5A-5 Sport Tourism Canada meetings

[Lyle Craver]

General discussion on the CFC's participation in Sport Tourism Canada meetings

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Sport Tourism Canada (STC) is an organization that advocates for the sport tourism industry in Canada. It was formerly known as the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA) and has rebranded itself as Sport Tourism Canada. The organization promotes Canada as a premier destination for bidding and hosting sports events. It serves a broad membership base, including destination marketing organizations, sports rights holders, suppliers, and the educational/research sector. Sport Tourism Canada offers various services and initiatives to enhance the capabilities of its members, such as advocacy, bringing the industry together for common causes, and providing resources and programs. The organization aims to position itself as a leader in the sport tourism industry and strives to achieve its goals.

The Sport Events Congress (SEC) is Canada's largest gathering of the sport tourism industry. This year, it is organized by Sport Tourism Canada in partnership with Richmond Sport Hosting. SEC brings together over 400 national and provincial sport event rights holders, tourism professionals, the education sector, event management firms, and suppliers. The event serves as a platform for networking, professional development, and discussions on the future of the sport tourism sector. It showcases various facilities and options for staging events, and it highlights Richmond, British Columbia, as a premier destination for sport event hosting. Richmond has a track record of attracting numerous sport events and is known for its accessible venues and sport facilities. SEC rotates between different cities in Canada, with Edmonton, Alberta, hosting the last edition in November 2022 and Winnipeg, Manitoba, named as the host in 2024.

Sport Tourism Canada advocates for the sport tourism industry and promotes Canada as a destination for hosting sports events. The organization offers services and resources to its diverse membership base, while the Sport Events Congress provides a platform for industry professionals to network, learn, and shape the future of sport tourism in Canada.

At present, the majority of sport sponsorship for chess in Canada stems from the support of local communities and sport tourism bureaus. Most of our recent tournaments were touched by sponsorships which were first discussed at the 2018 Halifax sport tourism conference and continued through the 2019 Ottawa conference, went online for a while during the pandemic and then returned to the real world in Edmonton in 2022. This year we are going to Richmond BC in a little over a week. The results of our meetings have been enabling our organizers to hold our flagship tournaments without fear of financial burden. The sponsorship from these entities demonstrates the recognition and belief in the potential of chess as a catalyst for tourism, community engagement, and economic growth. Sport tourism is big business in Canada and communities are noticing the CFC as offering events that are easier to organize and require less investment than some of the competing events.

The Sports Tourism Canada conference serves as an opportunity for us to build upon these existing partnerships and forge new connections with organizations and individuals who share our vision for the future of chess. This conference brings together a diverse range of stakeholders, including representatives from tourism bureaus, event organizers, accommodation providers, government officials, and sport industry professionals. It is a platform where we can showcase the immense value and impact of chess as a sports tourism attraction, while also exploring new avenues for sponsorship and collaboration. It is a place where we can learn from the experiences of sports other than our own. When the conference is held outside of Ottawa, the sponsors pay for our participation including travel, hotel and most of the meals.

By attending this conference, we can connect with decision-makers who hold the potential to become invaluable partners in our pursuit of growth and development of chess as a sport. It also gives us the chance to learn some of the marketing ideas of sports like pickle ball which have exploded in popularity in the last few years. Engaging in meaningful conversations with tourism bureaus and local communities will allow us to show the positive impact of chess on tourism. We can demonstrate how our tournaments not only provide competition for the participants but also create benefit to a community's bottom line. We seem to be reconnecting with the same people we first met in Halifax in 2018 at the first conference that we participated in but they seem to move around so that we often find an old friend has taken a new position in a different community.