Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance – The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA), in partnership with Destination Canada and CBC Sports, will once again lead a TEAM Canada delegation to SportAccord Convention 2018, scheduled for April 15-20 in Bangkok, Thailand. The world’s sport and business communities assemble at this five-day gathering, which includes the Congress and General Assemblies of over 100 international sports federations.

SportAccord, the premier international event dedicated to engaging and connecting rights holders, organizing committees, cities, press and media, businesses and other organizations involved in the development of sport, is being held in Thailand for the first time. This marks the first year of CSTA’s three-year agreement with Destination Canada to participate as the lead partner in Canada’s delegation.

Seven destinations from across the country have partnered with CSTA to position Canada as a leading location to host international sport events: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Durham Region, Montréal and Québec City. In co-ordinating the Canadian delegation, Rick Traer, CEO, CSTA, said “Our TEAM Canada partners promote their destinations as hosts for future international sport events through a variety of networking, hospitality and business-to-business opportunities. It takes a similar approach to our Sport Events Congress, but the exposure to international federations widens the opportunities to profile Canada on the global stage. As one of the top five countries in the world for bidding and hosting international events, attending SportAccord is key to our strategy to solidify our reputation as a leader in the sport tourism industry and as a preferred destination.”

The CSTA is a bronze partner of SportAccord, which offers a unique platform to connect with the leaders of Olympic and non-Olympic sport movement, organizing committees and host cities all in one location. The TEAM Canada reception has become a highly anticipated and highly attended event on the SportAccord schedule, and provides the delegation with significant relationship building and awareness generating momentum.

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 130 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.