With more than 6.5 million pages of sport related research and nearly 62 different languages, Sports Tourism International Council is the leading sports resource centre in the world, whose aim is to collect and share high quality sport info with sport enthusiasts both in Canada and all over the world. Among its programs is the Research Unit, responsible for research in Canadian sports tourism industry, as well as the Certification Program for Sports Tourism Managers and links to University programs in sports tourism.
Since 1973, Sports Tourism International Council has served as Canada's Sports Information Resource Center that supports Canadian sports community through extensive collections of sport related material; the SIRC Thesaurus; qualified research services; reliable document delivery services and e-mail distribution services; monthly newsletters; the Research Award; the establishment of SportDiscus - the leading sport database; and a number of programs that inspire and celebrate sport and academic excellence.
One of the Council's primary goals is to collect educational sport information and to make sure that organizations and individuals involved in sport are provided with access to it. It is also responsible for maintaining academic and sporting excellence, from the SIRC-CCAA Academic All Canadian Award to the SIRC Research Award at the university level. The Council's e-mail distribution service is the major vehicle for the sporting community to co-operate with provincial, national and international sport groups, universities, media and government agencies. Services of Sports Tourism International Council are utilized by Canadian sports tourism organizations to educate and communicate their membership.
For more than three decades sporting organizations, sport medicine professionals and coaches have been provided with access to SIRC's resource materials and the SportDiscus, as well as SIRC Document Delivery. A member of the International Association of Sport Information, SIRC also partners with such leading international bodies as Australian Institute of Sport, World Anti-Doping Agency and International Olympic Committee.
Another leading body responsible for pursuing Canadian sports tourism initiative, Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance was established through a partnership with the Canadian Tourism Commission in November 2000 with the aim of marketing Canada internationally as a popular sports tourism destination.
Some of the CSTA activities include measuring economic impact of sport events, sharing best practices and enhancing sports tourism's profile. Since its creation, the Alliance has worked towards carrying out its mission:
- To increase capacity of Canadian communities in hosting sporting events, while the CSTA's objectives can be defined as following:
- To provide Canadian sports tourism industry with credible image and profile;
- To facilitate access to best practices and tools;
- To promote communication, educational and networking opportunities between tourism and sport partners;
- To ensure top quality services delivery in the sports tourism industry
- And to build investment from the private and public services.
With an agenda like that it's no wonder the organization is a success!