Letter From President and CEO I am periodically asked to get on a pedestal and announce to the world that sports are leading the nation back in tourism business. From my point-of-view, there are two significant factors that we considered when arriving at our messaging.
• Secondly, once corporate and group travel returns, the overall spending space dwarfs our total sports spending. So, when that engine restarts, where does that position the sports tourism industry on that continuum? The undeniable position of strength and complete accuracy is that the sports events and tourism business is the main catalyst for the reentry and restart to the hospitality and tourism industry. Hundreds of face-to-face meetings with our industry destination leadership (DMO leaders, Destinations International meetings, and Sports Commissions) have demonstrated to me over the last few years that they clearly understand sports contributions to their sales and the economic impact on their regions. Today, it is clear that those sports events are the catalyst to the reentry, restart, and reinvigoration to the tourism industry - and in some cases, the ONLY business.
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission
• First and most importantly, there are hundreds of billions of dollars on the sidelines waiting to be spent on leisure tourism. For example, just try to get into our National Parks, beaches or camping sites.
Columbus, GA Sports Council
But first, let’s get a few facts out of the way so we can get to our point of view:
Al Kidd President and CEO
1
Rockford Area CVB
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