NEW Sport Tourism Planning Template

STC SPORT TOURISM PLANNING TEMPLATE

1


2

Sport Tourism Planning Template

Acknowledgements

Sport Tourism Canada (STC) gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following agencies and individuals in the creation of this template:

• Funding for the project wasprovided in part by theGovernment of Ontario.

• The authors of the Sport TourismPlanning Template (2004)including Bob Yates.

• The collaborators in the revisionof the Sport Tourism PlanningTemplate, Grant MacDonald ofGM Event Inc.([email protected]) andBlair McIntosh of SpecialOlympics Canada([email protected])

• The template is part of the STC’sTransfer of Knowledge programunder the leadership of EricSavard, Program Director and RickTraer, Chief Executive Officer.

www.sporttourismcanada.com

© Copyright 2017 Sport Tourism Canada All rights reserved.


3

Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 2

Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 4

How to Use the Sport Tourism Planning Template ......................................................................... 4

Stage 1 – Expanding Knowledge of Sport Tourism ........................................................................... 5 What is Sport Tourism? .................................................................................................................................. 5 The Dimensions of a Sport Tourism Event ................................................................................................... 6 The Event Marketplace .................................................................................................................................. 6 Competitive Single Sport and Multi-Sport Events ....................................................................................... 6 Invitational Events ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Created Events ................................................................................................................................................. 7 Non-competitive Events .................................................................................................................................. 7 Professional Sport Teams .............................................................................................................................. 8 Revenues and Expenditures of events .......................................................................................................... 8 Benefits ............................................................................................................................................................ 9 Costs ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Who’s Involved ................................................................................................................................................ 9

Stage 2 – Assessing Community Capacity ........................................................................................ 11 Community Strengths .................................................................................................................................... 11 Event Resume .................................................................................................................................................. 11 Sport Strengths .............................................................................................................................................. 12 Facility Strengths ........................................................................................................................................... 12 Tourism Strengths ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Community Strengths and Weaknesses ..................................................................................................... 13 Sport Event Resume ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Sport Strengths .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Facilities Inventory ......................................................................................................................................... 17 How would you assess your facility’s current occupancy profile? ........................................................... 18 Accommodations Profile .............................................................................................................................. 19

Stage 3 – Building a Vision and Setting Objectives ........................................................................ 20 Building toward the City Vision ................................................................................................................... 20 Assisting Other Organizations to Achieve Their Visions ........................................................................... 21 Vision Survey ................................................................................................................................................. 23

Stage 4 – Developing a Strategic Approach .................................................................................... 25 Identifying Sport Tourism Strategies .......................................................................................................... 25 Event Assessment and Selection ................................................................................................................. 26 Making the Most of Existing Events ............................................................................................................ 28 Functions and Organizational Development ............................................................................................ 29 Support Resources For Managing Sport Tourism ..................................................................................... 30 Sport Tourism Opportunities ....................................................................................................................... 31 Bringing it All Together ................................................................................................................................ 32

Stage 5 – Evaluation and Accountability ......................................................................................... 33


4

Introduction

The Sport Tourism Planning Template can serve host communities in two key ways. First, it can build understanding of the opportunity that sport tourism represents as an emerging market segment. Secondly, communities seeking to establish or update a plan can benefit from using this process as a guide in the development of future actions.

Like all plans, those for sport tourism are based on research specific to the market or community in question. The Sport Tourism Planning Template provides examples of the types of information that can be assessed to inform the short and long-term plans for sport tourism.

A consistent approach to developing sport tourism, rooted in sound research and focused on clear outcomes, can help to enhance the economic, social/cultural and sustainability impacts realized from each sport event and the overall sport tourism program for a host community.

This tool is broken down in five stages or modules:

1. Expanding Knowledge of Sport Tourism2. Assessing Community Capacity3. Building a Vision and Setting Objectives4. Developing a Strategic Approach5. Evaluation and Accountability

How to Use the Sport Tourism Planning Template

Sport Tourism Canada (STC) has created a suite of tools for its members to use to enhance their efforts in sport tourism. The Sport Tourism Planning Template was the first member tool developed by STC and still serves as the foundation for all destinations entering the sport tourism market and those who are renewing their sport tourism strategy.

Before developing a sport tourism strategy, host cities or destinations should conduct some basic research to determine their needs based on their unique circumstances. The Sport Tourism Planning Template can be used as the primary tool for the development of a sport tourism strategy, or it can be used as a guide to identify the project scope.

It is important to note that for host cities and destinations to become more strategic, the Sport Tourism Planning Template can be used in combination with other STC Industry Tools including:

• Bid Evaluation Model• Business Plan Template• Capital Scope of Work Template• Event Contract Template• Request for Proposals Template for Sport Events• Sport Event Bid Template• Sport Event Marketing Template• Sport Tourism Assessment Model• STEAM• STEAM Pro

It is recommended that the development or renewal of a sport tourism strategy or plan be done in a collaborative way, to include as many groups and agencies as possible to engage, educate and get collective buy in for sport tourism and the benefits it can bring to your city or destination.


5

Stage 1 – Expanding Knowledge of Sport Tourism

This section of the planning template is designed to increase the understanding of sport tourism and its value to communities in hosting sporting events from the local to international level.

