Sports tourism is big business. Sports tourism obviously involves sporting activity, but there is much more to this multi-billion-dollar global industry than simply watching or playing a game. In this article, I explain what sports tourism is, outline the different types of sports tourism with examples, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of sports tourism.
What is sports tourism?
Sports tourism is the act of travelling from one locality to another, with the intention of being in some way involved with a sporting activity or event.
Many people believe that sports tourism relates only to watching a sporting event. However, this is not correct. The sports industry is much more than this.
Sports tourism encompasses travelling to take part in sport yourself, such as a yoga teacher training course, a badminton competition or to learn to surf. Sports tourism includes attending sporting events such as a Formula One race or a Premier League football match. Sports tourism includes nostalgic visits to places of historical importance, such as the Olympic stadium in Barcelona or to see memorabilia related to your favourite sporting hero, such as the museum at the Maracana football stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
There are, in fact, four main types of sport tourism. These types are known as:
- Sport Event Tourism
- Active Sport Tourism
- Nostalgia Sport Tourism
- Passive sports tourism
Sports tourism has grown rapidly in recent decades. Low-cost air travel, global media coverage and social media have made it easier than ever for fans to follow their favourite teams and athletes around the world, and for people to travel to take part in events such as marathons, triathlons and ski trips.
Video: The importance of sports tourism
Sports tourism definitions
Although people have travelled for sport for thousands of years (think of the ancient Olympic Games), sports tourism is a relatively new area of academic study.
There are many academic studies which delve into the concept of sports tourism, particularly sports tourism that involves large sporting events, such as the football World Cup or the Olympic Games. Some scholars and sports tourism stakeholders have attempted to define the term sports tourism.
According to Neirotti (2003), sports tourism can be broadly described as:
‘Including travel away from one’s primary residence to participate in sports activity, for recreation or competition purposes, travel to observe sport at grassroots or elite level, and travel to visit a sports attraction such as a sports museum, for instance’.
Weed and Bull (2004) provide a conceptualisation of the sports tourism phenomenon as:
‘A social, economic and cultural phenomenon arising from the unique interaction of activity, people and place’’.
Gammon and Robinson (2003) state that sports tourism is:
‘Not just about the management and operation of mega events; it also concerns offering consumer-specific sports and tourism-related services and experiences to the sports tourist.’
Gammon and Robinson (2003) further argue that the sports tourism industry cannot be defined easily and that there should be different definitions according to the type of sports tourism that is being discussed. They visualise this in the model below.
Sports tourism statistics
Sport is one of the world’s most popular leisure activities, and tourism is one of the world’s largest economic sectors, so it is no surprise that sports tourism is big business.
Estimates of the size of the sports tourism industry vary, depending on how it is defined. A 2025 study commissioned by Expedia Group suggested that sports tourism accounts for around 10% of global tourism spending, worth an estimated US$1.3 trillion. Market research firms that use narrower definitions valued the sports tourism market at around US$583 billion in 2024, with rapid growth forecast over the coming years.
Studying sports tourism? A useful textbook is Sports Tourism: Participants, Policy and Providers.
Sports tourism therefore makes up a significant part of the overall tourism industry. The same study found that 44% of sports fans had travelled internationally for their most recent sporting event, spending more than US$1,500 per trip on average.
The importance of sports tourism was further emphasised when the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism, now UN Tourism) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in 2004 their commitment to strengthen their partnership in the fields of sport and tourism. They stated that:
‘Tourism and sport are interrelated and complementary… both are powerful forces for development, stimulating investment in infrastructure projects such as airports, roads, stadiums, sporting complexes and restaurant-projects that can be enjoyed by the local population as well as tourists who come to use them.
This demonstrates that sports tourism has a wider economic and social impact than simply the sporting occasion itself. It provides social and economic opportunities for the local population, as well as visitors to the area.
The different types of sport tourism
Sport tourism can be segregated into four main types: sport event tourism, nostalgia sports tourism, active sports tourism and passive sports tourism. Below is a short explanation of each type, along with some examples.
Sport event tourism
Sports event tourism is a form of event tourism that centres on a sporting event. Sporting events can be of any size and importance, however it tends to be the major sporting events which gain the most gravitas.
Mega-events and hallmark events, such as the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup, are important centres for sport event tourism, bringing millions of tourists to the host destination.
Smaller events, such as the Henley Regatta in the United Kingdom or a national tennis competition also qualify as sport event tourism.
