Category FAQs Search : Sport Tourism
Question: SPORT TOURISM FINDING ITS PLACE?
Answer: Watching the recent team performances that took place in the opening matches at the football
world cup in Brazil, viewers could be forgiven for acquiring more enjoyment from the surprised
look on the managers’ faces - as they did from the open and attacking styles displayed by their
teams. Why was it that even the most defensively minded of teams played more creative and
expansive football? Part of the answer undoubtedly has to do with place. The ambience and
atmosphere, coupled with the history and heritage of Brazilian football seemed to impact on
the players (arguably in a negative way for the local team). This, albeit, over simplistic
example, illustrates well the invisible connections that influence how sport tourists (in all their
guises) feel, perform and behave in designated areas primarily designed for sport.
Sport tourism and place are not newly acquainted concepts in the literature. This is
unsurprising given that notions of place, and its applications, lie at the heart of both the study
of tourism and sport. Place reveals much about the essence and nature of sport tourism; not just
from the obvious topographical perspectives but, more critically, in the manner in which it is
experienced and embraced. Its importance cannot be underestimated, and although the
fundamentals of place’s influence upon sport tourism has already been established (Higham
and Hinch, 2009), there is still much to explore. Yet there is a further connection that both these
concepts share. Similarly to place (though not as paradigmatically diverse) sport tourism has
been a notoriously awkward term to conceptualize. Whilst place has received much attention
in this regard, sport tourism has received (with the exception of Hinch and Higham, 2009;
Weed and Bull 2009) relatively little debate concerning the critical elements which contribute
to a distinct conceptualization.This chapter, therefore will revisit and evaluate current understandings of sport tourism
with particular reference to the part that place takes in both its conceptualization as well as in
how it is encountered and experienced. To help position this discussion better it is first
necessary to map out the various approaches and debates that have contributed to the directions
that sport tourism currently takes.
(Source: , 07 Oct 2021)
Source Link: https://core.ac.uk/download/42138152.pdf