This section will explore and provide information on the following: What is Sport Tourism?

• The various size and scope of events• The revenues and expenditures associated with hosting sporting events• The social cost and benefits associated with hosting sporting events• The key stakeholders and partners involved in a successful model

At the completion of this stage your organization will have a better understanding of how hosting sporting events benefits your community and its stakeholders to achieve their goals and objectives within a Sport Tourism Plan.

What is Sport Tourism?

Sport is a major component of the tourism industry. It is a major reason why people travel. Whether it’s the world’s high performance athletes travelling to the Olympics or their sport specific World Championships or a family travelling with their child to a weekend tournament. Two similar factors apply. First, they are considered tourists when they travel and stay overnight; and second, sport is the reason they are travelling.

The scale and impact of Sport Tourism is significant. There are an estimated 200,000 sporting events that occur annually in Canada and it is estimated that the value of sport travel is at $6.8 billion annually (Statistics Canada 2018). The following table is a sample of some of the significant economic impact studies that have taken place through STC.

Economic Impact Assessments Generated by STEAM PRO

Event Name City Prov Initial Expenditure GDP Economic

Activity Jobs Taxes # of Volunteers

2014/2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada Van/ Edm/ Win/ Ott/ Mtl/ Mon/ Tor

Var. $216,400,000 $249,100,000 $493,600,000 3,150 $97,600,000 2,500

2015 Volleyball Canada Championships Calgary AB $17,699,000 $21,041,000 $36,793,000 189 $5,729,000 200

2015 Ottawa Race Weekend Ottawa ON $15,086,000 $15,830,000 $34,378,000 253 $7,652,000 2,500

2015 Ontario Volleyball Championships Kitchener / Waterloo ON $4,496,000 $4,697,000 $10,124,000 75 $2,236,000 245

2015 Red Bull Crashed Ice Edmonton AB $8,514,000 $10,396,000 $20,563,000 115 $3,199,000 n/a

2015 Canada Winter Games Prince George BC $55,098,000 $62,925,000 $123,428,000 693 $24,803,000 4,500

2015 IIHF World Junior Championships Toronto / Montréal ON /QC $44,503,000 $49,498,000 $82,822,000 409 $13,819,000 2,600

2014 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Edmonton AB $11,580,000 $13,885,000 $26,346,000 145 $4,169,000 300

2014 FINA Synchro Swim World Cup Québec QC $1,643,000 $1,831,000 $3,870,000 27 $717,000 300

2014 Halifax Int’l Buskers Festival Halifax NS $2,946,000 $3,179,000 $6,581,000 54 $1,368,000 200

2014 Ottawa Race Weekend Ottawa ON $14,407,000 $14,760,000 $32,331,000 237 $6,995,000 2,500

2014 CheerExpo National Championships Halifax NS $1,511,000 $1,494,000 $3,117,000 24.1 $641,000 50

2014 FINA Dive World Series Windsor ON $611,000 $678,000 $1,400,000 8.8 $261,000 50

2014 Shaw Charity Classic Calgary AB $7,997,000 $9,113,000 $15,138,000 66 $2,086,000 1,400

2014 Toronto Triathlon Festival (TTF & Pan Am Cup)

Toronto ON $939,000 $1,030,000 $2,080,000 12.9 $397,000 200

2014 National Figure Skating Championships Ottawa ON $3,756,000 $4,090,000 $8,807,000 59 $1,770,000 150


6

The Dimensions of a Sport Tourism Event The size and scope of sport events and their impact varies with a number of factors. These include:

• Number of participants - Including athletes, coaches and officials.

• Number of spectators - Some sport events such as the Brier or Scotties have few participants but many spectators and out of town followers.

• Length of event - Many events are just one day in length; others run for a week or more. Some, such as the World Cups of soccer and rugby, can extend for 4 to 6 weeks.

• Frequency of event - Events that occur every year are also very important to a community and have many advantages including the fact that they are set and do not require a bid process. These events can prove to have a significant economic and social impact on a community.

• Caliber and status of the event - At the top of the scale are events such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games or major world championships. They combine most of the above elements of large numbers of spectators and participants, frequency and event length. But in addition, they bring the dimension of television and media coverage, which provides the event with added visibility, added revenues from the host broadcaster, and added corporate revenues from event and TV advertising. These are what are referred to in the literature as ‘hallmark’ events, and it is the competition for these events which is becoming particularly intense in the international event marketplace.

• Event legacies – the potential of the event to leverage investments that will have lasting impact is referred to as a legacy. Whether it is facilities that are built or upgrades for the event which will provide future hosting opportunities training of future volunteer community leaders or surplus funds used for scholarships for aspiring athletes, they all provide long term community value. The economic impact of sport events is clearly significant, and a large proportion of it accrues to the tourism industry as payment for travel, meals and accommodations. The key to success in the development of a sport tourism strategy is fostering collaboration between the tourism and sport stakeholders so that both sectors can benefit from increasing the value of events. It is critical that both sectors work closely together with similar marketing

The Event Marketplace The number and variety of events available for hosting continues to grow. The question becomes, how does a community choose what event to pursue. It is imperative that in determining which events are most appropriate that you take into account your capacity, what has the best return on investment and economic impact and generate awareness of your sport hosting abilities. Competitive Single Sport and Multi-Sport Events A sport tourism strategy can include any number of types of events. A sample of the types of events and descriptions is listed below.


