I just got back from two days in Ottawa, where TrojanOne produced the Sports Marketing Stream content of the 2009 CSTA Sports Event Congress. For those unfamiliar with the CSTA, which stands for Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance, it is the national advocate for a $2.4 billion industry in this country…“Sport Tourism”.

If you think about it, that is almost twice the size of the Canadian sponsorship industry, according to research we sponsor through the Institute for Sports Marketing.

The rationale for the size, scope, and importance of this sector was aptly summarized by one of the event’s PRESTIGE award winners.
(For details, visit http://www.canadiansporttourism.com).

President of Trade Center Ltd. in Halifax, Scott Ferguson, collected the hardware for Sport Event of the Year, awarded for their staging of the 2008 IIHF World Hockey Championships.

Ferguson’s acceptance speech zeroed in on the future of the Canadian sport tourism industry. To be successful, he stated, the industry must focus on the business they are truly in. That business isn’t so much “sports tourism”, as it is economic development. He cited the tens of millions of dollars that Events Halifax spins off on an annual basis. And he is right on!

For many of the 300 stakeholders, attracting and running great events is their daily focus. However, their true mission should be about contributing to the economic growth of their communities. Certainly hosting great events will bring return visits and new events. Yet maximizing the impact of that event on the host community’ economy will attract more funding from government and private sectors.

Ferguson also implored the delegates to constantly remind all levels of government that they are in the business of “Economic Development”, to ensure that this crucially important, publicly funded, support is continued.

I think it’s important that all sectors of the sports marketing industry do their part as well. Without this government support, corporations won’t have audiences to market to, coaches won’t have events to prepare their athletes for, broadcasters won’t have content to cover, agencies won’t have venues for activations, and horror of horrors – thunder-stick makers will go bankrupt!