Mid West Sports Tourism Project

What it's all about?

The Mid West Sports Federation has a rich history of providing incubator services to foster events, programs, infrastructure supply and human resources to enhance sport and recreation throughout the Mid West region.

Our patch has a long and proud sporting heritage with a variety of successes and notable achievements and significant events are hosted by the regional sports sector on an (almost) weekly basis throughout the year.

Many of these attract large numbers of visitors from outside the region and make a considerable economic contribution to the local economy, however, 'sports tourism' falls under the radar of much of the community and the tangible value of these events to the regional economy aren't well understood.

With this in mind, the Mid West Sports Federation (MWSF) are proud to be leading the Mid West Sports Tourism Project, with support and funding from the Australian Government, through the Building Better Regions Fund, the State Government, through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Lotterywest, and the City of Greater Geraldton.

Project Aims:

In a nutshell, the Mid West Sports Tourism Project aims to:

• Collect robust and credible baseline data to provide a clear understanding of the Mid West sports tourism landscape.
• Advocate the benefits of sports tourism throughout the region to raise awareness and leverage support.
• Develop a regional plan that considers and coordinates sports tourism priorities across the Mid West and incorporates all critical infrastructure and capacity requirements.
• Support and develop sports and communities with capacity to bid for and host major events.
• Establish iconic events in the Mid West that are both sustainable and ongoing.

What does the data do?

The data collected is expected to leverage a diverse range of outcomes and benefits for a variety of stakeholders and purposes including, but not limited to:

• Increased profile of Mid West sporting events;
• The use of robust economic evidence to assist sports to lobby support for their events, including funding, sponsorship and resources;
• Improved engagement between sports, MWSF and the corporate sector, which is the major beneficiary of the economic activity created by sporting events;
• Resources and support developed for sporting groups to successfully host major events
• Improved future event delivery through improved stakeholder collaboration and engagement;
• MWSF, sports and Mid West local governments are empowered and supported to bid for major events;
• A complete inventory of Mid West sporting events and activities that can be proactively marketed / promoted;
• A bespoke data collection tool for continued use by MWSF, sports and local governments that be used to collect data to improve future events;
• Improved event delivery through analysis of data relating to profile, behaviours and attitudes of sport tourists; and
• A regional plan developed for sport that confirms regional priorities and provides a coordinated and collaborative pathway for delivery.

So, what do the final results show?

With sincere thanks to the team at ACIL Allen Consulting, we are able to demonstrate the following significant results:

Media Statement: Government of Western Australia - Friday 16 August 2019