![Sample our Tourism, Hospitality and Events journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5950/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Tourism-Hospitality-Events.jpg"})
Abstract
Sports fans and participants have shown increasing interest in traveling overseas for sport tourism. When sports tourists visit sports destinations, the tourists not only spend money on events and games but also bring additional revenue to local businesses. The major purpose of this study was to investigate factors that might influence international sports fans' intention to travel to the United States for sport tourism. A survey with 49 questions was distributed to 500 college students in Taiwan. The results of exploratory factor analysis show that six factors (cost and ease of arranging travel plans, interest in professional sports, different cultural experience, interest in travel, experience of watching live sporting events, and the chance to see Asian players or famous US players in the games) are the major factors that influence international fans' intention to travel to the United States for sport tourism. The results of this study will be helpful for sport management professionals to understand international fans' motivations and expectations for sport tourism and further develop marketing strategies and allied activities to appeal to international fans' interest in overseas sports tourism.
Notes
In this paper, several international players from Asia were included to illustrate examples of sport tourism and globalization. In East Asia, an individual's last name comes first followed by his or her first name (e.g., Yao Ming). However, some Asian players' names are translated into the Western format (e.g., Ichiro Suzuki). In order to avoid confusion, the researcher styled Asian players' names as shown in English-language media coverage.
