% of destinations. The UK scored particularly well for its number of yoga retreats (10th most per tourist), hiking trails (9th most per tourist) and cycling (13th most per tourist). In total, the UK offers over 75 water-sports facilities, 159 km of ski slopes, 143 yoga retreats, 13,842 hiking trails and 283,226 cycling routes to get stuck into.
The study can also reveal the best destinations for enthusiasts of each category. Germany, France and Italy have the most listed cycling routes, and when considering tourist numbers, Germany is the world’s best cycling destination, with 40,051 routes per one million tourists.
Next is Switzerland which has 18,253 per one million tourists, and Poland which has 17,662 per million. Taking into account tourist numbers, Switzerland offers the best choice for skiers, with 3,603 km per five million tourists, followed by Austria with 1,234 km per five million tourists and Norway with 1,098 km.
Australia offers the best choice to hikers, with 5,475 routes per 5 mill tourists, followed by the US with 15,406 routes per five mill tourists and Canada with 4582 routes. When it comes to watersports Egypt offers the best choice, with 455 facilities per 5 million tourists, followed by Vietnam with 307 facilities per five million tourists and Indonesia with 251.
And finally for Yogis, India was the clear winner, with 256 retreats per five million tourists, Indonesia has 142 per five million tourists, and Portugal has 72 per five million.
Finally, the study can also reveal which locations are trending for each category, and active holidays in general. By using Google Search Trends analytics, we can see that, likely due to travel restrictions, the most searched for destinations for active holidays are the UK and in Europe.
Per sport, ‘skiing in Japan’ is the trendiest search term. ‘Hiking in Spain’ was most popular, as was ‘cycling in the USA’, and India had the most relevant searches for watersports and yoga.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
