Vietnam seeking to diversify sports tourism experiences

Recently, more and more sports clubs have been established, and tournaments organised, attracting a large number of both domestic and foreign sports lovers.

Prominent among them are VnExpress Amazing Marathon, Ha Long Heritage Marathon, Da Lat Ultra Trail, Hoi An International Marathon, and paragliding festival “Fly over the golden season”.

These sports activities have created a special "catalyst" that helps enhance the image recognition and competitiveness of local tourism.

Nguyen Cong Hoan, General Director of Flamingo Redtours which has successfully organised many sports tours taking tourists to watch major football tournaments such as Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, said that currently, travel companies are exploiting three popular forms of sports tours: those for tourists to cheer and watch tournaments such as football and tennis; those for participants in sports activities such as golf, marathon and trekking; and those with sports activities for organisations, agencies and businesses.

According to experts, to turn sports tourism into a key product, it is important to have thorough research and long-term orientations to build and upgrade infrastructure, and improve the transport system and specific technical facilities in a more professional and modern direction so as to meet requirements of different forms of sports tourism.

It is also necessary to have an early and methodical promotion strategy as well as dynamism to increase opportunities to host international events.

Nowadays, tourists in general and sports tourists in particular appreciate different experiences when participating in tours. Therefore, Director of Vietfoot Travel Pham Duy Nghia said that in addition to providing quality services and ensuring safety, sports tourism products also need to bring new experiences to visitors.