Ever wondered how convenient it would be if a tour operator would organise your travel and visa formalities every time you wanted to travel for a game? Sports enthusiasts always regretted that there are no tour operators to plan such trips and combine it with a little sightseeing.
To cater exclusively to the growing segment of sports fans, tour operators in India have now launched short packages, where fans can cheer for their favourite team and also make the most of their trip abroad. The average per head cost of the tour is about Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000 for four to five days.
A Thomas Cook spokesperson said, “The sports tourism packages were part of our September 2010 travel offers and have been available to the customers since February 2009.”
Similarly, for the F1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix (September 24-26), Cox & Kings is offering a package price of Rs 41,999 per person, where the company would take care of your overseas mediclaim insurance, visa and even provide the services of an English-speaking representative.
Karan Anand—head, relationships and supplier management, Cox & Kings, said: “People travel for F1, be it in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and London. Some segments travel for cricket and football. We feel this market has not matured as yet, but sports tourism in India is on a growth trajectory.”
Sports tourism accounts for up to $600 billion or a tenth of the international tourism market in a year, according to data from the World Sport Destination Expo. Mega events like the Commonwealth Games and Indian Premier League have resulted in countries combining sport and tourism.
Time to take it seriously
A Thomas Cook spokesperson said, “We saw sports tourism as a growing trend amongst travellers in India with the fan following of Indian Premier League for three years. The market share of travel enthusiasts willing to take a journey to any city in order to watch their favourite team battle it out on the field has led to taking this section of travellers seriously in India.”
Online travel company ezeego1.com is a recent entrant and launched its sports tourism packages in July, it tied up with Sportsnet, Australia. Said Neelu Singh, COO: “We have always believed in offering different kinds of holidays, with sports being a much loved activity. Hence, we decided to partner with Sportsnet, which is Australia’s leading sports travel company, as it offers a global coverage for major sports events.”
Thomas Cook has seen a 20-25 per cent increase in demand for these kinds of packages year on year, albeit on a small base, while ezeego1.com has a more conservative estimate of about 10 per cent.
The key drivers of these packages aren’t only male enthusiasts and the profile of travellers depends on the destination. Singh of Ezeego1.com said, “These packages appeal to sports lovers and are not gender-specific. We also get families who accompany the sport enthusiast. While the family also enjoys the sporting event, they can indulge in local activities like sightseeing, shopping.”
However, Cox and Kings differs. Anand said, “We primarily see men or even big corporates taking their staff or associates for such trips as part of their incentive programme.”
The segment currently doesn’t contribute in a big way to the tour operators’ revenues and the size of the market isn’t significantly large. However, with a growth rate of 10-20 per cent expected, the potential is huge. Singh of Ezeego1.com said, “It is too early to comment on the revenues, as we have recently launched these packages and the idea is relatively new in the market. However, we plan to target 500 passengers approximately for this season.”
