Event sports tourism in the region Dakhla-Oued Eddahab: development lever of the tourist destination and state of the art

Abstract

Sporting events of all types and sizes attract tourists, whether spectators or participants, and have become tourist attractions, considerably enhancing the image of the host destination. They can act as a catalyst for tourism development because of their ability to attract visitors, stimulate demand, promote local culture and identity, and foster synergies between sectors, all of which help to improve the destination's image.

Event-based sports tourism in Morocco occupies a considerable place in tourism policy strategies, whether it's a professional, amateur or leisure event.  In the Dakhla Oued-Eddahab region of southern Morocco, tourism activities are characterized by an often positive trend in overnight stays, a growing number of visitors and a rich and varied tourism offering. This quantitative evolution is marked by the organization of a series of sporting events, thanks to customer demand and the high quality of the offer on offer. This result is the culmination of efforts to improve the development of sports tourism.

In this article, we have chosen to treat sports events as an approach to territorial promotion, to consider sports tourism as a powerful locomotive of socio-economic growth, and to present event-based sports tourism as an instrument of progress and development for the pilot tourist destination. Indeed, our study shows that thanks to sporting events, the region has been able to benefit in terms of development, since these events endorse their capacity to create generative activities for the benefit of the local population, making them a real factor in the development of the local economy, not forgetting their remarkable role in promoting a very positive image for the region and a tool for promoting tourism on an international scale benefiting from worldwide visibility.

Keywords: sports events, sports tourism events, development, tourist destination & Dakhla -Oued Eddahab Region.

Classification JEL: L83; R58

Paper type: Empirical Research