Why do People Attend Sport Events at Mature Tourist Destinations? An Analysis of Visitors’ Motivation to Attend the Windsurf World Cup on Sylt

Könecke Thomas and Kwiatkowski Grzegorz ()
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Könecke Thomas: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Faculty of Social Sciences, Media and Sports, Department of Sport Economics, Sport Sociology and Sport History, Germany
Kwiatkowski Grzegorz: University of Southern Denmark, Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, Department of Environmental and Business Economics Denmark

Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism, 2016, vol. 23, issue 2, 104-112

Abstract: Introduction. Sport events have become a popular tool for the marketing of tourist destinations. In this regard, it has to be kept in mind that the effects events can generate for destinations largely depend on the motivation of the attendees. Building on this insight, the aim of this paper is to compare the motivational structures of two types of visitors (primary purpose event visitors and casual visitors) to the German island of Sylt during a Windsurf World Cup. This event-destination combination was chosen because it represents the tendency for popular tourist resorts to use small-scale sport events in their marketing efforts. Material and methods. The research was conducted using an a priori segmentation of event attendees as casual visitors and primary purpose event visitors that is based on a well-established theoretical background. Results. The results revealed that both visitor groups were mainly motivated by cheering for the surfers and indulging in vicarious achievement. Furthermore, both showed some interest in learning more about the destination. Interestingly, many other motives that had been identified in (sport) tourism research did not seem to be very relevant for the respondents. Conclusion. Event marketers should heavily emphasise the opportunity to watch and closely relate to the surfers. Thus, including internationally popular athletes - if they are also popular in Germany - as well as local heroes in the event seems to be reasonable.

Keywords: non-mega sport events; destination marketing; fan motivation; leisure motivation; windsurfing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:spotou:v:23:y:2016:i:2:p:104-112:n:7

DOI: 10.1515/pjst-2016-0013

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