The Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC) organized and hosted a Sports Marketing and Tourism workshop which kicked off, 24th to 26th October 2018.
A maximum of 40 participants from the Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC), Rwanda National Olympic and sports Committee, National Sports Federations and Sports Journalists Association, took part in the workshop.
The three-day workshop was led and moderated by Mr. Idy Uyoe, an International and recognized sports consultant.
National Sports Federations were trained on the conceptual and practical elements of Sports Marketing within Olympic Sports Organizations objectively to improve the marketing discipline within the organizations
“We met members from sports federations with in Rwanda and we had discussions specifically focusing on sports tourism on Wednesday. Sports tourism is an investment that could earn to Rwanda millions of dollars in returns,” he said.
On Thursday workshop looked at how sports of federations can engage with the private sector and stop depending on government funding,
The purpose of this model is to realize the need to move to a private-driven model. Idy also said that sports in Africa is not seen as a serious business but we need to build sports as an industry. If sports don’t have a marketing strategy, there is no way they can succeed.
Sports Organizations were trained on the conceptual and practical elements of Sports Marketing within Olympic Sports Organizations objectively to improve the marketing discipline within the organizations.
One of the trainee Emmanuel Murenzi from the cycling federation Ferwacy said that they have acquired a lot about marketing and tourism in sports and the next step is to implement what they have learned in order to attract private sponsors.
The three-day workshop was followed by a three-day “Integrated Marketing Strategy Session”, aimed at developing the Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee integrated marketing strategy after which the consultant will present the final marketing strategy document.
Speaking during the closing ceremony, RNOSC president, Amb. Valens Munyabagisha urged the participants to go and implement what they learned in the workshop while sharing with their workmates in their respective federations.