WHEN SPORTS GENERATE WEALTH

Sport has always represented for humans the gateway to freedom. Since its origins, physical activity has been practiced as a way to escape from reality and carve out small moments of leisure away from daily problems.

People are willing to go to great lengths to follow their sports passions, often making significant sacrifices, both socially and economically. Focusing on the economic aspect, outdoor sports enthusiasts, among all categories of athletes, are the most likely to face substantial costs in order to maintain their engagement in the sport. First, it is important to define the concept of outdoor sports. Also known as outdoor activities, these sports are those practiced outdoors, but most importantly, they have in common the close contact with nature. From lakes and mountains to sandy beaches, this category includes approximately 245 disciplines, which range from trekking to nighttime walks to monitor wolves, as well as scuba diving.

Italy is a fertile ground for this type of sport, benefiting from a variety of landscapes and environments. Last year, outdoor sports attracted 39.4 million people in our country, generating a business worth €4 billion. Furthermore, outdoor tourism has been a steadily growing sector in recent years, as reported by the Italian Outdoor Tourism Observatory (+4.3% increase in domestic visits expected this year, and +3.2% for international visitors).

“Outdoor tourism is very profitable for Italian tourism, especially when you consider that most of these activities don’t require significant infrastructure investments, as they utilize natural environments and places that already exist or were created for other purposes,” says Massimo Feruzzi, CEO of JFC Tourism & Management. Among the Italian regions, those most frequently chosen by outdoor sports enthusiasts are Trentino Alto Adige, which attracts the largest share of outdoor tourists in Italy (11.4% of the total), followed by Sardinia (10%) and Emilia-Romagna (9.8%).

Outdoor sports are practiced not only by individuals but also as enjoyable activities for families, who are increasingly choosing vacations focused on fun and the discovery of the surrounding landscapes.

So, what are we waiting for in exploiting this tourism resource?