World Sport Destination Expo is the only annual exhibition and business forum dedicated to showcasing the $600 billion a year sport tourism industry.
The inaugural landmark event took place alongside the final week of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The key buyers, influencers and media met face to face with the destinations leading the field in this dynamic sector and forging the future of sport tourism.
From Abu Dhabi to Rio de Janeiro the world’s leading destinations engaged in 5 days of top level debate, interaction and the tabling of lucrative future business deals.
Please click here to watch interviews with sport tourism’s key stake holders live at WSDE 2010 or click here to view WSDE 2010 images.
WSDE’s research has revealed that the travel industry’s fastest growing sector will post record profits and contribute an astonishing 14% of overall travel and tourism receipts by the end of 2010. At a time when some traditional tourism trends are in decline, sport tourism continues to flourish and is set to grow exponentially in the next decade.
Host tenders are currently being assesed and the location and timing of WSDE 2011 – the much anticipated 2nd edition of WSDE - are set to be released soon.
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Press & PR
WSDE will change the landscape of the sports tourism industry forever. By bringing together all the key buyers and suppliers of sport tourism around the world, WSDE will overnight become one of the most important international events in the travel calendar and will undoubtedly be the sports tourism event of the decade.
Lindiwe Mahlangu, CEO, Johannesburg Tourism Company
NEWS: New World-class Phuket Venue Opens with Familiarisation Trips for Qualified Buyers
PHUKET, THAILAND – Asia’s newest world-class sporting and corporate event venue – the Phuket International Academy Sports and Leisure Club (PIASLC) – is offering qualified sporting event planners and tour operators attending the World Sports Destination Expo (WSDE) the chance to be invited to the complex for familiarisation meetings with the academy’s executives.
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NEWS: Sport tourism takes centre stage
With South Africa revelling in World Cup glory, a delegation of sport tourism leaders gathered in Johannesburg for the landmark World Sport Destination Expo to gain further insights into the fastest growing sector of travel.
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NEWS: Inaugural Mission Hills Star Trophy Adds More Global Superstars
Celebrities Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Michael Phelps and Golfers Lorena Ochoa and Ryuji Imada to join field..
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NEWS: WSDE Exhibitor Profiles: Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority
The fast-growing emirate of Abu Dhabi has idenitifed sport tourism as a fundamental strategy to help meet its ambitious growth targets. From hosting the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix to its new partnership with Manchester City, it is utilising the power of sport to spread its name globally.
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NEWS: Pioneering Sport and Event Complex in Thailand Launches to Ringing Global Endorsements
PHUKET, THAILAND – The groundbreaking Phuket International Academy Sports and Leisure Club (PIASLC) is poised to become Asia’s pre-eminent competition, training and event complex when it opens this November. Combining a brilliant location with world-class facilities, it is already attracting interest from respected global sporting institutions and international corporations.
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NEWS: International Sports Tourism Programme Announced
5th July 2010 – Venue: WORLD FOOTBALL HOUSE at SCC Sandton Johannesburg
9:15 - 10.00 Registration, networking and coffee
10:00 - 10:30 Welcomes from South Africa + SportBusiness Group
Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director, SportBusiness Group
Minister of Sports, South Africa
Thandiwe January-McLean South African Tourism CEO
Lindiwie Mahlangu (CEO Johannesburg Tourism Company)
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NEWS: Joburg Rocks campaign launched
The Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC) has launched its interactive marketing and brand activation campaign, Joburg Rocks, for the city during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In line with its strategic objectives - which include transformation, increasing visitor spend, stay and geographic spread - the campaign positions Johannesburg centre stage to leverage off the event.
It includes a call to action, inviting participation and co-branding opportunities with players in the tourism, travel and hospitality sectors.
“We want to leverage off the event to capture non-traditional source markets, sustain them as repeat visitors, while also influencing industry players to contribute towards service excellence and memorable experiences,” says Lindiwe Kwele, CEO of JTC.
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NEWS: 2010 - South Africa bids for Sporting and Future Tourism Glory
South Africa has hosted the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup and this summer will welcome the FIFA World Cup finals. In its bid to become a sports tourism powerhouse, football’s biggest event can be the springboard to fulfil the country’s massive ambitions.
World Sport Destination Expo (WSDE) - the first global exhibition to provide a business platform for the key buyers and suppliers involved in $600 billion a year sport tourism industry - spoke exclusively to two of the travel industry’s leading and most respected global figureheads: Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President and CEO of the WTTC and the UNWTO Secretary General, Taleb Rifai.
WSDE is uniquely co-located alongside the final week of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at the SCC Johannesburg with a remit to help Africa capitalise on the World Cup’s potential to create long lasting travel and tourism growth beyond 2010.
When asked what South Africa has to do in order to make sure the World Cup leaves a lasting legacy for the tourism industry, Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said: “The fundamental advice I would give from my experience is that during a major event a country should not rest on its laurels and must actively and promote itself and demonstrate its future aptitudes to the world in order to create momentum.
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