Sport Tourism: a Framework for Research

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) Sport Tourism: a Framework for Research

T. D. Hinch1* and J. E. S. Higham2 1Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada 2Centre for Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

ABSTRACT within sport implies a travel dynamic that has until recently been largely ignored by Sport-based travel has grown dramatically scholars in both tourism and sport. Yet the over the past two decades but it has only af®nity between sport and tourism has not recently become the focus of concentrated been ignored by the travelling public nor by academic inquiry. This paper contributes to the vibrant industry that has emerged in the emerging body of literature by response to this demand. conceptualising sport in the context of Until the 1990s, sport tended to be treated as tourism's activity, spatial and temporal a general or even accidental context for dimensions. A de®nition of sport tourism tourism research rather than as a central focus. based on these dimensions and featuring a For example, research associated with hall- sociological perspective of sporting activity is mark events such as the Olympic Games has presented. The distinguishing features of added signi®cantly to our understanding of sport as a tourist attraction are then the impacts of mega events but it has provided highlighted through the use of Leiper's much less insight into the features that systems model of attractions. Finally, the distinguish the nature of sport-based events paper proposes a framework which from other types of events. A similar criticism highlights a series of research questions that can be made related to other areas of related emerge as the relationships between the research, such as outdoor recreation and fundamental dimensions of sport tourism are health-based tourism. The purpose of this systematically explored. Copyright # 2001 paper is therefore to conceptualize sport John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. tourism by positioning sport as a central attraction within the activity dimension of tourism and then considering its relationship Received 26 June 1998; Revised 8 July 1999; Accepted 14 July with the spatial and temporal dimensions of 1999 tourism. Despite the bene®ts of an explicit focus on Keywords: sport; tourism; dimension; sport tourism, it should be appreciated that the framework; attraction. conceptual boundaries that are articulated or implied in this article are in fact permeable and INTRODUCTION dynamic. The paper is not an attempt to position sport tourism as an isolated ®eld of ne has only to look at the score board at research but rather to capture the synergies most team sporting competitions to associated with the treatment of sport tourism O within the broader realms of sport and tour- see reference to the fundamental tourism concepts of the hosts and visitors. ism. It is meant to add to an emerging The prominent position of these concepts literature and to provide a unique perspective for productive research in this area. The paper therefore has been organised into three sec- * Correspondence to: T. D. Hinch, Faculty of Physical tions including: (i) clari®cation of the concep- Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmon- ton, Canada. tual domain of sport tourism, (ii) articulation E-mail: [email protected] of the distinguishing features of sport as a

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 46 T. D. Hinch and J. E. S. Higham tourist attraction based on Leiper's (1990) tion to the fact that sport and tourism are systems model of attractions, and (iii) the `treated by academics and practitioners alike presentation of a research framework for the as separate spheres of activity' (Glyptis, 1991, continued examination of sport-focused tour- p. 165). She went on to identify the close ism. behavioural relationship between sport and tourism participants but argued that this THE DOMAIN OF SPORT TOURISM relationship was not re¯ected in journal publications, academic departments, learned so- As be®ts an emerging area of scholarly study, cieties or government agencies. Glyptis (1991) sport-tourism researchers have dedicated a presented a compelling case for the integration substantial amount of their energy toward of the two in terms of government policy, clarifying the conceptual foundations of this strategic planning, the development of facil- ®eld. This section of the paper will review the ities and services, urban planning and promo- key contributions of these individuals and will tion. build on the foundation that they provided by This contribution stimulated further in- considering the independent concepts of sport depth studies of sport tourism, although such and tourism prior to focusing on their con- studies remained the exception rather than the ¯uence. Like most social science concepts, rule throughout the early 1990s. The most there are no universally excepted de®nitions notable attempts to rectify this situation were of sport or tourism that would make this undertaken by Kurtzman and Zauhar (1995) exercise easy. Each concept is rather amor- and later by Gammon and Robinson (1997), phous and a variety of de®nitions have been who developed early models of sport tourism. developed to address a broad range of needs. Although these contributions provided va- Despite the lack of de®nitional consensus, luable insights into the dynamic nature of there are commonalities associated with each sport tourism, they failed to harness the concept that help to clarify their relationship. potential synergies of the ®eld in a comprehensive manner. As a consequence, directions for future lines of inquiry are notably rare. The Current lines of inquiry clearest call for a systematic approach to this Although this sub®eld is still in its infancy, a sub®eld came from Kurtzman and Zauhar number of important publications exist that (1995), who presented agency report on the explicitly focus on sport tourism. It is not the Sport Tourism International Council (STIC) in intent of the authors to duplicate these efforts Annals of Tourism Research identifying the but rather to focus on those aspects of the emergence of sport as a `touristic endeavour' literature that are particularly relevant to in the 1980s and 1990s. Since that point, special understanding the conceptual base of sport issues of Tourism Recreation Research (Stevens tourism. and van den Broek, 1997) and Vacation Market- Especially noteworthy advances in the study ing (Delpy, 1997) have been devoted to the of sport tourism have included the proceed- topic and have clearly attempted to be more ings of a 1987 conference on Outdoor Educa- systematic and integrative in their approach. tion, Recreation and Sport (Garmise, 1987), the Gibson's (1998) comprehensive review of establishment of an electronic journal titled the publications in this area highlights the con- Journal of Sport Tourism in 1993, and seminal nections between what on the surface is a very articles in other tourism journals such as disparate literature. Not only does she provide Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research a critical analysis of existing literature in this (Glyptis, 1991; Weed and Bull, 1997a, b). The area, she articulates the need for better major contribution of these publications was to coordination among agencies at a policy level, highlight the signi®cance of sport tourism and more multidisciplinary research approaches, to legitimise it as an important focus for and more cooperation between tourism and academic study. sport-centred units in academic settings. A good example of this body of work was Further advances in this direction can be seen provided by Glyptis (1991), who drew atten- in the work of Standeven and De Knop (1999)

