GOLD
Will Gray has the inside track on selling top-notch
sports breaks
British sport is buoyant
after some sensational
performances by Team
GB at the Beijing
Olympics and many
consumers see the
benefi ts of combining a luxury holiday
with a sporting event to make their
trip unique.
For agents, the key to sales success
for this type of holiday is the balance
between event and experience. In
Formula 1, a trip to watch Lewis
Hamilton race in the Belgian forest
track of Spa is for motorheads only,
but a race in the heart of a city –
offered by three new circuits in
Singapore, Valencia and Abu Dhabi –
is perfect for sports fans and casual
observers alike.
ITC Sports director David Atkin said
the market is faring well and plans to
add events to the portfolio for 2009/10.
When selling these kinds of trips, it
is important to gain as much
information as possible about what the
client wants to see. Atkin said: “Get as
much information as you can about
their requirements and don’t worry if
you don’t know anything about the
sport – that’s where experts like us
come in. Also, look to add holidays
onto the back of the event. Use F1 in
Singapore as a starter for a trip to
Australia or New Zealand.”
WHAT’S ON WHEN?
In May, the popular UEFA Champions
League Final takes place in Rome,
played midweek for the last time. In
2010 it will move to a weekend and
offer a great break in Madrid.
Next year also sees South Africa
offer a dream trip to the World Cup
Finals. Matches will be played
throughout the country, enabling
visitors to add a Kruger safari when
staying in Johannesburg or the four
nearby host cities, see rolling surf
waves on Durban’s coast or cruise the
Garden Route between games in Port
Elizabeth and Cape Town. Thomas
Cook, Thomson, Compass and BAC
Sport are in fi nal stages of contracting
to participate in the Tour Operator
Programme for the World Cup. If
successful, their Authorised Travel
Packages will be announced soon.
In cricket, fans can take in an Ashes
test on a luxury UK break in July and
August this year or a World Cup
Twenty20 game in June. The Lions
Rugby squad tour South Africa in the
summer and Andy Murray will be
jetting around the world aiming to
become its top tennis player.
Meanwhile, for big-name
comebacks in 2009 fans can head to
Augusta to see golf ’s Tiger Woods
chase the Masters, or explore the
French countryside while witnessing
cycling legend Lance Armstrong’s
comeback on ‘Le Tour’, starting in
Monaco in July.
DUBAI WORLD CUP
Where: Dubai
When: March 28, 2009
Dubai is already a popular destination
for shoppers and sunseekers, but it is
continually boosting its opportunities
for sports fans, with the new Sports
City complex set to host major events
from 2010. One of the fl agship events
already running is the World Cup – the
world’s richest horse race.
Packages offer the chance to lap up
Dubai’s luxury lifestyle in top hotels
and experience fi ve-star hospitality in
the Dubai Restaurant at the Nad al
Sheba racecourse, where visitors are
treated to supreme luxury with a
premium seven-course dinner and
complimentary champagne. The race
is due to move to the new Meydan
horse racing city in 2010.
Sample package: ITC Sports offers
six nights at Le Royal Meridien Dubai
from £1,750 including race tickets,
Emirates fl ights and transfers.
( 01244 355527 8 itcsports.co.uk
FORMULA 1 NIGHT RACE
Where: Singapore
When: September 26-28, 2009
To witness the noise and the spectacle
of a Formula 1 race from trackside is
an amazing experience – but to
experience it at night, with cars
screaming through the high-rise
skyscrapers of central Singapore is
something else.
Lewis Hamilton has reignited F1’s
popularity in the UK, and the sport has
reinvented itself for 2009 with three
new city-based venues that offer the
ideal combination of high-octane
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