OTTAWA, ON: For the fourth straight year Canada has been recognized as one of the leading sport hosting nations in the world. The Global Sports Nations Index 2016 was announced during the Global Sports Tourism Summit in London, England recently.
With an in-depth analysis of major multi-sport games and world championships, the Global Sports Index, produced by Sportcal, identified the USA as the leading nation, with Russia as number two, and Canada in third spot. Canada first surged to second place in 2013 and held that spot until this year.
“Being recognized as one of the top nations in the world for the fourth consecutive year speaks highly of the support system Canada has in place to host major events,” said Rick Traer, CEO, Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance. “Maintaining our role as a leading host nation would not be possible without an army of committed volunteers and the support of federal, provincial and municipal hosting programs that are critical to being able to host events on the world stage.”
Traer also acknowledged the significance of the accomplishment, considering the much larger population base in the other countries. “The infrastructure that we now have in place as a legacy of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the 2015 Pan American/Parapan Games as well as other events, has a number of benefits. Not only do we now have more outstanding facilities for our athletes to train at the highest level, but the future looks bright for Canada to continue hosting international events. It also ensures that sport tourism will maintain its position as a vibrant and growing segment of our tourism industry.”
The Global Sports Nations Index extends over a 14-year period covering seven years in the past and projecting seven years in the future (2010-2023). The Index analysed 787 events across 146 categories and 74 sports. Canada’s total included 48 different events.
For the full Global Sports Nations Index 2016 visit: Global Sports Nations Index 2016 (https://www.sportcal.com/Impact/NationsIndex)
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About the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA)
The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance is a non-governmental, member-based, capacity building organization that promotes sport tourism as a grassroots economic development initiative at the community level. The CSTA services over 500 members across Canada, including 150 municipalities, 300 national and provincial sport, multi-sport and major games organizations and a variety of other sport and tourism industry partners. Sport tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry in Canada with approximately $5.2 billion in annual spending by domestic and international visitors.