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) Sport tourism 47 and De Knop (1998). A series of frameworks the `travel of non-residents' (Murphy, 1985, p. are presented in their publications that high- 9). To be considered a tourist, individuals must light the interdependent relationship between leave and then eventually return to their home. sports and tourism, beginning with the basic Although the travel of an individual does not premise that not only does sport in¯uence constitute tourism in and of itself, it is one of tourism but that tourism in¯uences sport. the necessary conditions. A variety of quali- They then build on this starting point with a ®ers have been placed on this dimension classi®cation matrix based on key touristic and including a range of minimum travel dis- sport characteristics. The major contribution of tances, but the fundamental concept of travel is this classi®cation system is that sport tourism universal. is recognised as offering `a two-dimensional The second most common dimension in- experience of physical activity tied to a volves the temporal characteristics associated particular setting' (Standeven and De Knop, with tourism. Central to this dimension is the 1999, p. 63). Furthermore, each of these requirement that the trip be characterised by a dimensions is articulated in terms of its key `temporary stay away from home of at least components, thereby allowing a more in-depth one night' (Leiper, 1981, p. 74). De®nitions analysis of the concept of sport tourism than developed for statistical purposes often distin- has been generally been the case to date. A guish between excursionists who visit a limitation of their typology is that it tends to destination for less than 24 h and tourists treat each sport as a homogeneous entity even who visit a destination for 24 h or more though many internal variations may exist (WTO, 1981). Often, however, the term visitor within a sport. Faulkner et al. (1998) avoid this is used to refer to both groups. limitation by classifying sports tourism in A third common dimension of tourism terms of motivational, behavioural and com- de®nitions concerns the purpose or the activi- petitive dimensions. Each of these dimensions ties engaged in during travel and it is within is presented as a continuum and individual this dimension that many sub®elds of tourism sports are illustrated as ®tting into a range ®nd their genesis (e.g. eco-tourism, urban rather than being represented as a single point tourism, and heritage tourism). Of the three on each continuum. dimensions, this is perhaps the one charac- These attempts to articulate the relation- terised by the broadest range of views. For ships between the unique characteristics of example, dictionary interpretations of tourists tourism and the unique characteristics of sport tend to focus on leisure pursuits as the primary are the key to scholarly advances in this ®eld. travel activity (WH Smith/Collins, 1988), By clarifying these relationships, more probing whereas de®nitions developed for statistical research questions can be asked and the and academic purposes tend to include busi- ®ndings of individual studies can be placed ness activities as well (Murphy, 1985). Speci®c within the broader contexts of the ®eld as a reference is made to sport in the tourism whole. In doing so, the potential synergies of de®nition of the World Tourism Organisation the ®eld are more likely to be captured. (1981), which lists it as a subset of leisure activities. The domain of tourism The domain of sport Tourism de®nitions can be classi®ed into those associated with the popular usage of the term De®ning sport has proven equally as dif®cult, (e.g. WH Smith/Collins, 1988), those used to but as in the case of tourism, common facilitate statistical measurement (e.g. WTO, dimensions have emerged. The popular per- 1981), and those used to articulate its con- ception of sport is best re¯ected by the adage ceptual domain (e.g. Murphy, 1986). Although that sport is what is written about on the sport the last of these has the most direct relevance pages of daily newspapers (Bale, 1989). A for this paper, all of the de®nitions tend to typical dictionary de®nition of sport describes share key dimensions. The most prevalent of it as `an individual or group activity pursued these is a spatial dimension. Tourism involves for exercise or pleasure, often taking a compe-

