A total of 104,307 people linked to sports tourism visited Lloret de Mar’s municipal sports facilities in 2024. This figure represents an increase of 25.7% compared to 2023, which closed with 82,970 visitors, and has enabled Lloret de Mar to exceed 100,000 visitors linked to sports-related trips. Of this total, 59,572 were sportspeople and 44,735 were accompanying persons. The busiest months at the municipal sports facilities last year were June, with 14,378 sportspeople, and March, with 10,731.
These data were presented at the sports tourism working group organised annually by Lloret Turisme, which is made up of more than twenty accommodation establishments and two incoming agencies, all of which have been awarded Sports Tourism (DTE) and/or Cycle Tourism certification by the Catalan Tourism Agency of the Government of Catalonia.
In terms of sports activities, a total of 564 sports tourism activities were carried out in Lloret in 2024, 33% more than the previous year, 80% of which were training camps.
By number of participants, the most popular sports are football (20,029), basketball (9,762) and athletics (9,169). And by nationality in terms of the number of activities, the most popular are France (110), Sweden (78), Catalonia (46) and multi-market (40). In terms of the number of activities, the most popular sporting disciplines in Lloret de Mar in terms of sports tourism are: football (179), followed by athletics (123), cycling (86), swimming (63) and triathlon (47). In general terms, the most relevant markets are France, Sweden, Catalonia and Norway. In the last year, there has been a significant growth in training camps for football teams from Poland and the United States.
As a major event last year, from 23 to 27 October, Lloret de Mar hosted the 49th edition of the UN Inter-Agency Games 2024, a friendly sports competition organised annually by the United Nations, with more than 1,600 participants from over 120 countries. The aim of the event is to foster friendship, cohesion, friendly competition and teamwork among UN employees. During their stay, they took part in all kinds of sporting activities programmed in the different facilities in the municipality and its surroundings (athletics, team sports such as football, basketball or handball, tennis and paddle tennis or swimming, among many others). Elizabeth Keegan explains that this event “is a clear example of the Meetings & Sports product, in which Lloret de Mar has great potential thanks to the joint work of the public and private sectors and destination’s historical specialisation in both meetings tourism and sports tourism, together with an exceptional natural environment and the ideal infrastructure for hosting these events”.
This year Lloret de Mar, in the same vein, will host the 44th edition of the international MEDIGAMES event from 7 to 14 June, this time with the participation of some 1,500 professionals from the world of medicine and health who will meet in Lloret de Mar, where they will take part in an extensive sports programme and a symposium.
Lloret de Mar has been certified as a Sports Tourism Destination by the Catalan Tourism Agency since 2006 and is the destination in Catalonia with the most certified sports (football, athletics, team sports, cycling, swimming and triathlon).
