Motivations behind Active Sport Tourists Participating in Natural and Cultural Landscapes

Basagaitz Guereño-Omil, Patxi León-Guereño, Eunate Garro, Mateusz Rozmiarek, Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko (), Maciej Młodzik, Arkadiusz Włodarczyk and Bartłomiej Łuć
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Basagaitz Guereño-Omil: Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Deusto, Mundaiz, 50, 20012 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
Patxi León-Guereño: Health, Physical Activity and Sports Science Laboratory (HealthPASS), Department of Physical Activity and Sport Science, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of Deusto, 20012 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Eunate Garro: Independent Researcher, 50, 20012 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
Mateusz Rozmiarek: Department of Sports Tourism, Faculty of Physical Culture Sciences, Poznan University of Physical Education, 61-871 Poznan, Poland
Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko: Department of Sports Tourism, Faculty of Physical Culture Sciences, Poznan University of Physical Education, 61-871 Poznan, Poland
Maciej Młodzik: Department of Sports Tourism, Faculty of Physical Culture Sciences, Poznan University of Physical Education, 61-871 Poznan, Poland
Arkadiusz Włodarczyk: Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, 00-968 Warsaw, Poland
Bartłomiej Łuć: Independent Researcher, 95-070 Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-11

Abstract: Recreational running, both on roads and in mountains, is one of the most practiced physical activities worldwide, and so, the motivations behind participating have been quite extensively described in the literature. However, the cultural and environmental motivations behind these athletes traveling to other countries or destinations to compete have not been properly addressed yet. The aim of this research is to analyze the motivations of sport tourists and to compare the motivations that cause mountain runners and city runners to compete. A cross-sectional study with a total of 244 athletes, divided into a group of city marathon runners (N = 118) and a group of mountain ultra-marathon runners (N = 126), was conducted. Athletes completed the Sports Tourism Motivation Scale (STMS), composed of 37 items and nine dimensions, through an online survey. Participants were asked questions related to their age, running experience, distance to events, numbers of nights in hotels and volunteering. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in four out of the nine dimensions of the STMS between city and mountain runners’ motivations and, likewise, statistical differences were found in some dimensions of the scale related to participants’ sex, age, running experience, numbers of nights in a hotel, travel distance and volunteering. In conclusion, the reasons why runners participate in mountain and city running events are different; likewise, some sociodemographic variables should be taken into account when organizing such sporting events in a sustainable way, in order to provide organizers with the most suitable information and attract the most participants.

Keywords: active tourism; sports tourism; motivation; running landscape; running experience; travel distance; volunteering; sport environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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