Football Tourism on the Rise

Fans shell out for matchtickets and more with packages from $4,000

Football fans who head overseas to support their favourite teams on a sports travel package are ensured match-day tickets.
PHOTO: 1896 TRAVEL

SINGAPORE – Anyone who has camped for concert tickets will know it is a game of endurance and luck. The same can be said of tickets for popular sporting events such as the Olympic Games, Wimbledon and Uefa European Football Championship.
Getting a ticket is just the first step. Fans also have to plan their itinerary and book flights and accommodation ahead of time.
In Singapore, more are opting for sports travel packages, which ensure a seat at their event of choice and cover all related bookings.
Mr Aaron Kok, founder of boutique sports travel agency 1896 Travel, tailors such packages to be as hassle-free as possible.
He launched the business in 2010 as a product of his love of sports and travel. The majority of his bookings are for football, but he also offers packages for other sports such as tennis, golf and basketball.
“Back then, sports tourism was not popular in Asia, so people didn’t understand what I was doing. But now, travellers are willing to spend on their passions and niche experiences,” he says.

Mr Aaron Kok (second from right), founder of 1896 Travel, offers tours where sports fans can experience live matches. PHOTO: 1896 TRAVEL

Travel packages cover return airfare, transport, accommodation with daily breakfast, a guide, match tickets and sightseeing. Prices start at $4,000 for a seven-day tour to watch football in Britain.
By June, the company would have fulfilled about 80 bookings in 2024, compared with about 50 in 2019. Mr Kok intends to expand his business to Vietnam, Malaysia, China and South Korea by 2025.

Ticket frenzy

Mr Kok says sports travel packages provide customers with a sense of assurance.
“People have to think about whether they are comfortable securing their own tickets. Even with resale websites that are supposedly reputable, there are scams and inflated costs,” he adds.
Come June 14, Germany will host the Uefa European Football Championship, more commonly known as the Euro, which is held every four years.
According to the Uefa website, more than 20 million ticket applications were received from 206 countries during the initial sales phase in October 2023. Only 1.2 million tickets were up for grabs via ballot then, and each fan reportedly applied for 13 tickets on average.
Digital marketing manager Chin Yik Sin and his friend applied for 16 tickets each, but both ended up with none.
They tried again during a resale phase in May, and after nearly 2½ hours of camping on the official resale portal, managed to get tickets to a quarter-finals match in Hamburg on July 5 for €300 (S$439) each.
Tickets for quarter-finals matches start at €60, but at the time, the tickets they bought were the most affordable options left.
Mr Chin, 33, is aware that tickets are being sold by scalpers and resellers on websites like StubHub, but felt “a lot more risk was involved” and did not want to get scammed.
“It wasn’t easy getting these tickets. We were mentally prepared that we would have to try again at the World Cup or the next Euro instead,” he says.
In April 2015, engineer Nur’Ain Abdullah, 36, travelled to Britain on a holiday and tried, unsuccessfully, to get tickets over the counter for a Liverpool football match.
“It has always been a dream of mine to watch the Liverpool team play in real life. I thought it might be easy to buy tickets on site, but it was more complicated than expected,” she says.
The ticket category she was aiming for was sold out, and others were too expensive or required official fan club membership.
In December 2018, her dream came true after booking a football tour package by 1896 Travel that got her into two games that Liverpool played, against Arsenal and Newcastle United. She booked a similar trip to Britain with the agency in October 2022 to watch Liverpool play at their home stadium, Anfield, against Manchester City and West Ham United.

Engineer Nur’Ain Abdullah, a Liverpool fan since age 11, booked tour packages to watch the team in 2018 and 2022. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NUR’AIN ABDULLAH

She paid about $4,500 in 2022 for the eight-day trip, which included a full-day tour of North Wales, about two hours from Liverpool by road. The tour included visits to two cathedrals and an afternoon of shopping at Cheshire Oaks, a large designer outlet mall.

No substitute for live match

During these trips, guides alert newbies to exciting moments during matches.
“If it’s your first time and you’re with a tour guide, you won’t miss things like seeing the players enter the stadium in their bus, and can head in at an ideal time to catch their warm-up,” says cardiologist Jeremy Chow, 47, who has been on two such tours.
He has watched three live FA Cup and English Premier League football matches in Britain. On his second trip in October 2022, he took his then 12-year-old son along for a live match at Anfield.

