Virtual dimensions for tomorrow's vacation

Digitization is changing society and its vacation behavior. New sports such as e-sports, drone racing or even virtual climbing tours offer entirely new opportunities and are becoming up-and-coming crowd pleasers among sports formats. How sustainable this development is for tourism was discussed last week at the first international "Sport.Tourism.Forum" held as part of the "Grenzenlos - Treffpunkt für Freizeit und Fernweh" trade show in St. Gallen.

Under the motto "Active, Digital, International", 150 experts from the sports and tourism industry met to exchange ideas. It became clear that the target group of gamers is increasingly becoming a focus of business interest.

More tourism with e-sports and gaming

Professional gamers now earn millions playing computer games like League of Legends and World of Warcraft. With professional management, sponsors and commentators, electronic sports have long since left their niche and are attracting numerous and wealthy fans worldwide with virtual competitions. "35 million people in Germany are gamers and thus potential guests for tourist offers," explained Daniel Luther, e-sports consultant at the ESB Marketing Network, in front of a gathered audience of experts. E-sports and gaming as popular sports have enormous potential. Mega events like the "Intel Extreme Masters" in Katowice already attract 173,000 visitors to the region. The venue generates around 22 million euros in advertising value. In Switzerland, however, the topic still has a long way to go. "Many decision-makers do not yet relate to the communities, they lack access to gaming and e-sports," said Richard Hurni of by the way communications. Yet the new sports would score points with families in particular. According to a study, 70 percent of 11- to 19-year-old Swiss regularly play computer games. That's 470,000 gamers in Switzerland alone.

Daniel Salmanovich from The Arcade-Gaming Hotel gave the professional audience an insight into the gaming hotel industry and a tip: "At least give your guests the opportunity to watch e-sports competitions via live stream." That would at least be a first step in approaching the topic and accommodating gamers.

Drone race conquer the Great Wall of China

While e-sports are only slowly gaining widespread recognition, drone races have already proven to be a crowd-puller for tourism destinations. According to Benedikt Brandmeier, organizer of the Drone Champions League (DCL), this event combines the three megatrends of virtual reality, drones and e-sports in one sport. In drone races, pilots steer their flying robots through the course at speeds of up to 140 kilometers per hour. With virtual reality goggles, pilots see the races from the drone's perspective. "We are building bridges between the virtual and real worlds," says Brandmeier.

The drone races are deliberately held at spectacular locations. This also benefits the classic tourism segments such as gastronomy and the hotel industry. On average, 5000 spectators attend the races. 180,000 followed the races in Paris. New, unique locations are still being sought. An absolute novelty is the staging of the DCL in August 2018 directly at the Great Wall of China. "We were lucky and had good contacts with Chinese politics, without which nothing works," reveals Brandmeier. However, the fun doesn't come cheap. Tourism regions can apply for a location starting at 200,000 euros. According to Brandmeier, the expenses could be refinanced very well through sponsoring, ticketing and catering. But the drone races also arouse the interest of potential guests at home on the couch. The real event is replayed as a video game. For this purpose, the venues are recreated three-dimensionally, and the player flies the drones using a completely new technology and a completely new perspective.

Virtual media not a replacement, but a supplement

"Virtual media will not replace the real experience at the vacation destination, but they will complement the vacation," opined VR specialist Matthias Taugwalder of Concept360. The virtual tours would not be able to replace a real hike, but they will whet the appetite for a vacation and give a taste of the most beautiful time of the year.

Away from the virtual world, there was consensus at the congress about the importance of sport for tourism. "Sport is one of the main motives for choosing a vacation in the mountains," said Corinna Rieser of the Swiss research institute Rütter Soceco. Since 2008, she said, Switzerland has seen a slight decline in stays, and trips are getting shorter, but spending on vacations is on the rise. The trend is toward individualization, with the guest dictating the vacation.

Whether virtual sports will soon make their way into tourism regions or not, events such as the "Sport.Tourismus.Forum" in St. Gallen certainly create an exceptional platform for encounters.

The next Sport.Tourism.Forum will take place on January 18, 2019 in St.Gallen.