7

Level 1 – Major International Events (Multi or Single Sport) Level 2 – Small International Events Level 3 – National and Provincial Events Level 4 – Intra-Provincial and Open Events

Level 5 – Local Events

Invitational Events There are many invitational events hosted by community organizations. They range from slo-pitch tournaments to curling bonspiels. They tend to be local in their orientation, although at slightly higher competitive levels in some sports, the “tournament” is the way that athletes are introduced to higher levels of play. Invitational events can therefore be of enormous scale: some youth soccer tournaments can have thousands of participants. As with local championship events, techniques to maximize the “tourism” component need to be developed. Created Events Created events are generally invitational events that are custom designed to serve a specific purpose. An example might be a combination of low hotel occupancy and low arena usage at the end of the hockey season leading to a hockey tournament being created. A good example of a created event that has become a huge success are “Pond Hockey” events in rural areas that bring together large numbers of participants at a fairly low cost and generate great awareness in a community with a large return on investment. There is always potential for creating events to fill specific niches, but the logistics rely on finding volunteers to organize the events which can be a problem outside of the normal sport organizational structures. Non-competitive Events There are a wide range of non-competitive events that can fit into a sport tourism strategy:

• Sport conferences and meetings – all sport governing bodies have annual general meetings and many host conferences at a provincial, national and sometimes international level. Some of these meetings and conferences are open for bid and hosting these events are a great opportunity for showcasing your community and its capacity to host.


8

Professional Sport Teams Professional sport team tend to serve a local market for spectator entertainment. They bring visiting teams and loyal fans and family to town who contribute to the economic impact of the community in the process. Many professional teams look at training camps outside of their hometown and also satellite exhibition games for a major event to help generate interest in their home teams and demonstrate community support which contributes to their hosting resume and experience. Revenues and Expenditures of events Events regardless of size and scope have both revenues and expenditures and it’s critical to have a good understanding of what is included in each. Below is a breakdown of the critical area of revenues and expenditures to be considered. Revenues Participant expenditures Some participants will travel to the city, stay in hotels and other accommodations such as Universities, eat, take in attractions and spend on other various goods and services within the community. Depending on the location participants can spend substantial amounts of money during their stay. Spectator and other visitor expenditures Whether local people come to the event for one day or team supporters travel across the globe to see their team compete, they all spend money as a result of being in the community for a specific sporting event. Direct Event Revenues Depending on the size and scope of the event revenues from admission fees, television rights, corporate sponsorship, concession royalties and licensing rights can all contribute to the revenue generate for an event. Non-direct visitor expenditures For some people the sporting event is the main reason for travelling to the city but for others the event serves as something to do while they are in a location for other reasons. Local multipliers Money spent on the event circulates around the local economy. People who travel specifically for a sporting event may be in the location for the first time and enjoy it so much they end of extending their stay or returning in the future for other tourism experiences. Expenditures Bidding Costs Depending on the size, scope and marketability of an event, the bid costs can be minimal or in some cases substantial. Some of the larger, high profile events such as the Olympics, Paralympics and Commonwealth Games come at a great cost both financially and from a human resource standpoint, while others have no costs associated with rights holder fees and can be secured by the cost of putting together the bid. Capital construction costs Local venues for an event may need to be constructed or require major upgrades to being the venue to the specific standard for the event. While some of these costs can be substantial, they can have a lasting impact on the venue and the community hosting future events.


9

Event hosting – direct and indirect costs Direct costs are those that can be directly related to the event and associated with things such as staff, venue operation, transportation etc. Indirect costs would be for other services such as extra security which fall on the community and not the event organizers. There can also be costs incurred once the event is over such as returning a venue to its original condition or audits, etc. Social Costs and Benefits Event hosting also have many social costs and benefits associated with hosting. Benefits Showcasing your community as a premier sport event hosting destination can be a significant benefit of hosting an event. It helps to put your community on the map in terms of your ability to host and builds your resume for future hosting opportunities. Youth Development – Sport events can showcase your high profile and local athletes competing which can inspire other athletes within your community to participate in a particular sport. Diversity – Depending on the type of sporting event it can showcase the diversity and multiculturalism of your community and generate awareness for not only new sports but new cultures. Volunteer Development – Events are often run by volunteers and can range from a few to thousands depending on the size and scope of the event. Volunteer recruitment, training and recognition programs can leave a lasting legacy within your community for years to come and help build future leaders. The impact of having a volunteer database you can go to and profile in future bids provides great comfort to a rights holder. Costs Congestion – events often bring many visitors to a community or can result in road closures, etc. that impact the residents of a community. Dislocation – events often impact access to venues by regular community users or having them displaced to other venues. Competition for funds – many other community groups such as social services or cultural events feel that major sporting events draw on available funds/grants which impacts their ability to secure funding for their programs. Volunteers – as much as volunteers are a benefit depending on the size, scope and number of events hosted, there is a risk of volunteer burnout within a community. Who’s Involved Sport tourism brings together a partnership of two sectors. The various stakeholders within the sport and tourism sector and their mandates and interests in sport tourism must be aligned in order for a sport tourism program to be successful. The following groups are critical to a successful sport tourism program. Destination Marketing Organizations – These offer an arm’s length and business oriented approach to service delivery and often see sporting events as one of their priorities.


