ABSTRACT
Sport tourism makes an important contribution to local and national economies and appears to have substantial potential to further build on this contribution. It is estimated that sports tourism in Australia accounts for approximately $3 billion per annum [1] . Like other domains it is crucial that it is well managed in order that the benefits from sport tourism are truly exploited. It needs to be guided by a strategic plan that identifies the key goals in the area's development and incorporates a series of strategies intended to achieve these goals. The importance of strategic planning and management has been recognized widely in the literature and continues to be refined and debated both in industry and academe [2] . Components of strategic planning include the development of definite time horizons, detailed allocation of resources to the various elements of the plan and the establishment of conduits for the communication of the plan. The key element, however, is the coordination of the planning and the implementation of the plan [3] .
