Bhubaneswar: Sports tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors in tourism. More and more tourists are interested in sports activities during their trips whether sports are the main objective of travel or not. Tourism and sports are interrelated and complementary for sure, and we have seen this happen in Odisha since 2017 when the State hosted Asian Athletics Championships.
Sports – as a professional or leisure activity – involves a considerable amount of traveling to play and compete in different destinations and countries. Major sporting events, such as the Hockey World Cup, Football tournaments and others have become powerful tourist attractions in themselves – making a very positive contribution to the tourism image of the host destination and its economy.
The interest in sports tourism is due to the ability of sport to unite the people and create a language of communication and interest shared by individuals of different nationalities, which is the core of the message ‘Odisha – India’s Best Kept Secret’, said hotel industry veteran Souvagya Mohapatra.
“Things are going a good way for Odisha and if this continues our tourism sector can benefit immensely from international sporting events. We might need some good overseas branding and promotions, roadshows to showcase Odisha’s tourism potential, prior to these tournaments,” said Mohapatra, who heads Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts in the sub-continent.
Odisha is going to pioneer the sports tourism segment in India. No other State is better placed than Odisha to drive sports tourism. Tourist destinations are very accessible here and Odisha has proven its steel in organising massive sports events successfully. It is a perfect combination to drive sports tourism.
“We would need to develop the tourism and sports infrastructure of a few cities in the south, say Berhampur, one in the west – Sambalpur or Rourkela and one in north, Balasore. This would give us leverage for bidding for even bigger events,” he said adding, “Why not be the home ground for teams during IPL. That would keep our industry – the tourism value chain engaged for a month.”
Major sporting events and competitions attract wide participation. They have the ability to promote the tourist and cultural attractions of the State, and enhance its international standing by attracting fans and athletes from around the world. It may be pertinent to mention that Odisha Government’s resolve to develop sports infrastructure opened the prospects for tourism and travel.
Speaking to Ommcom News about this segment’s prospects in Odisha, veteran hotelier and Director, The CROWN, Bhubaneswar, Debasish Patnaik said that the State have created a big visibility for Odisha by hosting world-class events in the recent past and sponsoring Indian Hockey teams.
“Let us not limit our sports infrastructure to hockey only. Slowly we should have facilities for more and more sports to be able to bid for bigger events.”
According to Patnaik, today, Odisha is well-placed to host big events, with many star properties in the city. The number of hotels has gone up, we have ITC, Vivanta, and other brands coming into Bhubaneswar. By early, 2025, we would have at least 1,500-star rooms in the city, he said.
“We need to market our products like the ‘Eco-Retreat’ for boosting sports tourism.” A major point that Patnaik highlighted was sustainable air connectivity to the Middle East and South East Asia for enhancing Odisha’s tourism potential many folds.
To sum up, Sports and Tourism are two driving forces for the promotion and sustainable economic development of tourism destinations. Mega sports events can surely act as a catalyst for tourism development if successfully leveraged in terms of destination branding, infrastructure development and other economic and social benefits.