10

City Councils – Councils have responsibility for economic development, tourism and sport and recreation within a community. They are interested in the economic, social and community vitality of the city to which sport tourism can play a major role and contribute. They are very interested in events that generate not only and economic impact but showcase the community. City Parks and Recreation and Sport Departments – The main focus of these departments is on recreational programming and sport development for the community as opposed to tourism services. They often play a key role in special events planning as well as provide a linkage and access to facilities required to host sporting events. Sport Councils – Many cities have formed Sport Councils. Their mandate generally focusses on sport development but they also recognize that hosting sport events are a key element in the overall sport development process and they can be a key link to local sport groups and volunteers. Colleges and Universities – Post secondary institutions have athletic departments and facilities that are often used for sporting events. They recognize the key role played by sport in university and college life, both inter-collegiate and intramural sports. Sport events are about excellence and achievements. Hosting sporting events within a University or College setting is becoming common as it provides the benefit of one stop hosting in terms of accommodations, meals and facilities at a reasonable price. Media Business and Tourism – Tourism businesses focus on the sale of tourism products such as hotel accommodations. When sporting events happen, the athletes and spectators consume these products. The business community, especially the media has a broader interest in sport tourism. Certainly their products may be consumed but they are also interested in promoting the city as a place to do business. Their sponsorship and coverage of sporting events are often critical to the events success.


11

Stage 2 – Assessing Community Capacity This section of the planning template is designed to apply the learning from Stage 1 to your community context. Following this stage there will be a clear understanding of the strengths your community has as it relates to sport tourism whether they are facility strengths, sport strengths, tourism strengths or strengths that pertain to the community as a whole. Based on this community assessment, team members will have a clear understanding of where they are now in terms of capacity and can then move forward to Stage 3 to discuss setting objectives and building a vision. This section contains a number of valuable worksheets that will help in your assessment of your capacity including:

• Community Strengths and Weaknesses • Sport Event Hosting Resume • Sport Strengths • Sports with Potential • Facility Inventory • Accommodation Profile

Documenting Community Capacity for Sport Tourism Community Strengths It is important to identify where you are and what you have. A clear, realistic assessment of your community’s strengths, and weaknesses, is imperative. It is always difficult to admit and identify weaknesses but it is critical to be honest in this assessment in order to paint a clear picture of your capacity. What factors are important?

• City image – How are you perceived by others within the sport hosting industry? What reputation does the name of your community, your brand, create in people’s minds?

• Your geographic location – Does your climate, your location, or your accessibility offer

opportunities for sport event hosting?

• Your residents – What are the demographics that make up the population of your city (young, diverse etc.). Do you have a strong base of committed volunteers?

• Your support – do you have supportive media, businesses and politicians? Colleges and

universities? A culture of collaboration from all stakeholders?

• Your facilities – An inventory of all sporting facilities is key to understanding the capacity within your city to host sporting events.

• Your tourism infrastructure – Do you have a wide variety of accommodations and tourist

attractions that make your community unique? Event Resume Just as when you apply for a job, your event hosting resume is a key document and critically important when you apply to host events.


12

Documenting the events that have been hosted in your community over the past several years helps to understand the hosting capacity of your community. To do this, prepare an inventory that documents the events that have been hosted in your community. As part of this process, estimate the key parameters of the event: level of event; when it occurred; how many participants were involved; over how many days. Include key capacity information such as number of volunteers, budget, economic impact, etc. Analysis of this inventory will help you identify your capacity as a sport hosting destination. You will need to identify such important items as:

• What sports made up most of your hosting and is it what you expected? • What time of year did most of your hosting occur? • What events brought the majority of visitors for overnight stays? • Were they all onetime events or do they have the potential to occur annually?

Sport Strengths While there are literally hundreds of sports, we tend to think only 20 or so traditional sports are active in our communities. There are many others that are “below the radar”, but which are desirable from a sport tourism point of view. Documenting the strengths and potential of these sports is a two-stage process. First you need to review the list of all sports and identify those with a base or a local organization within the community. Secondly, identify the strengths and attributes of the sports you identified. Ask yourself the following questions to help determine the potential of sports to host:

• Do the sports have a local infrastructure or club/league? • Does the local club/league have a strong relationship with the provincial and/or national sport

organization? • Does the sport have a facility or facilities that meet the standards for hosting its event at a

provincial, national or international level? Facility Strengths Having the right facilities is obviously critical to the community’s ability to host events. It is always tempting to promote sport tourism as a means for advocating for new facilities. While this may be a longer-term strategy, start with the sports facilities that already exist. The first step is to build on the information about facilities gathered and prepare a facilities inventory. The Facilities Inventory should gather information about all facilities including:

• Ownership and contact information

• Sports that can be hosted and at what levels (provincial, national, international)

• Ancillary information such as lighting, seating, change rooms, showers, concessions

• Occupancy profile (to identify times when the facility is not fully used by local residents). Ensure that the inventory includes non-traditional sports and non-traditional venues such as outdoor recreation venues, theatres, etc.


