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Sports Tourism Mistakes Made By Indoor Sports Facilities

Seating at an indoor sports facility

Common Sports Tourism Mistakes Made By Indoor Sports Facilities

The validity of sports tourism as a profitable core business has been long debated, but few can argue the benefit it has for travelers and guests of both indoor sports facilities and outdoor sports facilities. Athletes and audiences certainly enjoy sports tourism as attendance numbers grow across the industry, but the important question for facility managers is how to best take advantage of this growing marketplace. Today, Sports Facilities Advisory is going to look at some of the common sports tourism mistakes made by indoor sports facilities.
 

1.) Forgetting the Overnight Visitor

Visitors who come to your facility for just a day will make up a large chunk of your demographic. However, many indoor sports facilities fail to appeal to possible overnight visitors. For traveling visitors, there might be a higher likelihood of multiple visits during their stay, but many facilities don’t give those visitors the incentive to come back. For instance, indoor sports facilities should offer package deals for multiple days at their facility. Make it worth your visitor’s while to buy passes for two or three days by offering discounted prices for longer stays.
If you run a facility that hosts sporting events and tournaments, this type of package deal is an easy sell along with things like tournament passes or season tickets.
 

2.) Not Utilizing Your Community

While your facility should be designed and built in such a way that it draws in potential visitors on its own, many indoor sports facilities don’t utilize their community. This goes for the planning process more than the management process, because this typically revolves around location. Building your facility in an area that is surrounded by restaurants and hotels is a great way to make your complex more appealing to visitors and boost your sports tourism influence. Even if your facility is not centrally located, partnerships with local restaurants, hotels and attractions can be mutually beneficial. Your facility and your community should work together to promote to visitors.
 

3.) Undervaluing Sports Marketing

It is a common mistake to think your facility will do all the talking and that you don’t need any sort of marketing campaign. While an indoor sports facility will surely draw in some people without marketing, you will not drive the awareness you need for your facility to draw in regular visitors. Undervaluing sports marketing is an easy mistake to fix, so address the issue as soon as possible — especially if your indoor sports facility is still in development.
 

Contact SFA for More Sports Tourism Tips for Indoor Sports Facilities

If you are developing or managing an indoor sports facility and are struggling to tap into the sports tourism market, SFA wants to help. For more information, give us a call at (727) 474-3845 or contact us online today.

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