An often overlooked example of sport event tourism are amateur sporting events. Events such as regional school competitions, youth sporting leagues and non-profit community based sport events are just a few examples.
Wimbledon
Wimbledon, also known as ‘The Championships’ is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. A prestigious sporting event, Wimbledon is often associated with the upper class, with traditions such as strawberries and cream, Pimm’s and a strict all-white dress code for players. It is an integral part of British sporting heritage and attracts visitors from all over the world.
Dating back to 1877, Wimbledon has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, on the outskirts of London, each year. The tennis is played on outdoor grass courts, which is unlike tennis matches played in many other parts of the world.
Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open.
The tournament takes place in late June/early July each year.
Football World Cup
The football World Cup, known officially as the FIFA World Cup, is an international football tournament held every four years.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the sport’s global governing body. The men’s World Cup brings together the most skilled footballers in the world, and FIFA also organises the Women’s World Cup, which has grown rapidly in popularity.
Teams must first pass a qualification phase, which takes place over the preceding years. The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, was the first to feature 48 teams (up from 32), with matches played in 16 host cities. The tournament lasts around one month and attracts millions of international visitors.
Six nations Rugby Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European nations:
- England
- France
- Ireland
- Italy
- Scotland
- Wales
The Six Nations tournament begins on the first weekend in February each year and finishes with ‘Super Saturday’ on the second or third Saturday in March.
Each team plays every other team once, making a total of 15 matches. Teams play either two or three matches at home, alternating each year. There is also a Women’s Six Nations, held each spring.
Six Nations matches attract thousands of travelling fans, and cities such as Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh and Rome see a significant boost in hotel bookings, restaurant trade and bar sales on match weekends.
The Olympics
Inspired by the ancient Greeks, the modern Olympic Games have been running since 1896. But, in fact, the games have been played in some form or another since long before this date.
The Olympics is perhaps the most famous international sporting event. The Summer and Winter Games each take place every four years, two years apart, and are held in a different host city each time. Recent and upcoming hosts include Paris (2024), Milan-Cortina (2026 Winter Games), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032).
Read also: Slow tourism: Everything you need to know
The Olympics involves thousands of athletes from more than 200 nations who compete in a wide range of sports, from gymnastics to athletics. Alongside the Paralympic Games, the event attracts millions of spectators and huge global media coverage.
The Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. It is one of the biggest single-day sporting events in the world, and host cities benefit from an influx of fans, media and corporate visitors.
Interesting facts include the Super Bowl being the second-largest day for food consumption in the USA (after Thanksgiving) and the Super Bowl being one of the most-watched television broadcasts in the USA every year.
Nostalgia sports tourism
Nostalgia sport tourism involves travelling to famous sport-related tourist attractions.
Nostalgia sports tourism may celebrate sports of the past or the present. It may include visiting museums or exhibitions, visiting sporting hall of fames or visiting sporting venues.
The nostalgia sports tourist does not need to be actively participating in sport or to be spectating. They may simply want to learn more or to reminisce.
Here are some examples of popular nostalgia sport tourism attractions.
Calgary Olympic Park
Canada Olympic Park, now known as WinSport, in Calgary is a good example of nostalgia sports tourism.
WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill, was one of the venues used in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Nowadays, it is open to the general public and is well known for its ski jumping, bobsleigh and luge.
Visitors can learn about the history of the 1988 Winter Olympics, see the ski jumps and try activities such as bobsleigh, luge and zip-lining. This combination of heritage and activity is common at former Olympic venues.
Maracanã Football Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
The Maracana is a famous football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium is rich in history and was once the largest stadium in the world.
The stadium was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup. The venue has seen attendances of 150,000 or more on 26 occasions. Over time terraces were replaced with seating, and after the renovation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the capacity was reduced to around 78,000. The stadium also hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games.
Today, stadium tours of the Maracanã are a popular activity for visitors to Rio de Janeiro, particularly football fans.
Barcelona Olympic Park
The Olympic Village, known in Spanish as La Vila Olímpica del Poblenou is an area in the Sant Martí district of Barcelona, Spain.
The Barcelona Olympic Village was built in the late 1980s and early 1990s in preparation for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, which were held in Barcelona.
Nowadays, visiting the Barcelona Olympic Village is a popular sports tourism activity undertaken by many tourists visiting Barcelona.
