Kitesurfing in Fuerteventura: a sport that overflows with adrenaline
To check its rise, you only have to pay attention to a couple of data. According to the survey of tourist movements in the Turespaña border, Nearly 2.5 million foreign tourists visit Spain each year with sport as their main motivation , either through their realization or to follow them live. And this clientele leaves significant income, close to 2,000 million euros per year.
Another surprising fact is that among the five most visited museums of Spain are that of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid's Tour of the Bernabeu with which only The meadow , the Queen Sofia and the Thyssen-Bornemisza they can compete. If we take into account that their tickets cost 23 euros in the case of FC Barcelona Y 19 in Real Madrid and they have close to a million annual visitors, you just have to know how to multiply to get an idea of the income generated by both clubs.
Real Madrid's Bernabeu Tour
THE POSSIBILITIES OF PRACTICING SPORT IN SITU
As we said, sports tourism also has a powerful motivation to travel in the active practice of different sports. Every year there are more runners who decide to run a half marathon or the legendary 42 kilometers outside their city, either in the highly sought after New York that each year exhausts its inscriptions or in the also highly desired Boston , Paris , berlin either tokyo .
Paris Marathon or 42 kilometers in a city-museum
And what about Nepal , where its national economy and that of the Sherpa families depends largely on all the climbers who decide to face the challenge of climbing the Everest and other eight-thousanders in the area and that, due to the need to acclimatize to the altitude, they must remain in the country for months.
Nor do you have to be a marathon runner or a mountaineer to travel and practice sports. Every weekend and every bank holiday thousands of hikers take their backpacks to enjoy the best hiking trails in Spain or they start to face the Camino de Santiago walking or by bike
Looking for adrenaline?
And it is that the options among the athletes are multiple and the destinations almost infinite. If your thing is mountaineering, skiing or snowboarding You don't have to go far to enjoy the Pyrenees, the Picos de Europa, the Central System or Sierra Nevada . If rafting is more your thing, in the Huesca or Catalan Pyrenees you can enjoy mighty rivers where dare you with this adrenaline sport suitable for all audiences with minimal training. Or with canyoning, in the Sierra de Guara , also in Huesca, considered the European paradise of this fun practice.
If you are more into beach sports such as kitesurfing or windsurfing, you are probably looking to ensure the wind on the coasts of Tarifa or Fuerteventura and, if what you want are waves for surfing, perhaps you should opt for the Vizcaya Mundaka , its Gipuzkoan neighbor Zarautz or by Lanzarote , just to name a few desirable enclaves among surfers.
Only for the brave: Mount Everest from 7,300 meters
Another of the sports tourism activities that most fans move around the world is diving and this is where destinations such as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, the Great Blue Hole in Belize, the red coral reefs of Sharm el-Sheikh or the transparent waters of the Maldives are some of the destinations dreamed of by lovers of exploring the underwater world .
Other sports that move their practitioners around the world are paragliding and skydiving since the possibility of enjoying the landscapes while discharging adrenaline makes have no qualms about wrapping the blanket around your head to look for new destinations where you can unleash your passion. And how not to talk about cycling, an authentic religion for so many that even Tour de France Each year, it organizes a stage for cyclists whose route is exactly the one that the long-suffering two-wheel professionals face days later, although you have to be well prepared as it is usually one of the mountainous days of each edition. And you also have to be quick when signing up on its official website because there is so much demand places tend to fill up quickly.
The red coral reefs of Sharm el-Sheikh
LET OTHERS SWEAT, BETTER TO SEE IT COMFORTABLY IN THE STADIUM
If, on the other hand, you are more fond of the sport of armchair ball, you can also travel perfectly, in this case to witness how the players of your team or your favorite athletes sweat while competing and cheering yourselves up so that you can later celebrate their triumphs and say that you were there that day. The legion of travelers for sporting reasons is vast and in 2015 they will have numerous options to do so . Undoubtedly the sport that moves more fans to watch matches is football. To get an idea, Brazil received almost 700 thousand foreign tourists during the 2014 World Cup while foreign visitors to the World Basketball Championships in Spain spent 82 million euros on an event that generated a total economic impact of more than 400 million .
Old Trafford, 'the theater of dreams'
Football lovers also often enjoy attending matches of the most important football leagues outside their borders. Among them, the English Premier League takes the cake since its stadiums breathe tradition, respect and authentic devotion to a sport of which they are the inventors for a reason, although getting tickets to visit the most popular venues usually requires foresight . In addition, the visits of the teams that compete in European competitions is always a good excuse to travel and the final of the Copa del Rey usually displaces twenty thousand fans of each team to the city that hosts it.
If, on the other hand, basketball is your thing, the United States is probably your destination to attend the spectacle (on and off the court) that an NBA game or the all-star which, in mid-February, will bring together the stars of the best league in the world at Madison Square Garden in New York. Meanwhile, in Spain, the Copa del Rey every year it draws thousands of fans since for four days fans of eight teams meet in the same city, not only sharing their passion for the basket but between games they fraternize amicably and enjoy the host city. Its organization is increasingly in demand and in 2015 the lucky one will be Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the weekend of February 19 to 22.
Formula 1 also unleashes passions
Two other sports that attract masses every time there is a grand prize are Formula 1 and the motorcycling . In our country there is a real passion for two wheels and every time it is disputed one of the four grand prizes held annually in Spain (Jerez, Barcelona, Alcañiz and Cheste), the procession of bikers and the atmosphere before, during and after the grand prix is unique in the world. Formula 1, especially since the emergence of Fernando Alonso, also unleashes passions and, even though the prices are high , attend the Grand Prix of Catalonia or one of the other twenty that make up the world circuit it is a priceless experience for the good fans who can afford it.
Nadal at Roland Garros 2014
In addition to these four mass-moving sports, tennis fans you can follow the adventures of Nadal and company in the ATP circuit taking the opportunity to visit the cities where the tournaments are held and for cycling fans experience a stage of the Tour up close in the Pyrenees or the Alps or one of the main mountainous stages of the Vuelta a España is a requirement to be considered a real fan.
But living these sporting events on the spot is not always possible because sometimes the prices on the dates when they dispute multiply the prices of travel and accommodation . Then the sports tourist will always have the option of visiting the mythical settings of their favorite sport out of season, just as it can be done with the main tourist destinations. if we want to avoid the masses . As you can see, the possibilities of sports tourism are multiple and is always a great excuse to take a trip , whether we are active athletes or what we like is see the pros in action.
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