Developing cyprus as a sport tourism destination: The results of a swot analysis

Recently, Cyprus was selected by the British Olympic Committee as the training area for athletic preparation for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. This move has prompted enthusiasm amongst tourism and sport organizations in Cyprus to expand its tourism industry to becoming a sport tourism market. However, as sport tourism is a relatively new concept in Cyprus, tourism and sport organizations have little knowledge and expertise in the service provision and administration of sport tourism services. The purpose of this study is to conduct a SWOT analysis examining the possibility of including sports tourism as one of the major pillars for strategic planning of tourism and sport in Cyprus. A focus group of six tourism and sport officials was conducted. The result revealed that: (1) there is some potential or prospects for the development of sport tourism in Cyprus as the strengths and opportunities are plenty, (2) the development of Cyprus as a sport tourism destination will require the collaborative efforts of all tourism and sports industries in Cyprus, (3) the Olympic Games of Athens 2004 can act as an opportunity to expose Cyprus as a sport tourism market to the international community, (4) internal weakness such as lack of expertise and training in the sport tourism industry would have to be overcome, and (5) proper strategic management would be required by all organizations involved to administer sport services accordingly. A call for more research is presented to provide further information on how to strategically plan for the development of sport tourism in Cyprus.