Sports tourism activities are currently quite diverse, from cheering on competitions to directly participating in sports activities such, as running, cycling, rowing, and mountain climbing.
Many events attract tourists
Since the beginning of 2024, dozens of marathon and half-marathon races have been organised, attracting thousands, even tens of thousands of athletes, for example Mau Son Mount Paths 2024 (Lang Son), Tien Phong Marathon (Phu Yen), VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight 2024 (Ho Chi Minh City), THACO Marathon For Traffic Safety - Dien Bien Phu (Dien Bien).
Running races have many innovations to attract athletes and tourists, such as organising races in famous places, areas with beautiful landscapes and night races.
The concept of sports competitions was unfamiliar, but now it is a spearhead for localities with complex mountainous terrain, with beautiful scenery like the northern mountainous provinces.
One of the races that made a strong impression was the Vietnam Ultra Marathon 2024 held in Lac Village, Chieng Chau Commune, Mai Chau District, Hoa Binh Province, with more than 2,200 athletes from 38 countries.
Chairman of the Mai Chau District People's Committee Pham Van Hoan said the event is an opportunity for Hoa Binh Province and Mai Chau District to introduce the Mai Chau tourist area to domestic and international friends. Thereby, exploiting and promoting the potential and advantages of the tourism sector, contributing to promoting the development of the tourist area.
Athlete Michal Lesniak from Poland, who has won many major races in Europe and Asia, said: "Participating in the Mai Chau race is not only a race, but also an experience of discovering new and interesting lands. Along the running routes, athletes were immersed in the beautiful scenery, directly experiencing the unique and charming features. From exploring the less frequented trails to experiencing the local culture, Mai Chau brought interesting and unforgettable memories to me and my friends".
Earlier this year, Son La Province also successfully organised the Moc Chau Trail Marathon with a record number of athletes of 4,200. Not only did it welcome a large number of visitors, but the beautiful images of nature and the people of Son La were also widely promoted.
Previously, sports tourism was a small branch of tourism activities, but in recent years, sports tourism has become a new trend, developing at a dizzying speed, especially with the emergence and development of major sports tournaments, attracting a large number of athletes to participate, with flexible organisation capabilities, typically running tournaments.
Hanoi is also a locality with advantages in developing sports tourism, having been the main host of two SEA Games, and the venue for many international golf and badminton tournaments. The trend of organising major sports tournaments has increasingly developed.
Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Pham Xuan Tai said Hanoi alone has seven major and half-marathon races. Each year, these events attract hundreds of thousands of participants.
Son La Province, a locality famous for resort tourism, was also surprised to become a venue for many important sports tournaments.
Aiming for sustainable development
According to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), sports tourism is a type of tourism activity which refers to the travel experience of the tourist and is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global travel and tourism industry. It is estimated to be worth about 800 billion USD globally.
Therefore, localities and travel businesses have built clear directions for developing sports tourism. Hoa Binh Province has promoted its natural advantages and landscape to develop a series of sports competitions, such as cycling, mountain biking, running, kayaking on the Da River, and paragliding.
In particular, kayaking on the Da River has now become a brand of the province, loved by many people, athletes and fans are immersed in the majestic natural scenery of the Da River Lake.
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Binh Province Nguyen Van Toan said that the organisation and hosting of sports competitions have contributed to the strong development of local tourism.
Sports tourism is an attractive "two-in-one" trend, significantly contributing to the locality’s socio-economic development.
However, in reality, infrastructure, human resources for sports tourism, and safety issues have not yet met the needs of the market, especially adventure tourism types such as mountain climbing, paragliding, and rowing.
Many units organising tours with sports elements, especially adventure sports, still lack travel expertise, as well as inspection and health care for athletes, are not guaranteed.
Director of Vietfoot Travel Pham Duy Nghia said, that to turn sports tourism into a key product of Vietnam tourism, agencies need to have thorough research and long-term orientation to build, and upgrade infrastructure, improve the transportation system, and specialised technical facilities in a professional and modern direction, meeting the requirements of many forms of sports tourism. At the same time, they must have an early, methodical promotion strategy, to increase the opportunity to host many international sporting events.
Sports event organisers need to properly control health checks and take care of the health of athletes throughout the tournament.
