The first European Sport Tourism Summit took place on Thursday May 15th at Thomond Park in Limerick. It drew together over 200 professionals from the sports and tourism sectors and heard presentations from world leaders in the field.
Below are the highlights from five great speakers across three continents in the morning session. Click here to see what was said later in the day by the CEO of Sport Event Denmark, the Commercial Director of Cardiff City on how Premier League status created 4,000 jobs in the city, and some tough words from John Cantwell of Thomond Park Stadium on how different groups need to come together.
1230 Martin Sneddon, CEO New Zealand Rugby World Cup
“Ireland’s win over Australia at World Cup 2011 was a defining moment. It threw all the northern and southern hemisphere countries on opposite sides of the draw.”
“Ireland had 55,000 followers that night, 2,000 of whom had travelled from Ireland. The rest were locals who would wear anything in opposition to Australia.”
“A successful bid requires partnership in every direction. The host user agreement is based on a master servant dynamic. We turned that into one based on partnership.”
“It was vital the the IRB Rugby World Cup brand is taken forward into new territories and new sectors.”
“In 2005 NZ did not believe it had a realistic chance of success. But it happened.”
“We needed the IRB’s senior personnel to be embedded in Wellington for almost four years and that was what developed the partnership.”
“We came from a position of no negotiating power to creating real advocacy within the IRB and this naturally grew into similar relationships within our own government.”
“A legacy of cooperation between areas of public and private sectors, best exemplified by the Border control staff who took as much pride in preparation and delivery as Richie McCaw and the All Black’s”
“The second vital element we learnt was the power of the story. We created ‘the stadium of four million’. It delivered an image of how rugby could be delivered not in bricks and mortar but through the spirit of the people.”
“That resonated with those who made the decision on the award of the right to host the tournament.”
“Hosting is not about self gratification. It’s about taking the opportunity to allow your nation to shine on a world stage.”
The numbers
“It was going to cost €220 Million to host the Rugby World Cup.”
“We don’t get any sponsorship income, or any broadcast income.”
“We needed to get as close as we could to break-even on ticket sales alone. The target was to bring in eleven times more than the previous record event sales for any occasion in the country.”
“Social media was the main platform that got us to where we needed to be.”
1200 Jordi Secali, Marketing Director of Catalan Tourism Board
“FC Barcelona is a crucial part of how we see ourselves and how the rest of the world sees us.”
“Barcelona was unusual in Spain as having a great tradition of sport. The Olympics in 1992 was the third time we had bid and brought great benefits for the city.”
“Partnership between public and private sectors worked well, as did the volunteer programme.”
“Legacy of the Games though was not enough on its own to guarantee an immediate presence on the list of the world’s great destinations. We had to work closely between sport, culture and business to develop the right mix of events.”
Nine key factors:
- Sports power of leading clubs and players
- Orgainsational capacity around major events
- Top level facilities and infrastructure
- Land of sport, a place to train alongside other talented individuals and teams
- Home or headquarters to major international companies
- Perfect blend of location and conditions
- Barcelona Brand
- INDESCAT cluster
- Sports médecine specialism.
Three priority segments of demand:
- High performance sports men and women
- Specialist tourist segments based on particular sports. German cyclists near Majorca as an example.
- Those who go to watch major events
“Promotion included placing Catalonia tourism brand on FC Barcelona shirts during pre season tours to key markets in Asia, America and around the world. Difficult to arrange with different interest groups including Nike.”
“We included presentations at last training sessions before a game or some other event tied to the team.”
1100 Rick Traer of the Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance
“Non governmental, not for profit, tourism industry driven organisation with 150 municipalities as well as over 200 national and regional bodies.”
“Our role is to build capacity, to promote Canada and to develop skills within the sector.”
“Revenue streams from membership, the sports event congress, economic impact assessments and consultancy, providing an annual budget of €1 million.”
“For international single sport events the Federal government will pay up to 35% of eligible costs. 35% comes from provincial government, 15% from municipalities and a low looking 15% from private sponsorship in cash or value in kind.”
“You have to have a stable source of funding. You cannot go from year to year unsure of how much you have to invest in medium to longer term.” Interesting comment bearing in mind that is exactly the nature of sports funding in Ireland…
“STEAM, the Sports Tourism Economic Assessment Model is online facility to put research and hard data before rather than after the event. We are the only segment of the tourism sect that is doing this.”
“Trends towards team sports, family events, especially for girls, Marathons and triathlons, Masters Level events, Cycling, ultimate and parasport events.”
1030 Next up is Tim Crow, CEO of Synergy Sponsorship
“Innovation in sponsorship. Coca Cola changed its colours for the football league sponsorship. The mini mini’s were a worldwide story at the London Olympics and we put Jack Nicklaus on a £5 note.”
“There are elements at play today that will change the nature of the business of sport.”
“Major sporting events are now seen as defining the nature, character and perception of the host country.”
“The West Indies defines itself by reference to tourism and sport.”
“Major issues at Cricket World Cup were bidding process between the islands, the building of white elephant stadia and ticket pricing out of local reach. It didn’t work.”
“Major trend towards BRIC countries, as well as the Middle East setting itself as a region through the power of sport, sponsorship and hosting of major events.”
“How will your country be defined by a sporting event?”
“People remember the sport but also the political stumbling blocks. Tibet and the Torch Relay from Beijing and the LGBT protests which went global before and throughout Sochi 2014.”
“In Brazil the compact between the government and the people has broken down.”
It was promised that 95% of the money to build for the World Cup and the Olympics would come from private investment. In fact 100% has come from the public purse with major impact on schools, hospitals and national infrastructure.”
“But there are great moments as well. Mandela and Piennar in South Africa was one. England and Ireland at Croke Park in the Six Nations was also an incredible experience.”
The economic impact of the Tour de France on Yorkshire will be incredible and well worth looking at as a case study in years to come.”
0950 Keith McCormack of Fáilte Ireland says that there are as many definitions of sports tourism as there are commentators, and uses a Kandinsky print to illustrate the variety.
There are four groups of sports tourist – Those who play, those who watch, those who come for big events and those for whom sport is a secondary but important activity.
Macro view is that tourism to Ireland will grow by 4% in 2014.
14% of tourists are travelling for sports related activities, 8% for specific events. That figure is up from 17% combined in previous year.
Austria, Spain, Italy and Germany are the top four European sports destinations.
Hiking, Cycling, Golf, Angling and Equestrian are the top five sports activities in Ireland. Hiking generated €649 million of attributable revenue last year.
Social energisers, Culturally Curious and Great Escapers are the three main target sectors for Fáilte Ireland
Focus from last year is on recasting strategy. “We are looking at national and major events as opposed to mega events like Olympics and World Cup.”
“No research to suggest that an event like the Rugby World Cup fits into the mega category.” That might cause something of a stir…
Major events are recurring like Dublin Horse Show and non recurring like the Notre Dame – Navy game. In cultural and business terms they would include St Patrick’s Day and the Dublin Web Summit. Those are the three strands.
Sports ambassador programme – a partnership approach to identifying and winning sporting events. Failte Ireland will assist in creating bid process application. Financial support will also be available for site inspection visits, feasibility studies and more.
Eight potential sports conferences have been initially identified.
20% success rate in bidding for sports events would be right up there as best in class.
0945 MC for the day Andrew Cotter gets proceedings under way by welcoming Keith Wood to the stage…
“Limerick is the natural home for an event of this nature.”
“The average sports tourist spends twice as much as others.” – BDO Research
“Limerick City Council and Shannon Development have announced the establishment of a Sports Innovation Hub in the city.”
