Sport is the exclusive reason for more than 4,1 million leisure trips made each year in Spain.
El sports tourism and cycle tourism They are market niches with great potential in Spain. It is undeniable that they attract more followers every day. People who travel motivated by the climate and the attractiveness of a territory but also in search of good facilities that facilitate or make more interesting the practice of their favorite sport.
In fact, the last Sports Statistics Yearbook published by the Ministry of Culture and Sports makes it very clear that sports tourism is a safe bet for the future.
Last year alone, sports tourism and cycle tourism were, for residents in Spain, the main reason on more than 4,1 million trips. In addition, almost 1,5 million trips were recorded international tourists who came moved by this same passion, sport.
Spending on sports tourism
And not only that. Residents spent more than one billion euros (1.027 million) on their sports related getaways and international tourists left another 1.414 million euros.
Most of these trips are also made during the weekend (59%) and national tourists opt for book your hotel accommodation or similar (1,8 million overnight stays) compared to other solutions such as rental apartments.
Data to which should be added those of the people who carry out some sports activity during your vacation, despite this not being the main reason for your trip. If we take these into account, we are talking about another 52 million trips by residents in Spain and an associated expense of more than 12.600 billion euros. In addition to another 9,8 million international tourist trips with another 12.000 billion euros.
What the sports tourist is looking for
According to Nicole Kalemba, researcher at the NOUTUR group (New perspectives in tourism and leisure) from the Open University of Catalonia in an interview with the EFE agency, who They travel to practice some sport They look for “facilities to reach the destination, Good installations, complementary activities and good weather”. Therefore, the tourist destination must have, according to its experience, “good facilities and professional service".
But also, if we focus on the cycling, The report ‘The economic impact of cycle tourism in Europe’ prepared by the Junta de Andalucía and the Vías Verdes foundation estimated the specific turnover of this sector in Europe at 44.000 million euros.
So that one decided commitment to cycle tourism by companies in the sector will open the doors to the territories to reach this demanding and increasingly abundant tourist. And, as a consequence, it will serve to deseasonalize economic activity and set population in rural areas.
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