Developing sports tourism, increasing experiential advantages

After the COVID-19 pandemic, people pay more attention to health issues. Therefore, sports tourism is becoming a trend that attracts tourists of all ages, because they can experience a "two-in-one vacation": both relaxation and health training.

A new trend

Mr. Ly Nhan (Hanoi), lives in the inner city but is very excited to participate in cycling programs at Ecopark urban area park. The experience in green space brings him fresh feelings. He shared: "Going to tourist attractions, exercising and connecting with people makes me feel comfortable during the holidays."

From the perspective of the organizing unit, Mr. Pham Duy Nghia, Director of VietFoot Travel said: The unit has organized many cycling sports tourism programs such as the Ba Vi route in the suburbs of Hanoi, exploring the history of the inner city - Dong Anh route; Bat Trang - the park at Ecopark... In addition, the unit has also expanded cycling programs to localities such as Ninh Binh, Lao Cai, Son La... bringing experiences to customers.

Cycling through the park at Ecopark urban area.

Exercise and relax while enjoying the scenery.

Mr. Chu Van Canh ( Hanoi ) recently traveled to Quang Nam and was quite surprised when, in a quiet resort space, he and his family were "busy" with many sports activities. Leaving the off-road car after a challenging race on the Blue Beach Track off-road adventure car racing track at Tui Bbue Nam Hoi An resort, Mr. Canh excitedly said: "A memorable experience. This is the first time I have driven on such a rough and bumpy terrain. I have to concentrate on my nerves, muscles as well as driving skills to overcome the challenge. And when I reach the finish line, the feeling of defeating myself makes me very excited. This sport makes my vacation more interesting." Along with that, Mr. Canh's wife and children excitedly joined the cycling group to Tam Thanh mural village, both to visit and to not interrupt the youngest son's passion for cycling. Mr. Nguyen Hong Vinh - Vietnam's leading expert in the field of safe driving, currently managing the Blue Beach Track off-road adventure car racing track, commented: "In the past, "Western guests" with long vacations often participated in sports activities, more than Vietnamese groups. However, over time, the trend of green living and actively participating in sports activities has caused many domestic tourists to seek activities that require physical activity during their vacations. From vacations being just "vacations", tourists are shifting towards immersing themselves in the space of the local resort with sports experiences. Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism), said: Analysis from recent customer surveys shows that the trend of sports tourism is the choice of many Vietnamese tourists. Accordingly, not only simple sightseeing but tourists also want to increase their experiences. In particular, "mass" sports are chosen a lot, such as cycling, Running, yoga… Handshake between businesses According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), sports tourism is a type of tourism related to the tourist experience. Sports tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry, estimated to be worth about 800 billion USD globally. Sports tourism products include: tickets to watch or directly participate in sports events with services: transportation, hotel, cuisine, sightseeing… or a package sports tour or sports vacation.

Sports tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry. Photo: LVH

Sports tourism is not a new product, but according to the trends and opinions of many experts, it will be interested and strongly developed after the COVID-19 pandemic because in addition to the usual travel experiences, tourists also gain health and, or motivation to exercise. According to tourism experts, the Vietnamese market has started to launch sports tourism products in the past 5-7 years. Typically, some products are designed to be sold with mass running competitions such as trail running competitions and recently, tours organized by many tourism businesses for Vietnamese people to go abroad to watch the Vietnamese team compete. Besides the advantages such as attracting a large number of visitors and using many local services, sports tourism also has an outstanding advantage compared to other forms/products of tourism, which is promoting destinations. Through sports tourism, many localities in Vietnam have a new and attractive destination image in the eyes of tourists. Many localities have devoted attention and resources to this type of tourism product/category because of the benefits it brings. Also in the past 5 years, Vietnam has witnessed a strong growth in the number of clubs and grassroots sports tournaments of many sports that previously only attracted professionals: golf, running, cycling, mountain climbing, sup-kayak, swimming, yoga... Among them, running attracts a large number of participants. This is a sport that receives great attention because of its large scale of development and potential for exploitation. In terms of grassroots running alone, Vietnam currently has about 40 marathons taking place at famous tourist destinations. According to statistics from the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, for every person participating in a grassroots tournament, they often bring two others to cheer and travel together at the sports event location. Currently, travel companies can access and provide tourism services for grassroots athletes and followers mainly in golf and running. The remaining ones have not been exploited despite the potential, such as kayak, cycling, and swimming races, due to the small number of races and little pre-race media information, and unprofessional organization. Most of the tournament organizers are media and event businesses, including foreign companies, but they only sell tickets for the race (marathon), while ticket services, accommodation, transportation, and other tourism services are all booked by participants themselves. The organization of sports tourism is very specific because this is not simply a tour that only takes care of logistics such as food, accommodation, and rest, but requires in-depth expertise in event organization and organized sports. In addition, the distribution of event tickets, logistics, and accompanying tours must also be scientific and based on technology to operate smoothly. Sports tourism is a trend and will be one of the key products of Vietnam Tourism in the coming time. However, to develop, it requires the coordination of management agencies, localities, service establishments and related parties. More than anyone else, tourism companies need to proactively build specific sports tourism products for each customer segment and destination, proactively join hands with sports event businesses and localities to gain an important market share of Vietnam's tourism products after COVID-19.

Article, photos, clips: XL/Tin Tuc Newspaper