Are Competitive Athletes the New Travel Influencer?
Partnering with competitive athletes can drive bookings and build brand
Athletes are leaving the stadium and coming to a resort near you!
Professional athletes have become a growing travel influencer as hotels partner with athletes to promote fitness stays at their properties.
The next turn of the wheel in wellness travel, there are many reasons why athletes improve on wellness programming in a trend Global Wellness Summit called out in their 2023 Trends report on Wellness + Sports. Today, you can even buy a fractional share in an athlete at Finlete.
For years, resorts have offered fitness programming from bootcamps to recovery holidays, usually with local influencers. But now, it’s gone up a notch with professional athletes.
The offerings I’m seeing include everything from a 2-hour clinic to an all-inclusive 3-night program. Some examples:
Sensai Porcupine Creek just sent an email about their upcoming 3-night program led by Olympic tennis star, Tommy Haas.
The Aman property in Turks & Caicos launched an Amanyara Legends program where they bring world-class athletes to their property and charge guests a fee to participate in a clinic with these athletes. In a lovely twist to the trend, Amanyara is giving all proceeds from these clinics to the Edward C. Gartland Youth Centre – a local non-profit organization.
The Siro hotel in Dubai has been a popular example of this trend. Although they do not have athletes offering programs, they have an ambassador program with athletes like British Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty, having an advisory role in designing recovery, nutrition and wellbeing programs, giving their stamp of approval to programs and treatments designed to help guests unlock peak mental and physical performance.
Why Professional Athletes?
Bringing professional athletes to resort is a growing trend. Unlike a traditional travel influencer who primarily posts gorgeous beauty shots by a pool, an athlete can tell a story about their travel, their training and their recovery.
They offer multiple values:
Credibility: Far beyond a fitness influencer, a professional athlete has a much higher level of credibility when it comes to fitness and wellness. They are experts in their field and have very public results to prove it.
Reach: Professional athletes often have large social media followings which means they can drive lots of attention to a hotel when they promote it. I did a quick peek at Porcupine Creek’s Tommy Haas post on Instagram and it clearly outperformed its neighboring posts, capturing over 1300 likes, trouncing the location-based and wellness posts which rarely cracked 100.
Storytelling: Athletes often have personal stories and experiences related to overcoming challenges. This makes them inspiring and relatable to audiences and help motivate guests to make positive changes in their own lives. They are the ultimate coaches.4.
New Markets: Whereas wellness travel has been primarily targeting females, partnering with professional athletes attracts more men, opening up the elusive market of the male for wellness resorts and spas.
The Market
The Global Sports Hospitality Market is expected to reach $20.24 Billion by 2027. This market refers to revenue from companies using sporting events to build their brands, for example offering tickets to sporting events as a corporate perk or VIP access to a sporting event. Although this is not exactly the same thing as bringing athletes on property, it reflects the growing interest in sports as a value-add in our culture, especially in Europe and the Middle East.
Another signal that both proves and supports investment in this trend is the growth in the market for wearables, another sign of the market’s interest in their own performance and wanting to optimize their health.
At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, there was an explosion of growth and interest in tracking technology because of COVID’s amplification of people’s interest in their own health and wellness. The biggest growth potential is in the middle east.
One final but adjacent trend that I think is interesting is the growth in mixed use properties. Many resort brands are building residences so people can live a branded wellness lifestyle at home. If you’re a real estate developer, there is a strong case to be made for fitness and recovery-themed spaces, including technology like cryotherapy, hyperbaric chambers, and sports medicine. This type of use is a relevant addition to the obvious residential, co-working, and wellness and social club spaces.
What Can You Do?
Are athletes right for your brand and if so, which athlete? How do you assess? What is their true value?
There are many ways to layer athletes into your current programming offerings:
Clinics to improve specific sports skills, ie golf, tennis, running, pickleball!
Classes and services for injury prevention and recovery
Partnering with athletes in an advisory role for both co-promotion and program design
Wow-making sports experiences: If your location is spectacular and an expert has enough of a loyal following, you may not need a professional athlete. Runner and NYTimes bestselling author of the cookbook, Run Fast Eat Slow, Elyse Kopecky was able to quickly sell out her French Alps running retreat last Summer in just a few days.
One of the easy mistakes to make is to just throw an athlete at your property. Without an intentional plan, this can be an expensive mistake, especially if athletes are requesting fees and first-class travel to show up.
Also, just because an athlete has won a lot of medals doesn’t guarantee they will drive bookings to your property. It’s important to consider:
Price-point – what is the income level of your athlete’s following?
Format of program – length and inclusions?
Brand – is the athlete on brand for you? Are their values in alignment?
Sociability – will the athlete want to engage with guests in a fun and social way, joining meals for example?
Conclusion
Travel has always been a way to connect with other cultures, learn new skills and push our limits. Athletes are at the forefront of this movement, using their influence to inspire others to travel and experience the world in a new way, and improve skills and health while they are at it.As athletes gain popularity as travel influencers, they are being recognized by the travel industry. More and more travel companies are partnering with athletes to promote their destinations and experiences.
These partnerships can be a win-win for both athletes and travel brands. Athletes are able to access new travel experiences while travel brands benefit from the exposure and credibility and storytelling that comes with partnering with a professional athlete.
As passion-driven travel grows, sports are a big driver for many people especially men, so the right campaign and partnership can yield real results for both the bottom line and for brand equity.
Interested in learning more about how partnering with an athlete can impact your bottom line? Contact me.