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) 48 T. D. Hinch and J. E. S. Higham titive form' (WH Smith/Collins, 1988). tion of physical prowess, game strategy and, to De®nitions arising from the realm of the a lesser degree, chance. Physical prowess sociology of sport are particularly insightful consists of physical speed, stamina, strength, when combined with the concept of tourism. accuracy and coordination and when viewed One of the most in¯uential de®nitions of sport in these terms, across the whole competition to emerge within this area is that of Loy et al. continuum, it is one of the most consistent (1978), i.e. the game occurrence approach. criterion used to de®ne sport. From this perspective, sport is conceptualised The ®nal aspect of sport that is highlighted as a subset of games, which in turn is a subset in the de®nition is its ludic nature, a term of play. Sport is described in terms of which is derived from the Latin word ludus, institutionalised games that require physical meaning play or game. Sport is, therefore, prowess. In a similar fashion McPherson et al. rooted in, although not exclusive to play and (1989, p. 15) have de®ned sport as `a struc- games. This derivation carries with it the ideas tured, goal-oriented, competitive, contest- of `uncertainty of outcome' and `sanctioned based, ludic physical activity'. display'. Uncertain outcomes create excite- Sport is structured in the sense that sports ment and are consistent with the concept of are governed by rules that relate to space and play. Sanctioned display allows for the de- time. These rules may be manifest in a variety monstration of physical prowess and broadens of ways, including the dimensions of the the realm of sport involvement to spectator- playing area and the duration and pacing of ship as well as direct athletic participation. the game or contest. They also tend to be more speci®c in formal variations of a sport, espe- The con¯uence of sport and tourism cially as the level of competition increases. In informal variations of a sport these rules are Clearly the concepts of tourism and sport are often very general. related and overlap. Sport is an important Sport is also de®ned as being goal-oriented, activity within tourism and tourism is a competitive and contest-based. All three fundamental characteristic of sport. The spe- characteristics are closely related. Sport is ci®c con¯uence of the two concepts varies as to goal-oriented in the sense that sporting situa- the perspectives of those dealing with the topic tions usually involve an objective for achieve- and the de®nitions that they adopt. Attempts ment in relation to ability, competence, effort, to articulate the domain of sport tourism have degree of dif®culty, mastery or performance. also resulted in a proliferation of de®nitions In most instances this goal orientation is (Table 1). These de®nitions tend to be written extended to some degree of competition. At along the same lines as those presented for one extreme this competition is expressed in tourism in that they often include activity, terms of winning or losing combatants. Alter- spatial and temporal dimensions. Sport is natively, competition can be interpreted much generally positioned as the primary travel less rigidly in terms of competing against activity, although Gammon and Robinson individual standards, inanimate objects, or (1997) make a distinction between sport the natural forces of nature. In the context of tourists and tourism sports. The latter recog- sport tourism, the latter interpretation of nises sport as a secondary activity while competition offers a much more inclusive travelling. Most de®nitions include spectators concept that covers recreational sports, such as well as athletes and recreational as well as as those commonly associated with outdoor elite competition. They also tend to include pursuits. It is also inclusive of the `sport for all' explicit requirements for travel away from the concept of participation (e.g. Nogawa et al., home environment along with an implicit, if 1996). Essentially, competition is probably best not explicit, temporal dimension that suggests conceptualised as a continuum that ranges that the trip is temporary and that the traveller from recreational to elite both between and will return home within a designated time. The within sports. Closely associated with compe- temporal dimension is usually inclusive of day tition is the contest-based nature of sport in visitors as well as those that stay overnight. which outcomes are determined by a combina- Somewhat surprisingly, the major limitation of

