Convention bureaux - usually focused on winning conference
business for their cities - are increasingly trying to steal a competitive advantage
in the field of sport.
Barcelona-based Catalonia Convention Bureau has even
established a separate department, called Catalunya Meetings & Sports, to promote
the region to sporting bodies.
Its primary function will be to attract international
meetings, conventions, congresses, and fairs related to the sports industry, by
drawing on the region’s strengths in the area.
Catalonia has the highest concentration of sports-related
businesses in Europe, boasting 1,400 companies that generate over €6.5bn and
employ 32,000 people.
The first World Congress on Sports Tourism, organised by
UNWTO – the United National World Tourism Organisation - was held in Lloret de
Mar, a town on the Costa Brava, in 2021.
Barcelona ranks fifth in Europe in terms of the number of
sports industry startups. This year sports related events in the city include the
World Congress of the International Association of Sports Press later (April), the
European Sports Business Congress (October), the Annual Meeting of the
International Association of Sports Travel Agencies-ISTAA (November).
Catalan government secretary for Business and
Competitiveness, Albert Castellanos, emphasised the ‘symbiosis between meetings
tourism and sport’, underpinning the move to create a sports division at the bureau, that would ‘strengthen the two key sectors’.
Elsewhere Ottawa Tourism said
it was ‘aligning its focus on major association congresses with leading
sporting events’ – the aim being to capture sports-related meetings and event
business on the back of hosting international rugby or golf tournaments, for example.
Its convention bureau is
used to attracting conferences in sectors like tech, life sciences and medical
science, and is now transferring those skills into the sports arena. Staff are
attending a series of sporting events this year, including SportAccord, the
meeting of the Global Association of International Sports Federations, being
held in Birmingham, UK, right now.
Lesley Pincombe, VP,
Meetings & Major Events, Ottawa Tourism, said there was ‘greater synergy’ between
the organisation of conferences and sporting events than people realised.
“In general, they both have
long lead times, city-wide impact, long-term legacy and a high-profile, making
them the ideal combination when it comes to strategic targeting as a DMO.
We have seen this partnership approach already bear fruit, particularly as so
many of the major sporting events have associated conferences or supplier and
stakeholder events of note. Now, is the perfect time for us to expand on
a strategy that is already working for us, and we look forward to seeing its
success.”
Meanwhile Birmingham, itself,
is an example of how a city that hosts a major sporting event can boost its sports-related
conference business. The city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and seized on
the opportunity to win sports-related meetings - including SportAccord - which
is being held in the UK for the first time in over a decade.
Andy Street, Mayor of the
West Midlands, said if the region wanted to keep hosting the world’s biggest
sporting events, ‘then showcasing our region to sport’s global decision makers
is mission critical’. SportAccord President Uğur Erdener described Birmingham
and the West Midlands as a region with a ‘rich sporting history’ that was ‘keen
to build on the legacy of hosting the successful 2022 Commonwealth Games’.
- Teams
Europe, taking place 18-20 June, at EXCEL London, promises insightful education from industry
influencers, networking opportunities and pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings
between vetted, hosted sports-events’ organisers and their potential business
partners. The event is co-located with The Meetings Show and Business Travel Show Europe,
all three part of the Northstar
Travel Group stable.
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
