Investigating the viability and accessibility of local facilities in relation to developing women’s football as a tourism niche

Abstract

The main aim of this study involves identifying whether or not Malta has adequate and viable facilities in order to attract and host foreign women’s football teams, whether it is for purposes such as training camps, friendly tournaments, cup qualifications, and so on. This tourism activity would sufficiently aid the development of this tourism niche – sports tourism – and will also contribute to a further establishment of Malta’s brand identity. The research approach that was adopted is a qualitative method involving 12 interviews, which offered an in-depth analysis of the local facilities, and also a comparison with foreign facilities. The interviewees were chosen due to their involvement with women’s football and their involvement within the tourism industry. This gave the research a two-sided perspective. The critical analysis of findings revealed that Malta is still lacking in providing well-maintained and high-quality facilities. Nonetheless, it seems that due to the number of pitches available, there is still a great opportunity to develop these facilities in order to attract foreign groups to choose Malta as their ideal destination. It is essential for the local stakeholders to work hand-in-hand with local clubs and accommodation providers alike in order to be able to offer foreign women’s football teams a complete package. This complete package involves viable football facilities, along with adequate accommodation facilities. It is also essential that well-trained and experienced individuals are working in increasing marketing efforts in order to attract such groups, as it was clearly pointed out that hotels gain substantially from these visits. This in turn will reflect positively on the market power that the tourism industry yields in Malta’s economy.