Untapped potential of sports tourism

Sports tourism is a niche that unfortunately the Malta Tourism Authority is hardly tackling. The Malta Shooting Federation has organised many events in the past with the participation of many foreign shooters.

Next month the European Commonwealth Shooting Championships will be held at the Malta Shooting Federation ranges in Bidnija. These championships will attract many shooters, together with their coaches and families.

In 2008 the Malta Shooting Federation will be celebrating its century as it was founded in 1908. The International Shooting Federation has awarded the MSF the organization of the ISSF 2008 World Cup in Malta. If this event materialises around 1,200 shooters together with their coaches and families will be in Malta.

To organise an event on such a big scale the MSF definitely needs to have the facility of a shooting complex with four layouts for Olympic trap, double trap and skeet plus air weapons and pistol and rifle shooting which are all Olympic disciplines. A shooting complex of this scale would serve as an attraction for many shooters from Nordic countries because in our climatic conditions, shooting can be practiced all year round. This would serve for training camps for national teams training in Malta in winter.

Many countries are investing heavily in sports tourism. Today most people travel for sports. Last November I was in Dubai accompanying William Chetcuti to the 2005 ISSF World Cup finals and I was impressed with how sports tourism is such a priority in Dubai's flourishing economy.