Sport

Teams

This is a very specialist market and generally more suitable for large hotels with a range of facilities. Teams need extra rooms for staff, a leisure club and very flexible catering. Bookings are made by the team manager or if it is an overseas tour maybe a specialist travel agent. There are also minor and amateur sports that need accommodating but the lack of funds usually means that they choose student or very low cost accommodation.

Teams, particularly football, do look for training facilities in the close season. These teams need easy access to training fields.

Supporters

If you are near to any sort of sports venue there is potential. Even if the sport is minor or amateur and the team doesn’t stay in a hotel, there is still potential from supporters and officials. An agent often makes the reservations, but they can also be made by an official from the sport’s governing body.

Tourist Boards

Local

Local tourist organisations are usually set up to promote a local town or area and are often funded by the local council as well as the tourist attractions. They try not to give any particular priority to any one hotel but that does not mean that you should avoid treating them as a valuable client. If you feel that contributing to their budget is not something that you can refuse, you have to try to get as much business as you can through their office; in season they often get a lot of callers on the day so can be a good source of fill-up business. Give them good rates and don’t forget to thank them for their efforts. To make it work for you, consider being appointed to the local tourism committee.