Foreign Experience in the Development of Sports Tourism

Abstract

The present paper presents results of the research on sports tourism and its role in socio-economic development of a tourist destination. As practical examples of sports tourism development following cases used: Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games held in Sochi, 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia, sports tourism development in the European Union, sports tourism in Spain, sports event tourism in Madeira. The authors conclude that sports tourism development significantly increases competitiveness of a tourist destination and makes a significant contribution to its socio-economic development through a growth of income from taxes, involvement of local community, creation of new employment, popularization of healthy lifestyle and sustainable development. Public-private partnership is an effective mechanism of sports tourism projects implementation.