Sports tourism for
competitiveness
By Prasanna Perera
Tourism is a major foreign exchange
earner for Sri Lanka. Hence, innovative tourism products should
be introduced in order to maintain the competitive edge over
other destinations. Sport tourism is one such product .
The logical starting point to
understanding the confluence of sport and tourism is to clearly
outline the essence of each. The popular perception of sport is
best reflected by what is written about on the sport pages of
daily newspapers. However, when sport pages of newspapers from a
variety of countries is scrutinized, it becomes clear that
sporting activities vary substantially between places. Sports
can be defined as being goal-oriented, competitive and contest
based. All three characteristics are closely related.
Tourism definitions can be classified
into those associated with the popular usage of the term.
Tourism involves the "travel of non-residents". To be considered
a tourist, individuals must leave and then eventually return to
their home. Tourist trips are characterized by a "temporary stay
away from home, of at least one night".
A significant linkage of interests in tourism and
sports can be observed. Sport is an important activity within
tourism, and tourism and travel are fundamentally associated
with many types of sports.