13

From this inventory, the strengths and weaknesses of facilities in the community can be identified. It is also advisable to contact the main facility owners such as the city, school district, universities and colleges, to identify any new facilities or facility upgrading in the planning stages, so that sport tourism can be factored into this process. Tourism Strengths Sport tourists are drawn to your community by the sport event, but tourism or accommodations capacity is important as well. The distribution of this capacity throughout the year is also critical. Are all hotel rooms full during the summer months? If so, then shoulder or winter events may make more sense. If the winter is the capacity season, then summer events should be the priority. The tourism product inventory will offer opportunities to strengthen the tourism component of existing and targeted events. Sport events attract athletes, but tourism opportunities attract the spouse and family, and keep everyone staying in the area for a few extra days. This is where there is an opportunity to market the local golf courses, mountain bike trails, attractions, or spas, perhaps packaging them into the overall event registration or marketing of the event. This information needs to be gathered and then analyzed to determine the opportunities that it provides. Community Strengths and Weaknesses

How would you rate your city in terms of its strengths and weaknesses for sport tourism? What opportunities do these present?

City Image and Attractiveness Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Geographic Location Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Climate Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

External Internal Transportation Access Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Centrally Located Hotels/Facilities Strength

3

Weakness

1 2 4 5


14

Multicultural Population Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Political Support Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5 Local Media Support Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Corporate Support Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Competition Facilities Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Training Facilities Strength

Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

University/ College Facilities Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Attractions Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Facility Cost Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5

Accommodations and Hotel Costs Strength Weakness

1 2 3 4 5


15

Sport Event Resume

Identify all the sport events that your organization has hosted in the past 5 years. Identify any events that your organization plans to host in the next 5 years.

Event Name Level (I/N/R/ P/C)

Month and Year

Total # of Participants

% Overnight Stays

# of Days Budget Economic

Impact Vol #s

I - International N - National R - Regional P - Provincial C - Inter-Community


16

Sport Strengths Which sports have potential for sport event hosting in your community? Pool Sports – Diving, Swimming, Synchro, Water Polo Rink Sports – Curling, Figure Skating, Hockey, Speed Skating, Ringette From the previous list, let’s take a closer look at the sports with the most potential to become part of your local sport tourism strategy. Write them in the column on the left, list their attributes and use a check mark (√) in the appropriate columns on the right.

Sport (list four attributes)

Local Sport Infrastructure?

Facilities for Events? Prov. Nat. Int.

Linkages to PSO / NSOs?


17

Facilities Inventory List the major facilities that are potential sport event venues in your community:

___________________________________________________________________

Facility Name

Type

❑ Arena

Seating Capacity

❑ 0 – 1,000

___________________________________________________________________

Ownership

❑ Pool

❑ Fields

❑ Gym

❑ 1,001-3,000

❑ 3,001- 5,000

❑ 5,001-10,000

___________________________________________________________________

Contact

❑ Outdoors

❑ Stadium

❑ Special

❑ 10,000 +

❑ Stadium

❑ Special

___________________________________________________________________

Email

___________________________________________________________________

www

Standards - list sports for which facility meets international, national or provincial standards

International

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

National

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

Provincial

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________


18

How would you assess your facility’s current occupancy profile?

Please check (√) the appropriate box for each month.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

>50%


19

Accommodations Profile Facility name: ___________ Total Number of Rooms: ________________ If sport events are going to be integrated into the existing economic structure of the community, and accommodations operators (e.g. Hotel, motels, college/university residences) are going to benefit financially from additional sport events, the events must assist them to maximize their capacity. How would you assess your accommodation current occupancy? This chart will assist you in determining the most opportune time to bid for events in terms of participant and visitor capacity profile? Please check (√) the appropriate box for each month. Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

>50%

What about holidays etc.? Christmas Spring Break Easter Labour Day Thanksgiving Weekends Weekdays

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%


20

Stage 3 – Building a Vision and Setting Objectives In this section of the planning template, information is provided that will help your planning team discuss their own organization’s objectives and to work together to build a vision for sport tourism in the community. Ensuring that your organizations vision is aligned with the communities and facilities is critical. By the end of this stage, your organization will have a clear understanding of their own goals and objectives and those of stakeholders. The organization will have worked together to combine these into a joint set of objectives, and will have built a vision that they can communicate to others. This will set the stage for Stage 4, which will focus on the strategies that will move your community from where it is now to where it wants to go.

Building toward the City Vision Sport tourism can have tremendous benefits for any city and can help achieve its goals.

City Vision Element How Sport Tourism Can Contribute

Increasing growth and opportunities

Tourism is a major growth industry and sport tourism is the fastest growing market segment.

Sport events bring people to your city who spend money in its hotels, restaurants and shops

While many events are still sustained by volunteers, many larger events are professionally run, with opportunities for the growth of new businesses and employment.

A city that focuses on sport hosting as part of its’ overall objectives is also more attractive to events rights holders.

Building Community Legacies and Enriching Quality of Life

Sport events enrich the quality of life. The legacies they leave provide ongoing recreational opportunities and many benefits to the community.