Active sports tourism
Active sports tourism is when a person travels to actively participate in their chosen sport, or when they travel for other reasons, but taking part in sport is an important part of their tourism experience.
Active sports tourists can be divided into three categories: the amateur sports tourist, the hobbyist sports tourist and the professional sports tourist.
Amateur sports tourists try a sport for fun while on holiday, for example taking a surf lesson or a beginners’ ski course. They are not usually experienced and may only take part occasionally.
Hobbyist sports tourists participate regularly and may travel specifically to play their sport, for example with a club team or to take part in a marathon. Professional sports tourists are athletes who travel to compete, train or attend training camps, often at national or international level.
There are a huge number of active sports that tourists may choose to get involved with around the world. Here are some examples of active sports tourism activities and the destinations associated with them:
- Diving in the Galapagos
- Swimming at the Great Barrier Reef
- Playing tennis in Morocco
- Learning archery in Spain
- Going running in France
- Cycling in Amsterdam
- Taking yoga classes in Bali
- Learning tai chi in China
- Kayaking in Vietnam
- Sailing in Australia
- Skiing in Argentina
- Surfing in Costa Rica
- Playing baseball in Boston
- Hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro
- Fishing in The Gambia
- Climbing in Thailand
- Horse riding in Ecuador
- Hiking in Jeju, South Korea
Here are a few active sports tourism examples:
Tough Mudder race, London
Tough Mudder is an endurance event held in many countries around the world. It is an obstacle course inspired by military training. It is a test of the mind and body.
The full-length race is usually 8-10 miles (around 15km), with shorter options also available. It includes a number of obstacles, many of which involve mud! The obstacles often play on common human fears, such as fire, water, electricity and heights.
Further reading: Sport and Tourism, a textbook for sports studies students.
Common obstacles include:
- Arctic Enema – Participants plunge into a tank filled with ice water, where they must swim under the water and past an obstacle to the other side.
- Electroshock Therapy – This is where participants will run through a pit of mud where electric wires sway in the air. Participants will often get small electric shocks.
- Funky Monkey – Monkey bars over a pit of cold water. The bars are covered with a mixture of butter and mud.
- The birthing canal- A small, confined space that the participant must crawl through. The upper layer is filled with water so it feels like you are being compressed as you crawl through the tunnel.
Participants who travel to a Tough Mudder venue away from home, and many do, are classed as active sports tourists.
Martial arts holidays, South Korea
Many people choose to travel to South Korea for martial arts holidays and Taekwondo-themed events. These might be amateur sports tourists, hobbyist sports tourists or professional sports tourists, depending on the level of involvement and activity type.
Surfing holidays, Portugal
Portugal is a popular destination for surf holidays, thanks to its Atlantic coastline and consistent waves in areas such as Peniche, Ericeira and the Algarve. Surfers can travel independently or book a surf camp, and there are a number of tour operators offering specialist surfing holidays for all levels, from beginner to advanced.
Golf tours, Florida
There are several golfing hotspots around the world. One of the most popular places to travel to for a golfing holiday is Florida. With its year-round pleasant weather and large open spaces, Florida welcomes golf tourists from all over the world to play on their first-class golf courses.
Yoga retreats, Bali
There are many parts of Asia that are known for yoga, including India and Thailand. Bali, in particular, is famous around the world for its yoga retreats and yoga teacher training courses, which overlap with wellness tourism.
Passive sports tourism
Lastly, it is important to recognise that whilst sport is inherently active, not all those who participate or who are involved with the sport are themselves active. In fact, passive tourists can actually contribute more to the sport than those who are active!
A passive sports tourist is a person who is not actively participating in the sport. They are spectators or fans. Passive sports tourism involves tourists watching sport being played. This could take place at a major sporting event (qualifying this also as sports event tourism), or they could simply be supporting a family member or friend. Most passive sports tourists are fans.
Football fans- Manchester United spectators
Football, or soccer, is widely considered the most popular sport in the world.
Manchester United is one of the most famous football clubs in the world, with a huge global fan base. Old Trafford stadium tours and museum visits are popular attractions for visitors to Manchester, and many fans travel from overseas to watch a match.
Many passive sports tourists follow Manchester United, or whichever football team is their favourite, to watch home and away matches, both domestically and in European competitions.
Boxing fans- Anthony Joshua followers
Anthony Joshua is a British professional boxer. He has many millions of followers, both from the UK and abroad.