Table 1. Selected de®nitions related to sport tourism Dimension De®nition and source Sport tourism Travel for non-commercial reasons to participate or observe sporting activities away from the home range (Hall, 1992a, p. 194) An expression of a pattern of behaviour of people during certain periods of leisure timeÐ such as vacation time, which is done partly in specially attractive natural settings and partly in arti®cial sports and physical recreation facilities in the outdoors (Ruskin, 1987, p. 26) Holidays involving sporting activity either as a spectator or participant (Weed and Bull, 1997b; p. 5) Leisure-based travel that takes individuals temporarily outside of their home communities to participate in physical activities, to watch physical activities, or to venerate attractions associated with physical activity (Gibson, 1998, p. 49) All forms of active and passive involvement in sporting activity, participated in casually or in an organized way for noncommercial or business/commercial reasons, that necessitate travel away from home and work locality (Standeven and DeKnop, 1999, p. 12) Sport tourist A temporary visitor staying at least 24 h in the event area and whose primary purpose is to participate in a sports event with the area being a secondary attraction (Nogawa et al., 1996, p. 46) Individuals and/or groups of people who actively or passively participate in competitive or recreational sport, while travelling to and/or staying in places outside their usual environment (sport as the primary motivation of travel) (Gammon and Robinson, 1997) Tourism sport Persons travelling to and/or staying in places outside their usual environment and participating in, actively or passively, a competitive or recreational sport as a secondary activity (Gammon and Robinson, 1997) existing de®nitions is that the concept of sport physical prowess is a consolidation of what is rather vague. In an attempt to capture the McPherson et al. (1989) described as the goal- strengths and address the stated limitations of orientation, competition and contest-based these de®nitions in this paper, sport tourism is aspects of sport. It is used here in a broad de®ned as: sport-based travel away from the home sense to indicate a continuum of competition environment for a limited time, where sport is inclusive of what is often thought of as characterised by unique rule sets, competition recreational sport or `sport for all'. Finally, related to physical prowess, and a playful nature. sport is characterised by its playful nature. This de®nition parallels the underlying This element includes the notions of uncer- structure of most tourism de®nitions in terms tainty of outcome and sanctioned display. In of their spatial, temporal and activity dimen- more competitive versions of sport, one of the sions with the difference being that the activity basic objectives is that the competitors should dimension is speci®ed as sport. Sport is be evenly matched, thereby making the out- recognised as a signi®cant travel activity come uncertain. If, on the other hand, the whether it is a primary or secondary feature outcome is predetermined as in `all-star of the trip. It is seen to be an important factor in wrestling', the game or contest is a form of many decisions to travel, to often feature spectacle rather than sport and therefore falls prominently in the travel experience, and to outside of this de®nition. Sanctioned display often be an important consideration in the is, however, distinct from spectacle. It is visitor's assessment of the travel experience. characteristic of sport in as much as sport is Sport tourism is further clari®ed by drawing not limited to acts of physical prowess but is on the previous discussion of the domain of also inclusive of the demonstration or display sport. First, each sport has its own set of rules of these acts. Many different types of sports that provide characteristic spatial and tempor- involvement are therefore possible for sports al structures. Second, competition related to tourists.

major special interest of tourism, he also articulated three related tourism domains including hallmark events, outdoor recreation (adventure tourism) and tourism associated with health and ®tness (Figure 1). Of these three related domains, the area of hallmark events is probably the most direct link to sport as epitomised by national championship competitions, such as American football's Super- bowl and international sport mega-events such as the Olympic Games. The pro®le and scale of these sport events attracts the attention of both tourists and tourism researchers. This attention is re¯ected in the prominence of sport- based articles published in the journal of Festival Management and Event Tourism. How- ever, Ritchie's (1984) classi®cation of hallmark Figure 1. Related contextual domain events identi®es sport as just one of seven event categories, although it is arguably one of the most signi®cant of these categories (Getz, To a large extent, it is these three character- 1997; Ryan et al., 1997). Although providing istics that make sport tourism such an inter- signi®cant insight into sport tourism, publica- esting area for research. The systematic tions in this area seldom highlight the distin- exploration of the relationship between these guishing features of sporting events relative to characteristics of sport and the characteristics other types of events. of the spatial and temporal dimensions of Outdoor recreation represents a second re- tourism has the potential to provide signi®cant lated area that is inextricably linked to sport insight into this phenomenon. Prior to this tourism. The essence of this contextual domain discussion, however, it is necessary to consider lies in recreational activities that occur within the merit of sport as a central attraction of natural settings, many of which are commonly tourism. classi®ed as sports, such as canoeing, skiing and sur®ng. One of the most dynamic compo- SPORT AS A TOURIST ATTRACTION nents of outdoor recreation is adventure tourism. Hall (1992a) identi®es adventure A review of the early academic literature that tourism as a rapidly growing segment of the spans the disciplines of both sport and tourism special interest tourism market. As in the case con®rms a disparate approach to this topic. of hallmark events and sport tourism, there is a Before the 1990s, insights to sport tourism clear overlap between outdoor recreation and were mainly provided through research in sport tourism both conceptually and in terms related domains. As the academic study of of research activity. However, these domains sport tourism has progressed, sport began to are not synonymous. A substantial amount of receive much more targeted attention as sport activity occurs outside the realm of the re¯ected in the assortment of sport tourism natural environment, whereas conversely, typologies that have recently emerged. Despite many tourism activities that occur in natural increasing focus on the basic nature of sport settings are inconsistent with the de®nition of within a tourism system, there has been very sport used in this paper (e.g. camping and little explicit discussion of the ®t of sport picnicking). within current theories on tourist attractions. Health and ®tness activities provide a third related domain of relevance to sport tourism. The essence of this domain is presented from Related domains both historical and contemporary perspec- Hall (1992a, b) not only identi®ed sport as a tives. The former is illustrated most commonly

