Small-scale event sport tourism: fans as tourists

✍ Scribed by Heather J Gibson; Cynthia Willming; Andrew Holdnak

• Book ID: 104314555
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 164 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0261-5177
• DOI: 10.1016/s0261-5177(02)00058-4

✦ Synopsis

College sports events have the potential to increase city revenue and community spirit, while increasing traveler's awareness of the local community. This two-part study focuses on the tourism-related behaviors of fans who follow the University of Florida (USA) football team (the Gators). In the fall of 1999, 181 Gator fans were surveyed. Descriptive statistics illustrated that Sport Excursionists and Sport Tourists spent money on food and shopping while attending games, but their main motivation was to see the game. In the fall of 2000, 20 Gator fans took part in follow-up face-to-face interviews. Three themes emerged from the data about their travel-related behaviors when attending football games: (a) being a fan; (b) pilgrimages to the mecca of Gator football; and (c) on the road with the team. Further analysis of the results revealed that Gator fans are more likely to engage in traditional tourist behaviors while attending away games. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the tourism benefits for small communities may lie in leveraging the events to the visiting team's fans.