The Impact of a Mega Sport Event on Tourism of the Host City: Case of the African Nations Championship in Marrakech

Abstract

Nowadays, sport and tourism constitute basic activities of well-being in the society that characterizes us. However, despite this parallelism in the history of the two activities, their interrelation and joint study is relatively recent. The primary objective of sports tourism is to attract a considerable number of visitors to participate or attend as spectators, constituting a great opportunity to increase the economic impact of the destination. Aim. This paper examines the effect of the organization of sporting events on the development of the nation's brand image, while identifying the existing relationship between sport and tourism. Then, we present a study of a concrete case about is the experience of the ocher city Marrakech when it hosted the African Nations Championship in 2018, and its impact on the development of the city's tourism sector.