Active event sport tourism experience: the role of the natural environment, safety and security in event business models

Abstract

The connection between tourism development and the natural environment is more intense in outdoor sport tourism than in many other forms of tourism. Natural settings (space), sport activities undertaken and the motivations of the people who participate in them interact to create sport tourism experiences. Tourist safety and security are also proved to be important elements of a tourist experience and it seems that sport tourists may be more sensitive to safety issues than non-sport tourists. This paper therefore aims to analyse the importance of the natural environment and safety and security issues, as constitute event business model elements, in providing sport tourism experiences. The natural setting is also examined as a motivation to participate in sport tourism travel. On the basis of 464 questionnaires gathered from active participants of 16 small-scale sport events in four different outdoor sports, exploratory factor analysis was conducted on motivational statements and revealed a conceptually clear sevenfactor structure. One of them, titled 'Nature', was the second most important motivational dimension for participants but differences between particular sports were considerable. In terms of business model elements included in the survey, participants gave high importance to all elements related to the natural environment and safety and security. Scenic destination, scenic and interesting course, course safety and event safety were the most important elements of event business models for participants in all four sports. Environmental management and proper implementation of security and crowd control measures were also singled out as important event processes. However, results of ANOVA indicate statistically significant differences between the sports in seven out of nine business model elements. These findings shed some light on the managerial aspects of sport tourism practice, helping managers to better serve sports and tourism needs at a particular event and in the destination.

Landscape Damage Effect Impacts on Natural Environment and Recreational Benefits in Bikeway

“…The research of Han, Nelson, and Kim (2015) and Gangaas, Kaltenborn, and Andreassen (2015) exhibited that environmental value is strongly to determine the behavior of tourists [49,50]. The result is also in accord with the research of Kulczycki and Halpenny (2014) that rich amenities and landscape are crucial to cyclists [7], and reflects the research of Perić, Durkin, and Vitezić (2018) that natural environment is important to improve sport tourism experiences [19]. For these reasons, International Olympic Committee (IOC) is aware of the importance of environment and sustainable development, and makes environment the third component of Olympic movement [24].…”

“…Previous studies identified environment and bicycle facilities as influencing factors in cyclists' preference [17,18]. Perić, Durkin, and Vitezić (2018) revealed that natural environment, scenic routes, safety, and security were the most important elements of sport tourism [19]. Yeh, Lin, Hsiao, and Huang (2019) performed contingent behavior method (CBM) to find that improving the quality of lighting facility and the landscape of bikeway would increase the intention and the recreational benefits of cyclists in central Taiwan [20].…”

Overtourism and Medium Scale Sporting Events Organisations—the Perception of Negative Externalities by Host Residents

“…It is a complex phenomenon, similar and different from sport and tourism individually. It is multifaceted and exists under a variety of forms and names [1,[31][32][33][34]. Sports tourists travel to observe sporting activities, to participate in sport and to visit sports attractions (stadiums, sports museums, recreation areas, etc.).…”

Research on the Current Situation and Practice of the Integration of National Traditional Horse Racing Festival and Tourism

“…The safety and security of tourists has proven to be an important factor in the tourist experience. Moreover, compared with non-sport tourists, sports tourists seem to be more sensitive to safety issues [24]. It is believed that sports events have contributed to the development of tourist destinations through direct participation and destination image building.…”