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) Sport tourism 51 by the tourist activity associated with the sport tourism is recognised through additional therapeutic spas of Eastern and Mediterranean distinctions, such as: holiday versus non-holi- Europe in Roman times (Hall, 1992a). In a day, passive (spectatorship) versus active contemporary context, travel to partake in (athletic participation), organised versus in- therapeutic spas continues but it has broad- dependent, high versus low motivations, and ened to resorts focusing on activities such as single versus multiple sport holidays. tennis and golf (Redmond, 1991; Spivack, 1998). Although the realm of health and ®tness Leiper's attraction framework can be de®ned in very ubiquitous terms, it generally has been treated much more nar- A logical extension of the development of rowly in the literature. In particular, character- these typologies is the examination of sport as istics such as the nature of the rule structure of an attraction within the tourism destination sports have not been a dominant feature in the system. This examination is facilitated by literature on health and ®tness. using Leiper's (1990) systems perspective, Although research in all three of these areas which builds on the earlier work of MacCan- has contributed to the understanding of sport nell (1976) and Gunn (1988). Under this tourism, the essence of sport extends beyond approach, a tourist attraction is de®ned as `a the collective parameters of these related system comprising three elements: a tourist or domains. The de®ning characteristics of sport human element, a nucleus or central element, are not the central interest of research in and a marker or informative element. A tourist hallmark events, outdoor recreation or health attraction comes into existence when the three tourism. elements are connected' (Leiper, 1990, p. 371). The ®rst component of Leiper's (1990) attraction system is the human element. Like Emerging typologies other types of tourists, sport tourists seek to A noticeable shift in the source of insights into satisfy a variety of needs and wants in their sport tourism has occurred over the past search for leisure away from home. Two decade but especially in the past ®ve years. characteristics of these sport tourists are Manifestations of this new source include the particularly noteworthy in the context of the development of a series of sport tourism destinations and typologies just reviewed. The typologies. Redmond (1991) presented one of ®rst of these involves the inconsistency be- the ®rst typologies of sports tourism featuring tween the understanding of visitors from a categories associated with resorts and vaca- sport and from a tourism perspective. For tions, sports museums, multisport festivals example, from a tourism perspective, specta- and sports facilities in national parks. Increas- tors at an international sporting occasion who ingly sophisticated versions of this typology reside outside of the host city would normally followed, including that of the Sport Tourism be classi®ed as tourists in that city. From a International Council (STIC), which identi®ed sport perspective, however, these spectators ®ve categories including: (i) attractions such as view their national team as their `home team'. heritage sport facilities, (ii) resorts with a At a psychological level, these spectators feel sports focus, (iii) cruises that centre around at `home' even though they may have travelled sport celebrity themes, (iv) sport tours such as a substantial distance to attend the game. playing several golf courses at a particular A second distinguishing aspect of sport destination, and (v) major sporting events tourists in terms of the human element of (STIC Research Unit, 1995; Kurtzman and attraction systems is that they can be categor- Zauhar, 1997). An interesting variation of this ized into several groups: e.g. spectators and pattern was presented by Gammon and players. One of the more interesting aspects of Robinson (1996) with their distinction between this division is the inverse relationship that sport tourism and tourism sport on the basis of may exist between the size of each group, contrasting trip motivations. One of the most ranging from elite through to recreational recent typologies was published by Standeven sporting events. For example, at World Cup and De Knop (1999) in which the complexity of Football matches there are only a handful of

