Countries like Saudi Arabia are advancing agendas to build a sporting culture that attracts domestic and international tourists, KPMG, an advisory services firm, announced on Wednesday.
This requires a vast effort, including organizing spectator and participant sporting events, promoting sports tourism to new markets and upgrading infrastructure, among myriad other grassroots initiatives, it said.
Saudi Arabia and its peers need to take a close look at what unique qualities their country has to offer sports tourists. These qualities start with geography but are certainly not limited to it. Thoughtful planning and investment— with the help of today’s technology—can foster just about any sport, anywhere, KPMG added.
In Saudi Arabia, the sports sector contributes around 0.2% of the Kingdom’s GDP, while the tourism sector contributes around 3% according to the Ministry of Sport and the Ministry of Tourism.
The ministries have ambitious targets for growth: by 2030 sports should contribute 0.6% of GDP and tourism 10%. One of the areas where these sectors cross is sports tourism.