Anthony Joshua is a two-time unified world heavyweight champion and one of the biggest names in British boxing. His major fights have taken place at venues such as Wembley Stadium in London and in Saudi Arabia, which has invested heavily in hosting major boxing events to attract sports tourists.
Anthony Joshua fights around the world, and many of his fans travel to watch him as passive sports tourists.
British & Irish Lions Rugby Spectators
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for any of the Home Nations – the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Lions tour a southern hemisphere nation (Australia, New Zealand or South Africa) every four years.
For rugby fans in Britain and Ireland, a Lions tour is a major event.
The Lions have many thousands of travelling supporters who cheer them on at each match. The 2025 tour to Australia attracted tens of thousands of fans from Britain and Ireland, bringing a significant boost to the Australian economy.
Australian Cricket Fans
Cricket is hugely popular in Australia. The Ashes series between England and Australia is one of the most famous rivalries in sport, and many fans travel between the two countries to watch matches as passive sports tourists.
Benefits of sport tourism
As with any type of tourism, there are a range of benefits and advantages of sports tourism. Whilst the most obvious is perhaps the economic advantage of tourism, there are also positive social impacts as well as environmental impacts. Some examples are listed below:
- Sports encourages tourists to visit the area
- Sports tourism creates economic growth through tourists booking hotel rooms, eating in restaurants and spending money in local shops
- Sports tourism helps to create exposure and enhances a positive image for the local community
- Many sports tourism infrastructures and facilities can also be used by members of the host community
- The development of sports tourism helps to build a sense of community
- Sports tourism has the potential to attract high-yield visitors and repeat visitors
- It can provide opportunity to develop new infrastructure in the area
- The media can help to promote the destination
- Sports tourism can improve overall tourist numbers
- Money made from sports tourism can be reinvested into the local economy through the tourism multiplier effect
- Sports tourism creates jobs for local people
- Sports tourism which relies on the natural environment may result in better environmental management and preservation
While there are many positive impacts of sports tourism, it is also important to note that there are a number of negative impacts too. These include environmental degradation (for example, when golf courses are built in water-scarce areas), employing foreign rather than local workers for major sporting events, the high cost of building stadiums that are rarely used after mega-events, and overcrowding in host cities. Visitors may also overlook local cultural norms, such as dress codes in parts of the Middle East.
Sports tourism: Conclusion
It is clear that sports tourism is big business. Whether it is sport event tourism, active sports tourism, nostalgia sports tourism or passive sports tourism, there is a huge global market for sports tourists. However, as with any type of tourism, sports tourism must be carefully managed to ensure that it is sustainable.
Sports tourism: FAQs
Below are answers to some of the most common questions about sports tourism.
What is sports tourism?
Sports tourism is travel away from home to take part in sport, watch sport or visit sport-related attractions such as stadiums, museums and former Olympic venues.
What are the four types of sports tourism?
The four main types of sports tourism are sport event tourism, active sports tourism, nostalgia sports tourism and passive sports tourism.
What are examples of sports tourism?
Examples include travelling to the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup, going on a ski or surf holiday, running an overseas marathon, taking a stadium tour of the Maracanã and following a football team to away matches.
How big is the sports tourism industry?
Estimates vary. A 2025 Expedia Group study suggested sports tourism represents around 10% of global tourism spending, worth about US$1.3 trillion, while narrower market estimates put it at around US$583 billion in 2024.
What are the benefits of sports tourism?
Sports tourism brings visitor spending, jobs, new infrastructure and media exposure to host destinations. It can also attract repeat visitors and help to spread tourism beyond the peak season. Read more about the economic impacts of tourism.
What are the negative impacts of sports tourism?
Negative impacts include environmental damage, overcrowding, rising prices for local residents and expensive stadiums that may be underused once a major event has finished.
Further reading on sports tourism
For more information on sports tourism, the following texts are useful:
- Sports Tourism: Participants, Policy and Providers– explains sports tourism as a social, economic and cultural phenomenon that stems from the unique interaction of activity, people and place.
- Sport Tourism Development– a text book covering the growth and development of sport tourism.
- Sport Tourism Destinations: Issues and Analysis– with contributions from international experts, this book looks at the dramatic effects sports tourism has on the economy and future of tourism destinations.
- Sport and Tourism– This book proposes a groundbreaking theoretical model which explores globalization, mobility and authenticity providing insight into the unique interrelationship that exists in a sport tourism context between activity, people and place.
