Evolving Tourist Behaviour at Sport Events?

The general objective of the current paper is to study consumer behaviour in a relationship with sustainability principles, as in recent decades, tourism industry has rapidly developed and brought various impacts to the nations and destinations. The specific objective of the current research is to investigate the consumer behaviour at sport events, to provide a deeper understanding of the behaviour of tourists engaging in sport events, such as motivation, expectations, underlying reasons for choices and decision making, what do they seek from their experience, what is their spending willingness during these events, and in what matter are they behaving according to the sustainability principles. The research methodology was based on field research, by collecting data through questionnaires and interviews from sport tourists to find out why individuals engage in sport events. Results indicate the typology of sport tourists based on socio-economic status, motivation and expectations. Sport tourism is an important part of both sport and tourism business generating large revenues and reshaping local communities and can stand as a basis for effective marketing to generate added value on tourism product development, but in the same time there is a high need for education about sustainability and environmental awareness on all levels in order to obtain a positive evolution of behaviour regarding sustainability in general and especially at sport events.

Keywords

Sport tourism, Sport tourist, Consumer behavior, Sport events, Sustainability

JEL Classification

Q56, Z21, Z32

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