Cardiologist Jeremy Chow booked a sports travel package so he could watch a live match with his son. PHOTO: COURTESY OF JEREMY CHOW

As the line-up of players is released only an hour before the game starts, fans who catch the warm-up may get hints of which players will be on the pitch. These moments are what make the trip more memorable, says Dr Chow.
Mr Desmond Gay, chairman of logistics and freight management company JGL Worldwide, booked a nine-day golf and football trip with 1896 Travel in April. The tour covered St Andrews, a town in Scotland, and the English city of Manchester.
He was excited to not only tee off in St Andrews Links, which is home to a 600-year-old golf course, as well as watch his favourite football team Manchester United play live, but was also enthused about sightseeing.
“In the mornings in Scotland, we would sip coffee and look out of the large bay windows of our 137-year-old accommodation towards the North Sea and golf course. That experience alone was well worth the travel,” the 64-year-old says. He paid around $5,000 for the trip, excluding airfare.
While in Scotland, the group of four stayed at Rusacks St Andrews, a five-star boutique hotel that opened in 1887. They also made a last-minute request to visit a whisky distillery and detoured to Edinburgh Castle on the five-hour drive from Scotland to Manchester.

Mr Desmond Gay (foreground), chairman of a logistics and freight management company, watched Manchester United play againstLiverpool at Old Trafford stadium with his friends in April. PHOTO: COURTESY OF DESMOND GAY

Mr Gay also visited Sterling, a bar specialising in rare wines, in the Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester. The hotel is owned by former Manchester United player Gary Neville.
He says: “I would think many of the arrangements required a good network of connections. We didn’t have to do much except enjoy the trip.”
Regardless of which team football fans support, they can attest to their whirlwind of emotions at the venue, where all the action happens.
Mr Chin attended his first live match at Old Trafford, home stadium of Manchester United, in May 2019. He paid around £1,000 (S$1,700) for a VIP experience, which included a lunch buffet, meet-and-greet session with a football legend, stadium tour and prime seats for the Manchester United versus Chelsea game.
It was the only ticket category left by the time he could purchase a seat, but he has no regrets.

Digital marketing manager Chin Yik Sin watched his first live match in May 2019 at Manchester United’s home stadium Old Trafford,from a VIP section higher up with an obstructed view of the pitch. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHIN YIK SIN

He says: “I’m often a solo traveller, so I’m used to solitude. But during the game, you’re hugging strangers and everyone’s jumping about, and even though you don’t know these people, you know you’re all rooting for the same team.
“It was incredible and made me quite emotional. You really feel like you’re part of something.”
Emotions run high as fans feel a deep connection to the history and tradition of the club, combined with the thrill of witnessing memorable moments unfold. For many, it is a profound and unforgettable experience cementing their passion and loyalty to the team.
Ms Ain remembers bursting into tears when she stepped into Anfield, home of Liverpool Football Club, which she has supported for 25 years.
The capacious stadium seats over 60,000 fans, and the audience’s roars are amplified into a booming atmosphere during matches.
“Up till December 2018, I’d been watching Liverpool only on television. To actually be at the venue was so surreal. Everyone was singing and chanting, and we had the same unspoken feelings as the game progressed. It was a very emotional experience,” she says.

Beyond football

Internationally, well-established sports tourism companies such as the Canada-based Roadtrips and Australia-based Premium Sport Tours have a wide selection of tours including sports such as horse racing and baseball.
While these companies have been around for decades, the trend is catching on here.
Chan Brothers Travel, one of Singapore’s largest tour companies, has observed a 50 per cent increase in inquiries for winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding in 2024, compared within 2023. It also runs golf trips and adventure sports tours, handling logistics like flight bookings and providing accommodation near event venues.
Mr Jeremiah Wong, senior marketing communications manager at Chan Brothers Travel, says: “Customers can expect guaranteed tickets for sports events, pre- and post-event activities such as fan meet-and-greets, training sessions and after-party or sightseeing tours of the host city.”
Tours that blend sports with leisure or sightseeing experiences are also available.
For example, an eight-day trip with canoeing at Chuncheon lake in South Korea includes stops such as seaside artgallery Haslla Art World near Gangneung city, and traditional market Gangneung Jungang Market. The trip starts at $2,588.


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