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) 52 T. D. Hinch and J. E. S. Higham players who may arguably be referred to as game and the added entertainments is likely tourists during their visits to foreign countries. to become increasingly important in the In contrast, when de®ned from a tourism future. perspective, a high proportion of spectators Leiper (1990) also raised the idea of a nuclear attending one of these matches may be mix and hierarchy of attractions. A nuclear mix classi®ed as tourists. The opposite situation is refers to the combination of nuclei that a likely to occur at the recreational levels of tourist wishes to experience, and the hierarchy football competitions in that the number of suggests that some of these nuclei are more tourists is much greater in terms of the important in in¯uencing visitor decisions than participating athletes relative to spectators. others. This aspect of the attraction is very By recognizing competition as a continuum, similar to the categories of sport tourism the differences between types of involvement typologies associated with multiple sport trips (e.g. spectator versus athlete) can be explored and levels of motivations (Standeven and De for elite versus recreational versions of the Knop, 1999; Gammon and Robinson, 1996). For sport. These are just two unique characteristics many sport tourists a speci®c sporting event of sports tourists that can be addressed under may function as the primary attraction in a the human element of attraction systems. They destination, but the cluster of other nuclei illustrate the types of research questions that found in the surrounding area may be needed can be articulated by using attraction frame- to ®nalise the decision to travel. Alternatively, works to examine sport tourism. sports can also serve as an important albeit The second major element of Leiper's (1990) secondary nuclei. Appreciating the place of tourist attraction system is the nucleus or any sport within a destination's attraction mix and feature of a place that a traveller wishes to hierarchy is likely to have signi®cant manage- experience. This is the site where the tourist ment implications. experience is ultimately produced and con- Markers are items of information about any sumed. It is the site where the tourism resource phenomenon that is a potential nuclear ele- is commodi®ed. Individual sports and more ment in a tourist attraction (Leiper, 1990). They particularly, individual sporting events, be- may be divided into markers that are detached come unique attractions based on their de®n- from the nucleus or those that are contiguous. ing characteristics. In each case the markers may either con- Unique rules and institutional sporting sciously or unconsciously function as part of structures have evolved over time, often the attraction system. Examples of conscious re¯ecting and sometimes in¯uencing the generating markers featuring sport are com- country's culture. Sport therefore can act as mon. Typically, they take the form of adver- a powerful symbol of a destination's culture tisements showing visitors involved in (e.g., ice hockey in Canada, Nordic skiing in destination-speci®c sport activities and events. Norway). In contrast, trends such as the Perhaps even more pervasive are the uncon- globalisation of sport may erode the distinc- scious detached markers. At the forefront of tion between places in terms of the culture of these are televised broadcasts of elite sport sport. Each sport is characterised by its own competitions and advertisements featuring types of physical competition and playful sports products in recognisable destinations. nature. One of the most signi®cant implica- Although sport broadcasts may result in some tions of these characteristics is that sport spectators choosing to watch the game from competition outcomes are uncertain. This the comfort of their home rather than in inherent uncertainty means that sporting person, in a broader sense, television viewers attractions tend to be authentic and renew- have the location marked for them as a tourist able. Although value-added entertainment attraction, which may in¯uence future travel such as pre-game concerts have been coupled decisions. Chalip et al.'s (1998) paper on with sporting events at the elite levels of sources of interest in travel to the Olympic competition, the core product remains the Games lends itself well to this framework, excitement of the sport itself. The question of although markers were not speci®cally men- what the optimum balance is between the tioned in the paper. However, reference to the

Figure 2. Framework for sport tourism research in¯uence of Olympic narratives, symbols and FRAMEWORKS FOR RESEARCH genres essentially addresses issues that emerge in the context of detached markers within the A new framework is required to not only tourist attraction system. Contiguous markers capture the synergies of existing contributions include on-site signage that labels the attrac- to the subject but to identify future directions tion. Other on-site markers include game for research. Attractions do not function in programmes, team mascots, and even the isolation of the tourism system as a whole. By products of commercial sponsors of the subject retaining a focus on sport as an attraction, it is sports. possible to return to the original de®nitions of Leiper's (1990) tourist attraction system does sport tourism and develop a guiding frame- provide insight into the relationship between work for research that can systematically sport and tourism. Although space limitations explore the relationships between sport, space have not allowed an in-depth examination of and time. the characteristics of individual sports, the Figure 2 provides a graphic representation theory-based attraction system enables a more of the sport tourism research framework methodical examination of this topic than has proposed in this paper. Sport is positioned as occurred to date. The insights gained by using the central focus and attraction. In a sense, this type of framework can be used to identify sport becomes the ®rst among equals in important research questions that should be relation to the other two dimensions. It there- pursued. Yet even though the attraction fore will be addressed ®rst in this discussion. system framework allows for a greater focus Three research themes are presented within on sport within tourism, it does not directly each dimension. These themes are meant to be address the spatial and temporal dimensions. illustrative rather than de®nitive. Researchers