Watching high performance sport events provides children and young people with role models and inspiration. Sport participation increases with exposure to high performance events.

Sport facilities are often built for major sport events; they provide lasting

legacy opportunities for residents in the years following these events. New sport programs for the community may also result from the hosting of a sport event including any new or upgraded facilities from hosting.

Sport events can also contribute to other city objectives such as downtown rejuvenation. For instance, a focus on sport events that use the city’s downtown core will bring more life, people and investment to the core.


21

Creating a Healthy, Safe & Green City

A focus on environmental sustainability is very consistent with the promotion of sport tourism. All major events need an environmental agenda. The development of sport facilities allows resources to be focused on environmental reclamation.

Spending Wisely and Invests Strategically

Where major sport events are planned with major facility legacies, the federal and provincial governments will also be partners. The concept of ‘legacy’ is fundamental to modern sport tourism planning.

A focus on sport events within the regular capital funding processes of a city will allow revenue streams to be leveraged from facilities which have traditionally been cost centres, rather than revenue centres.

Assisting Other Organizations to Achieve Their Visions Many other key stakeholders are critical to a successful sport tourism program, for example:

Local Universities and Colleges

Athletics in its broadest sense plays a key part in student’s lives. Sport events offer opportunities to volunteer. High performance athletes are often high performing students. Sport events can bring facility upgrading, which benefits all students. Sport events can be staged at times when accommodation is not used by students, thus providing a revenue stream for these university facilities.

Tourism Organizations

Sport tourism is particularly suitable because it is highly measurable, making return on investment easy to calculate and to understand. It is suitable for communities that may not have a wide range of tourism attractions: sport tourists come, in many cases, regardless of where an event is, and what the time of year, climate/weather, or other variables. Sport tourism also lends itself to a different marketing approach: for most events, winning the bid ensures that people will come.


22

Sport Organizations including Sport Councils

Sport Organizations, including Sport Councils, focus on many aspects of sport development. Their goal is to inspire more people, especially young people, to develop their sport skills. Providing more opportunities for them to perform and spectate will bring more inspiration and eventually better personal performance levels.

Other organizations

Sport tourism is a partnering process. There are many other organizations and businesses that are likely to be interested being involved in sport hosting. Airport authorities – for whom national and international sport events mean more visitors arriving by air. Parks and conservation agencies – for whom outdoor recreation-based events such as cycling, kayaking, or orienteering brings people and revenue potentials. …and many more.

Business community

Businesses may be likely interested in sponsorship opportunities or the business potential of some or all sport events.


23

Vision Survey A Vision identifies key issues that need to be addressed over the next five or ten years. How important would you say each of the noted issues is to the development of sport tourism in your community?

I consider the following key issues to be.... Very Important Not important

(Please circle)

Volunteer training and development 1 2 3 4 5

Increased event management skills & processes 1 2 3 4 5

More corporate sponsorship 1 2 3 4 5

Better understanding of the industry knowledge 1 2 3 4 5

Increasing collaboration with other communities 1 2 3 4 5

Political support 1 2 3 4 5

Stronger community support 1 2 3 4 5

Stakeholder relations 1 2 3 4 5

Increasing public awareness 1 2 3 4 5

Hosting capacity 1 2 3 4 5

Stronger provincial support 1 2 3 4 5

Other: 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5


24

Vision Survey

I consider the following key issues to be.... Very Important Not important

(Please circle)

Contribute to a greater sense of ‘community’ 1 2 3 4 5

Cultivate a greater sense of local, regional and provincial character 1 2 3 4 5

Help revitalize community sport 1 2 3 4 5

Make it possible for our athletes to reach their potential

1 2 3 4 5

Build stronger local economies and create new jobs

1 2 3 4 5

Help make our community a fitter, healthier place 1 2 3 4 5

Challenge and assist other non-profit sectors 1 2 3 4 5

Contribute to urban regeneration and justify new facilities 1 2 3 4 5

Build a better quality of life 1 2 3 4 5

Other: 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5


25

Stage 4 – Developing a Strategic Approach This section of the planning template presents information designed to identify the strategies necessary to move forward in developing a sport tourism strategy. It includes critical information such as identifying sport opportunities, event assessment, making the most of existing events, support resources and bringing it all together to develop your action plan. By the end of this stage, your organization will have established a set of strategies and actions that will identify functions that need to be performed and the organizational structures to deliver on those functions. Your organization will also have identified other parallel strategies and actions that will help implement the overall plan. Identifying Sport Tourism Strategies These strategies could include the following:

• Event selection and bidding – while the next section of this stage involves looking in greater detail at events, some broad parameters can be set about what kind of events represent the best fit for your community:

o Scale of events – can your community host national or international events or should your

strategy focus on smaller, perhaps provincial and regional events? o Demographic groups – is there interest in hosting masters or senior’s events, or is the

sport community primarily focused on youth development? How about women’s sport? o Aboriginal and Multicultural sport events – are any of the aboriginal or multicultural groups

in your community interested in expanding their sport event hosting? o Other market segments – are there any other groups in the community that have a strong

presence and would be interested in sport events? Extreme sports etc.

