Lloret’s sports facilities will be displaying the “fully booked” sign throughout April thanks to the many sports events being held over the course of the month, including sports camps and official competitions. A total of 16,000 sports tourists will visit Lloret: 10,858 sports people and more than 4,400 companions.
A total of 15,386 sports people and more than 7,000 companions have visited the town since the start of the year, proof of the consolidation sports tourism in the low and mid season.
According to Joan Bernat, Councillor for Sport, “The organisers of these events are extremely loyal. For example, the TravelSports agency, which organises the Sant Jaume Trophy, brings 1,280 sports people and 1,000 companions to Lloret and has been holding its competition in the city for more than 30 years.”
Other competitions that will take place are the Costa Brava Beach Ultimate & Freestyle International Tournament, now in its 13th year, with 300 participants; the MIC (Mediterranean International Cup) international youth football tournament, with 4,500 participants (of whom 1,000 will be staying in Lloret); the 8th Town of Lloret International Handball Tournament, with 450 participants; or the training camps of athletics clubs from different countries, with over 500 participants in total.
The spotlight will also be on basketball in the coming days thanks to the traditional Eurobasket tournament, with 350 participants; the very first MIC Basketball international youth basketball tournament, with 300 participants; and the Globasket event, which will bring together more than 1,400 participants from 22 countries.
The sports tourists mainly come from Nordic countries and stay in establishments such as the Guitart Central Park Aqua Resort, Hotel Samba, Hotel Maria del Mar, Hotel Anabel or the Evenia Olympic Resort. As Joan Bernat points out, “The fact that we have 20 certified sports tourism hotels is highly valued.”
Lloret de Mar has been a certified Sports Tourism Destination for football, athletics, cycling, swimming and team sports since 2006.
In 2016, over 51,000 sports tourists travelled to the destination; specifically, 31,369 sports people and 19,641 companions. There has been a significant increase in the number of sports events held in 2016 (359) in respect of 2015 (240). These 359 events comprised 281 sports camps, 46 private tournaments, 11 official competitions, 14 local competitions and 7 other events. Joan Bernat adds, “And there’s still plenty of room for growth in the area of outdoor sports tourism. This year we’re working on adding running to the list of certified sports and on improving the road cycling and mountain biking product.”
