At the personal invitation of Mr. Kamil Bortniczuk, Minister of Sport and Tourism of Poland, Acting President of FISU, Leonz Eder, and Secretary General/CEO of FISU, Eric Saintrond, were panelists at the Second European Congress of Sport and Tourism 2023, held in Zakopane took place. The Polish Vice President of FISU, Marian Dymalski, also took part in the conference.
Leonz Eder took part in the discussion on the topic “Organization of large sporting events as a development stimulus – how large sporting events impact social and economic development”, while Éric Saintrond intervened on the topic “Sports diplomacy – sport as an area of international diplomacy”. Both panel discussions were broadcast live on Polish national television.
Like the other four panelists, Eder emphasized the relevance of sports in tourism and mentioned that FISU has long been conducting impact studies to confirm and validate the different benefits that sports events bring to a city, a region and also a country.
He highlighted issues such as the economic impact, destination attractiveness, infrastructure development, and the cultural and educational exchanges that accompany major sporting events.
“In addition to social engagement and effective advertising and marketing work, a travel destination can appear more often on the world map if the city or region with which it is associated repeatedly takes part in international events,” said Leonz Eder.
Zakopane hosted two Winter Universiades in 1993 and 2001.
“With the legacy of these major events and the recently modernized or newly built outstanding facilities, Zakopane would once again be an ideal host for the FISU World University Winter Games, perhaps together with its neighboring country Slovakia,” he added.
Leonz Eder, like the other speakers, praised Poland’s great experience in hosting single and multi-sport events in both winter and summer.
“This combined with Polish hospitality explains why many associations, including FISU, would like to return to this country for their events,” he said.
Éric Saintrond’s panel addressed the question of the influence of politics in sport. It was about Russia’s participation in international sports events and Saintrond explained the position of the FISU, which follows the decisions of international sports federations.
He mentioned FISU’s help for Ukrainian athletes to participate in FISU events. “And I hope that after the end of the war, the students from Russia will take part in the FISU competitions again,” he said.
The panelists also talked about “washing sports.” “We need to create a win-win situation between countries that want to invest in sports events to improve their image and sports associations that need hosts to organize their events.” And we also need to take into account that these events “We must respect the UN resolution “Sport for climate change,” said Éric Saintrond.