• Event marketing – more events bring more tourism, but stronger marketing will have a similar effect. For example, is there potential to market existing tournaments to new markets. Is there potential to connect sports and cultural/arts groups to make more of a festival of a new or annual event? Cross marketing between sports also offers potential, such as marketing local golf courses and other community and unique attractions to sports participants and their families attending an existing event.

• Overall system improvement – working smarter and doing things better. Tapping into other organizations, such as local volunteer bureaus…. identifying local champions…. upgrading facilities…. again, many opportunities.


26

Event Assessment and Selection There are over 100 sport governing bodies recognized by Sport Canada, and over 100 more sports which have international federations. Each Province/Territory also has a number of Provincial Sport Organizations ranging from 10 to 100. Each of these sports has a number of championships, and these are normally segmented to ensure equality of competition:

• By age – youth age groups, seniors, masters, etc.

• By gender – men’s, women’s, mixed

• By ability – Recreation vs competitive

• By equipment type – sailing has championships for different types of boat; there are at least 19 sub-disciplines of equestrian events

• By geography – international, national championships, provincials, etc.

Clearly there are many competitive events within a sport. In addition, other types of events offer potential for sport tourism:

• Multi-sport events – Commonwealth Games, Canada Games, Provincial Games

• Events for persons with a disability – Para Sport, Special Olympics – both multi-sport events and single sport events,

• Unique and extreme sports and events such as Police/Fire Games, Out Games, Ultimate etc.

• Meetings and conferences – AGM’s of sport governing bodies, meetings of international coaches and referees, conferences for sport administrators such as STC Congress and Petro Canada Sport Leadership Conference

• Coaching and officiating clinics and courses – where these people are trained.

The number of events is startling. The question becomes how does a community choose a set of events that it should host? There are three steps to this process to consider.

• Align with the city’s objectives (completed as part of the previous stage). • Identify key sport that have facilities and are strengths within the community appropriate for

hosting • Identify in conjunction with each local sport organization a set of potential events within their sport • Establish a process for assessing how each event best suits the city’s sport tourism objectives.

It must allow an event to be evaluated on a consistent basis against all other events, based on an agreed set of objectives, and with an agreed set of rating scales for each objective. It must include an assessment of the economic value of an event. The Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model (STEAM 2.0) has been developed by the STC for this purpose.


27

In broad terms, there are therefore four main criteria for consideration:

• Economic Costs, including: - Operating costs - Capital costs - Percent from outside community

• Economic impact projection.

• Social Impacts, including:

- Sport development value - Youth development value

• Community Impacts, including

- Building event capacity - Facility upgrading - Impact on Downtown - TV coverage - Other showcasing of city

In reality, this process will also help the stakeholders involved in sport tourism to understand which events represent the best strategic fit for the community. It will also help event organizers to understand how their events can be tailored to provide more economic benefits to the community.


28

Making the Most of Existing Events Sport events are occurring every weekend in every community across the country. For most events, there is little linkage with the tourism industry. Creating better linkages will create win-win situations:

• Sport organizers will be able to share some of the event management tasks with the tourism industry.

• Tourism professionals will gain a new set of clients.

• The city will benefit, since each event will generate more local economic and community value. What are some of the ways in which this can be achieved?

• Establish a linkage with a company that specializes in event support, and review their services.

• Invite more out-of-town teams to your tournament. Split one event into two and double the out-of-town participants.

• Calculate the economic impact of your tournament. From that, identify the profit centers of your event and partner with firms that service those profit centers.

• Work with local restaurants to provide and honor coupons, with a percentage of the value flowing back to the event.

• Negotiate a commission on all hotel rooms booked by tournament participants.

• Package your event: provide a one-stop service to participants. Sell these packages with and through a local travel agent who can also book flights, rental cars, etc.

• Make it an annual event.

• Add a spousal and/or family package of events to attract increase party size. Add post-event packages to keep participants in the community longer.

• Add a festival or other event/activity. Above all, ensure that the participants have the very best time: the experience needs to be exceptional.

These are just suggestions. Others can be generated by event organizers talking and working together. The skills learned from one event are transferable to the next. Maximize efficiencies through economies of scale. It will take thinking and working “outside the box” to achieve these synergies.


29

Functions and Organizational Development Sport tourism must be a partnership to be effective. But partnerships, perhaps even more so than regular organizations, need careful and complete structuring if they are to be sustainable. The structure selected must reflect the organizations, their strengths and challenges, and the overall operating environment in the community. In most communities, there are five key functions that need to be performed:

Advocacy

Sport tourism is new to many communities and it will need to be marketed and promoted to policy makers if it is to become firmly established.

Communication

The web of stakeholders that comprise the sport tourism community must function as a unit. Actions taken need to be communicated. Communication tools such as websites and newsletters must be maintained. Market intelligence data and resources need to be gathered.

Assessing, bidding on and soliciting new events

Key activities here include assessing and identifying events to bid on, preparing the bid materials and coordinating the bid process, and handing the event over to the event organizers once a bid is won.

Growing existing events and managing event services Financial and political support

Capacity building of present events is a key aspect of growing sport tourism. New events also need these services, which could include:

• Event Planning and Administration • Event Operations • Event Marketing and Partner Relations • Event Community Relations

These activities need to be undertaken by each event organizing committee, and they could be undertaken in conjunction with a private sector event management company.

