Hosting Regional Sport Events: Insights from Emerging Sport Tourism Destinations

The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate and gain stakeholder insights into the nature of hosting sport tourism events and using them as a regional development strategy in two emerging sport tourism markets (i.e., regions that have recently begun to explore the potential of hosting small-scale sport events as a tourism development strategy). Specifically, the current research addressed five research questions in relation to tourism stakeholders’ input from the Waterloo and Niagara Regions in Ontario, Canada: (i) Why do destinations engage in sport tourism development strategies? (ii) What are perceived constraints to engaging in sport tourism events as development strategies? (iii) How do stakeholders decide which sport events to pursue, bid for and host? (iv) What are the perceived regional impacts of hosting sport tourism events? (v) What extent is leveraging these impacts considered in sport tourism strategy development? A total of 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key sport and tourism decision making stakeholders in the two regions during February and March 2015. A thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006) was used, which included different phases of coding and analysis to derive key themes and concepts. Themes emerging from data included, Embracing the current sport tourism situation; Deriving benefits from hosting sport tourism events (e.g. job creation, sport development, volunteerism, enhanced well-being, destination image development, increased community engagement and destination differentiation); Overcoming challenges of hosting sport tourism events (e.g. facility and infrastructure constraints, resident irritation and displacement; resource allocation and navigating the political environment); Understanding regional impacts of hosting sport tourism events and Effective leveraging of sport tourism events. Implications for research and practice are further discussed in relation to each theme

REGULATORY/COORDINATION CONSIDERATIONS FACING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A CARIBBEAN INVASIVE SPECIES STRATEGY FROM A MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE PERSPECTIVE

Invasive alien species (IAS) continue to threaten Trinidad and Tobago. The country cannot manage this problem alone, so collaboration with countries in the Greater Caribbean Region as part of a Regional Strategy is imperative to exclude those pests that have not yet entered the country and to manage those that have transcended national boundaries. The Caribbean Invasive Species Surveillance and Information Programme (CISSIP) as a major component of such Strategy is very relevant and timely to address many of the issues associated with IAS. For such an approach to succeed, however, there must be various considerations at the national level. Among these are (i) the legislative and regulatory framework; (ii) long term funding for sustainability; (iii) adequate staffing, (iv) linkages and networking with other stakeholders, (v) compatibility with the Ministry of Agriculture work programme and (vi) security. This paper discusses Regulatory/Coordinating considerations of a Caribbean Invasive Species Strategy in relation to implementation of a project such as the CISSIP project