The report also noted that in 63 percent of destinations surveyed, sports-related travel is the top generator of hotel room nights in their communities.<\/p>\n
The survey, conducted by Tourism Economics<\/a> with support from Longwoods International<\/a>, and sponsored by the Northstar Meetings Group<\/a>, builds on two previous surveys, the latest of which covered data through 2021. The report covers travel to adult and youth amateur events, as well as collegiate championships and tournaments but does not include professional sports events or regular-season collegiate events.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sport tourism industry continued to grow in 2023, increasing by 7 percent over sports traveler volume in 2022,\u201d said John<\/strong> David<\/strong>, president and chief executive officer of Sports ETA. \u201cThe number of sports travelers in America established a new high-water mark of 204.9 million in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the other highlights of the report:<\/p>\n The State of the Industry Report was conducted using data from Tourism Economics and Longwoods International, as well as survey results from members of Sports ETA. For the first time, event rights holders and sports venues were asked to submit data to reach new survey conclusions.<\/p>\n Among the data collected were preferences by rights holders on how they decide where events are located. The top consideration for those rights holders, according to the survey, is host bids and financial incentives offered by a host destination, ranking even higher than the cost of a venue or the destination itself. Rights holders also offered data on how they book their housing for events and whether they employ \u201cstay to play\u201d policies to require participants to book in specific properties for events.<\/p>\n Data collected from venues reveals that nearly all hosted youth or amateur events in 2023. Venue managers also offered insights on their funding mechanisms and factors of a successful event for their locations.<\/p>\n Pulling data from sports-event industry stakeholders and economic data, the report also notes the 10 states that have the most activity in sports-related travel: Florida, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia.<\/p>\n \u201cEach state played an integral role in sports tourism in 2023,\u201d said David. \u201cThe addition of the Top 10 list of states generating economic impact with sports tourism allows us to analyze best practices for all of our members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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\u201cThe results of the State of the Industry Report confirm what we have been saying for years: When it comes to travel, there are few areas of the industry that provide a more powerful economic impact than sports,\u201d said Jason Gewirtz<\/strong>, vice president of the Northstar Meetings Group Sports Division and a Sports ETA board member. \u201cStakeholders in the industry should examine and become familiar with this data to make the case for more investment in their communities and events to serve this robust and expanding market.\u201d<\/p>\n