Building skills and best practices

Putting on a great event implies more than just winning bids and organizing a venue. It implies skill development, top quality volunteer training, identifying best practices in sport tourism. If this is not done, then events, athletes and spectators are simply not going to return to your community.


30

Support Resources for Managing Sport Tourism Cities need to develop a set of tools to assist with the processes of event assessment, selection and bidding. These might include:

Sport Council/ Local Organizing Committee/Sport Tourism Office

Many communities have found that organizing for sport tourism is more successful if there is one organization to represent individual sport organizations.

Sport Facility Inventory Promoting your city’s ability to host sport events to out of town organizations such as provincial, national and international sport organizations is easier if the facilities inventory is easily accessible. Putting it on the website makes it very accessible.

Event Calendar Most cities keep a calendar of events. This can be expanded and set up as a page on a community website. It is essential that everyone can see what events are happening when, so that they can fit them into their long-term plans.

Bid Resources The various materials needed in order to present a bid can be prepared in a generic form and customized as necessary. This should include a bid book and related audio-visual materials.

Communication Materials Sport tourism will need a central website and communication materials such as monthly partner newsletters.

Public Education Materials Materials for more public distribution, such as identifying the community value of sport tourism and the annual value of events.

Generic Hosting Manual Assistance for event organizers in the form of a generic hosting manual that provides information on all aspects of hosting a great event.

Bid Fee’s Some events require an up-front bidding fee, which can be difficult for a non-profit sport organization to deposit. Some communities have established a fund, often a revolving fund with repayment from event profits, to assist with these fees and other up-front costs.

Developing resources such as these will take time, but should be included in the vision and their development planned for the first few years of sport tourism in the community.


31

Sport Tourism Opportunities Where do you see opportunities for more sport hosting in your community?

Event Selection and Bidding Good Potential > > > > Not for us Comments

Looking outside the major sports 1 2 3

Focusing on indoor events with minimal facility requirements 1 2 3

Focusing on women’s sports 1 2 3

Focusing on sports which use the arenas in the off season 1 2 3

Focusing on participation events 1 2 3

Looking for multi-sport events 1 2 3

Sport festivals - linking two or more sport events 1 2 3

Developing national and provincial training centers 1 2 3

Masters events 1 2 3

Events for multicultural groups 1 2 3

Military sports 1 2 3

Aboriginal sports 1 2 3

Extreme sports 1 2 3

Created events 1 2 3


32

Bringing it All Together While not essential, it is recommended to document any decisions about the development of sport tourism, and to bring together in one document the results of the investigations and data that led to these decisions. This document would become your Sport Tourism Action Plan. If the format of this planning template is followed, it might contain the following sections or table of contents: 1. Expanding Knowledge of Sport Tourism

1.1. Introduction 2. Assessing Community Capacity

2.1. Community Strengths 2.2. Event Resume 2.3. Sport Strengths 2.4. Facility Strengths 2.5. Tourism Strengths

3. Setting Objectives and Building a Vision

3.1. Building toward a Vision 3.2. Assisting Other Organizations to Achieve Their Visions

4. Building a Strategic Approach

4.1. Sport Tourism Strategies 4.2. Event Assessment and Selection 4.3. Making the Most of Existing Events 4.4. Functions and Organizational Development 4.5. Support Resources for Managing Sport Tourism

Action Planning Following a review of all the materials and discussions, note the action items. Describe what precisely needs to be done, how important it is in relation to other actions (high, medium or low priority), who is going to do it, and by when.

Action - What we are going to do? Priority (high, med, low) Who is going to do it? By when?


33

Stage 5 – Evaluation and Accountability To ensure credibility with all levels of government, the public and corporate partners at the community and national levels, a consistent and approved evaluation process is required by host cities. The evaluation process begins during the pre-bid phase when it is critical to provide the type and depth of information to allow evidence-based decisions for bid evaluation and funding. To assist with this pre-bid evaluation, host cities can use STC’s STEAM Model to provide economic impact forecasts for potential events and the STC Bid Evaluation Model to assess each potential bid before undertaking the time and expense of developing a bid. When evaluating the performance of each event and sport tourism in general, a clear set of impact areas are required to ensure consistency and credibility for these events and the sport tourism program. These measures will reflect the needs of municipal and provincial governments, the host destination and community partners and can be in the areas of economic, social and sustainability impacts. A sample of impacts may include: Economic

• Economic Impact • Media and Brand Value • Hotel Room Nights • Average Length of Stay • Visitor Revenue • Businesses Supported • Job Impacts

Social

• Pride of Place • Quality of Life • Volunteers • Cultural Impacts

Sustainability (Reference: STC Sustainable Sport Event Template)

• Environmental • Social • Economic

Following the event, it is important for the credibility of each sport event and sport tourism in your community, to conduct a post event evaluation that is consistent and uses industry-proven methodology. This will ensure that accountability meets the highest standards and build public trust and support for future events. In addition to STC’s STEAM Pro model, which can provide quality data of the true impacts of a sport event as it captures data from attendee surveys. In conclusion, it is important to develop an evaluation process that is based on industry best practices and help to establish and foster credibility for sport tourism.

Documents

NEW Sport Tourism Planning Template