As the year 2021 comes to an end, most Corporates in India have been through turbulent times on account of the Covid Pandemic, though some of them have done exceedingly well enough to become Unicorns. But what’s common amongst all is that all of them are looking forward to 2022 with optimism. KreedOn spoke to Kanthi D Suresh, Editor-in-Chief of Power Sportz to understand the expectations and scope for Sports Tourism in 2022.
How would you sum up the way 2021 has gone by for Power Sportz?
“The year 2021 started off with a feeling of Victory over the Pandemic, only to be dashed down in such a way that one just hopes can forget! Firstly, we are thankful to just be alive and healthy. But, within crisis comes the seeds of opportunity. We realized how digital was growing and how human behaviours were changing and were able to strengthen our product with the right mix of content, creativity & technology.”
Why do you think this digital habit will continue when people are looking to get back to their previous normal life?
The pandemic could have forced people to adapt to digital technology in every aspect of life, but at the same time, people were also made to understand the advantages that came with it. It’s now become a habit and Good habits are as addictive! I don’t see that changing. The Internet has now become a way of life and internet devices have become the medium for both work & entertainment!.
How do you see the business of Sports grow in this situation?
If you notice around the World, many countries are now adopting alternate streams of revenue generation just as all of us are. Countries that traditionally relied on their natural resources are now focussing on becoming tourist destinations. Sports Tourism is projected to be growing for the next 10 years and is expected to reach $1,803.70 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 16.1% from 2021 to 2030, as per World Tourism Organization. I see tremendous potential for the business of Sports in this domain.
If you notice around the World, many countries are now adopting alternate streams of revenue generation just as all of us are. Countries that traditionally relied on their natural resources are now focussing on becoming tourist destinations. Sports Tourism is projected to be growing for the next 10 years and is expected to reach $1,803.70 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 16.1% from 2021 to 2030, as per World Tourism Organization. I see tremendous potential for the But, how does Power Sportz fit into the entire spectrum of Sports Tourism growth?
I think OTT and Sports Tourism are very closely linked. A country that wants to grow Sports Tourism needs an OTT partner for a global reach. That’s where we come in. Our cloud-based technology permits us to uplink from any part of the world and downstream globally. That’s how we see ourselves supporting this growing segment. I think any country that has a close to 10% contribution from tourism, to its GDP, is a country that we would like to focus on.
So, is it about bagging rights of Sports properties being hosted in this kind of Countries?
Yes, definitely its. We cannot enter any country without proper rights acquisition. But to facilitate further, we are creating Sports properties that may be of interest to these countries. Cricket and football are the 2 most popular sports in the World. We have been able to, over the months, strengthen our Talent acquisition division. Our Human Resource division which has been in existence for over a decade. It has enough bandwidth for Global talent acquisitions. And has worked well to create a strong talent base of Players and Support Staff. The combination of Sports Properties along with our streaming technology makes our product add value to countries that wish to become Sports destinations.
Power Sportz was in the news recently for having invited Usain Bolt also to be part of a t20 league, you are ready to execute.
HA HA, ..yes, I read that too. It was all over International media as well. We have definitely invited Usain and would be happy to see him play in a T20 League. Power Sportz believes that Talent has value, and it has to be used in every way possible. We are amazed at the Cricketing talent we have found across the Globe. And we have covered India, UK, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, West Indies….the list goes on. So, what do we see in 2022? Our hard work, efforts, and passion continue. But, we are hopeful of all our efforts in 2021, to fructify soon in 2022.
