Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance – OTTAWA, ON: For the fifth consecutive year Canada has been recognized as one of the leading sport hosting nations in the world. The Global Sports Nations Index 2017 was announced earlier this week at the Sportaccord Convention in Denmark by Sportcal, the UK based firm which compiles the listing.

 

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 for the second year in a row, with the United Kingdom as the number two nation and Russia in third spot. China moves to fourth place on the list, while Canada falls to fifth.  Canada placed second from 2013 – 2015, and was ranked third in 2016.

 

“This is really a tribute to the National Sport Organizations in our country and the destinations working together to bid for and host major events,” said Rick Traer, CEO, Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance. “We actually hosted 41 international events that qualified for consideration, second only to the USA’s 44, which is quite remarkable given our much smaller population base. This would not be possible without the alignment of our federal, provincial and municipal hosting programs that are critical to being able to host world class events.”

 

Traer acknowledged the many building blocks that are in place to make Canada an attractive destination. “We saw last year events such as the Rugby Sevens in Vancouver and Ski Tour Canada 2016 being held here for the first time, and the quality of the organization skills to ensure highly successful events. The calibre of our volunteers, the infrastructure we have in place, and the welcoming yet secure atmosphere of our country all support our well-deserved reputation as a host. With many major events being held here in 2017, we know that the sport tourism industry will continue to have a significant impact on our economy.”

 

The Global Sports Nations Index extends over a 14-year period covering seven years in the past and projecting seven years in the future (2011-2024).  The Index analysed 730 events across 151 categories and 81 sports. Bids for events that have been awarded up until March 19, 2017 have been included. In all 86 nations and 621 cities have hosted or are scheduled to host events during the 14-year period.

For the full Global Sports Nations Index 2017 visit: Global Sports Nations Index 2017

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Contact:

Rick Traer, CEO, Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance

(613) 688-5843

 

 

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 over $6.5 billion in annual spending by domestic and international visitors.