The session brought together tourism, sports and destination experts to explore how niche sports can become powerful drivers of economic development, destination branding and visitor engagement. Discussions focused on identifying emerging commercial opportunities in specialized sports, attracting sponsorship from major brands, activating grassroots communities, broadening audience appeal, differentiating destinations through sport, and selecting venues capable of maximizing long-term impact.

Drawing on experiences from NECSTouR’s network of leading European regions, Mr Torrent highlighted how sporting events, whether global mega-events or more specialized competitions, can become powerful catalysts for tourism development when integrated into broader destination strategies.

From Sporting Event to Tourism Opportunity

During the discussion, Mr Torrent emphasized that the most successful destinations do not view sporting events as standalone happenings, but as opportunities to showcase the wider assets of a region and stimulate future travel demand.

He pointed to the example of this summer’s 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where VisitScotland implemented a comprehensive tourism marketing strategy designed not only to attract spectators, but also to encourage visitors to extend their stays and discover more of Scotland.

Promotion began months before the Games and continued well beyond the closing ceremony. Commonwealth Games content was integrated across VisitScotland’s destination and themed marketing channels, supported by targeted email campaigns, social media activity, international partnerships and global public relations efforts.

The results demonstrated how destination marketing can significantly amplify the tourism value of a sporting event:

• 22 million impressions through a joint VisitScotland and Avanti Rail campaign.
• 5.8 million impressions through promotional activity with Booking.com in France.
• 11.8 million audience reach through Bauer Radio partnerships.
• 647,000 print reach through a Scotland-focused campaign with publisher DC Thomson, achieving an 83% audience recall rate.
• Global PR activity generating 211 articles with a potential audience reach of 267 million.

“The Games became a powerful trigger for travel planning,” Mr Torrent noted, explaining that embedding event-related content within broader destination marketing campaigns enabled Scotland to reach audiences who may never have considered travelling specifically for the Games, thereby creating long-term tourism opportunities beyond the event itself.

Milano Cortina 2026 Demonstrates Long-Term Regional Benefits

Mr Torrent also highlighted the impact of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, showcasing how major sporting events can enhance the international attractiveness of entire regions.

Lombardy leveraged the Games to reinforce its position as one of Europe’s premier tourism destinations. With approximately 3,500 athletes from 93 countries, more than 87,000 accredited participants, and an estimated global television audience of 1.28 billion viewers, the event generated unprecedented visibility for the region.

The exposure translated into measurable tourism benefits. During the Games period, from 6 to 22 February 2026, tourist overnight stays in Lombardy increased by 15.2% compared to the same period the previous year. Growth was even stronger in destinations located along the so-called “Olympic Route”, including:

• Lecco: +46.8%
• Como: +31.6%
• Milano: +31.2%
• Monza: +22.1%
• Varese: +21.8%

Economic indicators also reflected the event’s positive impact. Tax-free shopping expenditure increased by 22% across Lombardy and by 28% in Milan, while estimates from the Bank of Italy indicate that the Games generated around 250,000 additional international visitors and nearly €400 million in tourism spending nationally.

For Mr Torrent, these figures demonstrate how sporting events can create lasting regional benefits when investments in infrastructure, marketing and visitor experiences are aligned with a long-term tourism vision.

The panel questions focused on events specializing in niche sports and in addition to the above examples, Mr Torrent was able to draw upon the experience of Catalonia’s hosting of the 2027 Canoe Slalom World Championships  (www.paddleworldwide.com).

Sport Tourism as a Driver of Sustainable Regional Development

As moderator of the session, Mr Torrent underlined that sport tourism today extends far beyond traditional mass-market events. Specialized and niche sporting disciplines increasingly offer destinations opportunities to attract new audiences, diversify tourism products, foster community participation and showcase distinctive local identities.

The discussion reinforced the importance of collaboration between tourism authorities, sports organisations, local communities and the private sector to unlock the full potential of sports tourism.

Representing NECSTouR’s network of regions committed to sustainable and smart tourism development, Mr Torrent stressed that the regional perspective is essential in ensuring that sporting events generate benefits that are widely distributed across destinations and continue well after the final competition has ended.

The UN Tourism World Sports Tourism Congress provided a valuable platform for sharing these experiences and highlighting how European regions are successfully leveraging sports events, both major and niche, to drive sustainable tourism growth, strengthen destination competitiveness and create enduring legacies for residents and visitors alike.

Mr Torrent also moderated a high level panel with the tourism Ministers of Mexico, Argentina, Belize, Brasil, Uruguay and Portugal on the topic of “Sports as a strategic priority in public agendas” with inspiring input from all Ministers.