Sports travel company Elite Sports Tours has announced the launch of its online hotel booking engine which aims to transform how fans experience their favourite sporting events.

The platform allows sports enthusiasts to bundle and customise hotel accommodation with game tickets, unlocking savings and simplifying the experience of booking sports travel packages.

Sports tourists are known for higher budgets than the average international or domestic traveller as they aim to enhance their overall sports and tourism experience and create lasting memories.

Elite Sports Tours works to build relationships with hotel suppliers close to sporting venues. These hotels are guaranteed regular occupancy boosts across annual sporting calendars.

Major hotel groups are increasingly investing more in the lucrative sports travel market. Radisson recently announced a collaboration with Juss Sports to operate and manage the fourth Radisson Blu hotel in Shanghai, China. The hotel will be located in the centre of Xujiahui Sports Park.

2023 saw great success for Sydney hotels during the FIFA Women's World Cup, while 2024 is set to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Paris. This has spawned a significant sporting hotel deal as Accor has become an official partner of the Games.

The wider hotels sponsorship sector has seen an annual spend of $415.4m in 2023, with GlobalData citing Accor and MGM Resorts as top spenders.

Factors driving the sports tourism market include cost, local weather, the reputation of residents in the area, the availability of attractions and activities, the quality of accommodation, the accessibility of the destination, the sports venue and other aspects of tourism infrastructure.