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) 54 T. D. Hinch and J. E. S. Higham with different backgrounds and interests are has been discussed within the ®eld of tourism. encouraged to identify additional themes as Given trends toward the positioning of profes- well as to project their own perspectives within sional sport as part of the entertainment each theme. industry and in extreme cases, as spectacle, the competitive advantages related to the authenticity of sport needs to be studied Sport dimension carefully. The sport dimension gives this framework a The sanctioned display aspect of this theme unique focus on sport as an attraction. Each also suggests a number of research possibilities sport theme re¯ects the elements that emerged that converge around the type of involvement from the earlier discussion of the domain of that sport tourists may have with sport. At a sport. Under the ®rst theme, individual sports very basic level, the distinction between are characterised by their own rule structure, athletes and spectators as sport tourists needs which dictates their spatial and temporal further attention. However, this distinction characteristics at the attraction level. A variety represents only two of many types of sport of research questions therefore can be pursued involvement (Kenyon, 1969), including that of that have direct bearing on the management coaches, management and of®cials. A broad and design of sport attractions. For example, range of research questions can be raised about what are the implications of rule changes on the socio-demographic characteristics, travel the essence of the sport's attraction? Will the behaviours and impacts of each of these changes have an impact on the propensity of groups of sport tourists. spectators to travel to the sporting event? An additional line of inquiry under this Competition forms a second theme within theme is whether the nature of the travel the sport dimension. A variety of issues exist in experience varies between amateur and pro- this area that have received little attention to fessional sport tourists. Perhaps a prerequisite date. One example is whether the level or type question is whether professional athletes of competition associated with a particular should even be considered tourists given that sport, in¯uences the nature of the travel they are remunerated for their travel. Simi- experience. Using skiing as a case in point, larly, the whole issue of commodi®cation of how important is the nature of competition as a sport poses some interesting questions that determinant of the visitor's perception of the have been raised in the context of other types destination? For example, do highly competi- of tourism. tive skiers develop similar perceptions of a ski destination in comparison to less competitive Spatial dimension skiers? Alternatively, sport performance may be a more signi®cant factor in terms of its For illustrative purposes, the spatial themes in¯uences on the sense of place that a compe- that have been highlighted include location, titive skier develops for a particular ski region and landscape (Figure 2). There appears destination in that the athlete's view of the to be considerable potential to build on the destination may be more positive the better that work of Bale (1989), with his focus on the he or she performed while at that destination. geography of sport, and the work of Pearce The playful nature of sport represents the (1987), whose focus is the geography of last major thematic area represented within the tourism. These authors base their discussions sport dimension of the research framework. It on similar spatial theories but they hold encompasses a broad range of potential lines of contrasting perspectives. In terms of location inquiry, including but not limited to the themes, basic geographical theories, such as uncertainty of sport outcomes, sanctioned central place theory and distance decay theory, display, and the utility and seriousness of offer much potential for gaining an under- sport. One of the most intriguing character- standing of practical issues, such as where to istics of sport tourism in this regard is the locate sport facilities and the determination of relationship between the uncertainty of sport threshold levels of players and/or spectators outcomes and the concept of authenticity as it needed to sustain a given sport, team, or

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) Sport tourism 55 facility. Such insights would be of direct of the framework (Figure 2) and trip duration relevance to both private and public sector (day visitors as well as those who stay one or investors in sport facilities and programs. more nights) is the ®rst theme to be high- Regional studies represent a second major lighted in this group. This trip characteristic thematic area within the spatial dimension. not only serves as a basic element of most The myriad of signi®cant research questions de®nitions of tourism but holds signi®cance in that could be raised within this theme include terms of such diverse issues as the extent of the those relating to the in¯uence of a sport, team, economic impact associated with a visit and or an individual athlete on the image of a the nature of the relationship formed between destination. One aspect of region that needs hosts and guests. For example, in a Japanese further attention is scale. Although sport study of participants in cross-country skiing tourism has been examined in the context of and walking special events, it was found that the host sites of international and national participants were likely to leave the hosting sporting events, little published literature community soon after their sporting activity exists on sport tourism associated with smaller was ®nished rather than extending their trip scale events within the region. This lack of for post-competition tours (Nogawa et al., attention may be due to the lower pro®le of 1996). The authors of this study did, how- sport in these regions, even though it is ever, speculate that this behaviour was due possible that the cumulative impact of these to external factors rather than an inherent sporting activities is of equal or more signi®- characteristics of these particular sport tour- cance than that associated with international ists. and national events. Tourism seasonality represents a second The third theme identi®ed within the spatial temporal theme that merits further attention. dimension of the framework concerns land- The vast majority of tourism destinations are scape, both in terms of the dependency of characterised by signi®cant ¯uctuations in particular sports on the presence of certain tourism activity throughout the year that have physical resources and, conversely, the impact been attributed to a variety of natural and of sport on tourism landscapes. In terms of institutional factors (Allcock, 1989; Butler, resource dependency, a basic distinction exists 1994; Snepenger et al., 1990). This ¯uctuation between sports that are highly dependent on is typically viewed as a problem by tourism the presence of speci®c natural resource fea- operators who must address the challenge of tures and those that function independently of meeting ongoing expenses in the face of them. The spatial distribution of these two ¯uctuating ¯ows of revenue. Sports are also types of sports is therefore likely to be quite characterised by seasonal patterns such as distinct. At the same time, sports appear to have those manifest in the placement of various signi®cant impacts on a tourism landscape in sports into the Summer or the Winter Olympic terms of its cultural and physical dimensions. Games. Trends in professionalisation, global- In many cases the differences between interna- isation and technology have all acted as tional sportscapes are decreasing owing to the modifying factors for the seasonality of sport application of facility design standards by and much work is needed to assess the impact international sport governing bodies. This and management potential of these changes trend raises Bale's (1989) spectre of uniform for tourism. `sportscapes', which are divorced from the very Finally, the third temporal theme in the place in which they are situated. Alienation framework concerns the pattern of develop- from place introduces fundamental issues ment or the evolution of tourism products and about the propensity of sports fans to travel to destinations over time. This evolution has a generic sportscape, especially if the game or particular signi®cance in the context of the contest can be experienced through television. current research trends in sustainable tourism and the need to consider process as well as form in tourism studies. Butler's (1980) idea of a life Temporal dimension cycle associated with tourism destinations Temporal themes make up the ®nal dimension complements Bale's (1989) discussion of the

Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 3, 45±58 (2001) 56 T. D. Hinch and J. E. S. Higham evolution of various types of sport. Changes in key relationships that can be investigated. either sphere of activity will have implications Interchanging themes creates new directions in the other. By understanding the changes for sport tourism research. Rather than posing likely to occur in one sphere, stakeholders will research questions in one dimension, this be better able to understand the probable framework enables researchers to systemati- impacts in the other sphere and perhaps be in cally consider the relationships between a position to manage these impacts. themes across either two or three basic dimensions. Synergistic bene®ts CONCLUSION Although there is utility in examining each theme in isolation, a higher level of insight can This article conceptualises sport tourism in the be achieved if these themes are examined in context of its activity, its spatial and its conjunction with themes from each of the other temporal dimensions. Sport tourism is de®ned dimensions. The thematic dimensions of sport as sport-based travel away from the home environ- can be used to anchor research in this area and ment for a limited time, where sport is characterised may even suggest testable hypotheses about by unique rule sets, competition related to physical the relationship between sport characteristics prowess, and a playful nature. Sport was then as independent variables relative to spatial and examined as a tourist attraction using Leiper's temporal characteristics as dependent vari- (1990) systems model and the paper concludes ables. This potential is illustrated graphically with a proposed framework for research in this in Figure 2, which can be viewed as a cube area. made up of multiple component blocks. Each In terms of the de®nition of sport tourism, of these component blocks represents a unique the major contribution of this paper is to combination of themes from each dimension anchor a sociological approach to sport within and therefore, a unique set of relationships a generalised three-dimensional de®nition of between variables. tourism. Sport is positioned as the activity The highlighted block represents just one of dimension thereby highlighting its relation- twenty-seven unique combinations of themes ship to tourism's spatial and temporal dimen- that can be examined. It should, however, be sions. One of the key differences of this appreciated that the value of exploring the de®nition relative to most existing ones is that speci®c relationships found in each block of the distinguishing characteristics of sport are the cube is not uniform. Some of these explicitly stated in terms of sport's institu- relationships will be of more interest and tional rule structure, competitive continuum, utility than others. In Figure 2, one possible and basis in play. Sport is seen as being more investigation would be to explore the impact of than physical activity. Furthermore, competi- performance (competition) relative to the tion is seen as a de®ning characteristic of sport length of stay and the willingness of sport and is presented as a continuum ranging from tourists to travel. Speci®c measures of these recreational to elite. The inclusion of this variables would have to be identi®ed and continuum is one of the strengths of this hypotheses about the likely impact of perfor- de®nition, as it allows for comparisons be- mance on length of stay and distance travelled tween different levels of competition in terms could be tested. Alternatively, the impacts of of speci®ed spatial and temporal variables. For different types of recreational versus elite example, under this de®nition it is possible to competition could be studied. This type of address questions such as `what are the spatial information would be useful in the develop- and temporal implications of a ski resort's ment of management strategies for sport and decision to focus on elite versus recreational tourism. The point is that a variety of possible skiers?' research questions could be asked depending By considering sport within an attraction on which variables are chosen within system framework, this paper has presented these themes. Once these variables have an alternative perspective to the typologies been selected, the framework suggests the that have been presented to date. Although

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