CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The first connections between sport and
tourism emerged in the early mid nineteenth century A.D. with English
competitive sports as a central pillar of modern western sports
(alongside German exercises and Swedish gymnastics). Sport is an
important activity within tourism and tourism is a fundamental feature
of sport (Hinch & Higham, 2001). Glasson, Godfrey and Godfrey (1995)
noted that tourism has been argued to be the world's largest industry,
accounting for about 5.5% of the world's Gross National Product and 6%
of the employment. Tourism is a trillion dollar industry. Sport is a
multi-billion dollar industry worldwide and has become a dominant and
defining force in the lives of millions of people globally (Martin,
2007). Sports and tourism are distinct but interrelated socio-cultural
events and experiences of a society.
The first connection between sports and
tourism was dated in the year 1827. It is debatable, however, whether
this connection can really be attached to a particular year. Pigeassou
et al. (1998) located the connection between tourism and sport in the
emergence of alpine winter – sports in the nineteenth century, but
assumes the autonomy of the sport tourism domain to be only since the
1950s. Standeven and De Knop (1999) also provided that forms of sport
tourism may be dated back to the times of the ancient Greeks. Weed and
Bull (2009) defined sport tourism as a social, economic and cultural
phenomenon developed from the unique interaction of people, place and
activity. Sport tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing
segments of the travel and tourism industry and one that is receiving
increased attention for its social, environmental, and economic
development and opportunities (Standeven and De Knop 1999). It is widely
understood that major sporting events contribute significantly to the
economic development and tourist traffic in a city or region where the
sporting takes place (Higham, 1999, Turco et al., 2003). Sport tourism
is a vital component of the marketing mix for tourist destinations.
Gibson (1998) described sport tourism as leisure-based travel which
takes person(s) outside their usual environment for the purpose of
watching, participating (in physical activities) or adoring attractions
associated with physical activities.
Considering the returns from sports
tourism in other climes, Nigeria has a monumental advantage in exploring
and exploiting sports tourism to boost her hospitality industry. For
example, Brazil which hosted the 2014 World Cup added 7.5 billion
Brazilian Real (BRL) to the economy with tourism being a key
contributor, an estimated 1 million foreigners visited the country and
95% of them said they will love to return for holidays. The attributed
reasons for this include Brazil’s scenic beaches, vibrant musical
culture and its vast amazon rainforest according to the Wall Street
Journal. Meanwhile for previous world cups, South Africa welcomed
310,000 tourists and Germany accommodated 2 million. These figures
simply reveal how massive the contribution of sports can multiply the
growth of Nigeria’s hospitality industry and the economy. With this
platform, states like Ekiti, Jos, and Kwara, with tourism endowments will possibly achieve a certain degree of financial autonomy.
Sports and tourism can develop Nigeria in many ways and one of the ways is through Revenue Generator, Simple-the
economic returns are massive. The Hospitality sector contributes a
large chunk of the returns during a sports tourney. It follows that if
the government develops these destinations, tourists will visit and be
willing to part with their naira, dollars and pounds. Included in this
is the production of souvenirs and other marketing cum promotional items
leading to a geometric rise in hotel bookings and revenues. Another way
sports can develop Nigeria is through Publicity, These
sports tourneys are opportunities for hotels and hospitality companies
to put their brand in the face of their target audience. They can
produce jingles, commercials and other public relations tools which
oftentimes go a long way in impacting perception and patronage. Lastly, Development of tourist destination; the
near dilapidated state of Nigeria’s tourism sites have headlined
stakeholder’s meetings and tourism seminars. They have called on the
government at both the Federal and state level to revamp these amazing
sites which cut across Nigeria. With Nigeria hosting a sport event,
monies will be budgeted to develop these destinations to attract
tourists and the ripple effect will be felt in hospitality sector.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Various studies have been carried out by
different researchers in the area of impact of sport tourism. These
studies have identified and classified economic impact of sport tourism
to include: provision of temporary and permanent jobs, increasing cash
flow in the community within and sometimes beyond the period of the
event, improving standard of living, attracting new investments to host
community and encouraging local entrepreneurship. Social benefits of
sport tourism event documented in the literatures includes: sense of
pride, entertainment, family and community cohesion, self actualization
and provision/improvement in infrastructural facilities. Environmental
benefits pointed out in earlier studies include: the provision of
incentives for the conservation of natural resources and
provision/maintenance of infrastructures such as recreational parks,
sporting facilities, car parks, road etc. However, all these benefits
have not come without their costs. From previous studies, negative
effects such as forceful relocation of residents to accommodate
tourists, crowding, hooliganism, crime, consumption of hard drugs,
disruptions of the normal life of the local people, increased rents and
tax rate were all identified as negative effects of sport tourism on a
host nation. A good example is Sydney 2000 Olympics where the cost of
living soured immediately it was announced to host the 2000 Olympics.
Also, the impact of sport tourism on the environment can be negative as a
result of clearing of trees, building ski huts thereby increasing waste
and carbon emission, traffic congestion, built-up construction areas,
noise pollution, light pollution and overcrowding. However, these
previous studies have used mega sport tourism events such as FIFA World
Cup and Olympics to examine the impact of sport tourism event on the
host nation, hence the essence of this study, to ascertain the impact of
sports and tourism on Nigeria development.
1.3 Research Questions
The following are some of the questions which this study intends to answer:
i) what are the effects of sports and tourism on Nigeria development?
ii) what are the steps
taken by the Nigerian government to promote sports and tourism to bring
about good development to the country?
iii) what are the
attitudes of the Nigerian youths towards sports and tourism to ensure
good development in the country?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study was to
determine the impact of sports and tourism on Nigeria development.
However, the specific objectives are:
i) to survey the effects of sports and tourism on Nigeria development
ii) to establish the
steps taken by the Nigerian government to promote sports and tourism to
bring about good development to the country
iii) to assess the
attitudes of the Nigerian youths towards sports and tourism to ensure
good development in the country
1.5 Significance of the Study
This research work would benefit the
government, entrepreneurs and the youth of Nigeria about the importance
of sports and tourism on the national development of our nation and it
would give more insight on how to achieve more success in the area of
sports and tourism by actively engaging the youths.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study investigated the impact of
sports and tourism on Nigeria development. It covered the youths,
Ministry of sports and tourism and as well as the entrepreneurs in the
country.
1.7 Limitation of the study
The only challenge faced by the
researcher was finance. There was no fund to print as many as possible
questionnaires for this study. However, the researcher was able to print
out two hundred questionnaires for this study.
1.8 Definitions of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this study:
Development: the act or process of growing or causing something to grow or become larger or more advanced
Sport: an athletic
activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive
nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing,
hunting, fishing, etc.
Tourism: the commercial organization and operation of vacations and visits to places of interest.
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