‘Doing it for Dot’: exploring active ageing sport tourism experiences through the medium of creative analytical practice

ABSTRACT

This is a true story about the active sport tourists encountered at the 17th World Veterans Championships (WVC 2014), with a particular focus on the movements and memories of the world's oldest international table tennis player. Through the employment of creative analytical practice and, more specifically, creative non-fiction, I offer an (auto)ethnographical narrative designed to target your sociological imagination, engendering a deeper, personally applicable, appreciation towards the consumption and production of active sport tourism. A couple of overlapping evocative vignettes offer a candid insight into how new awareness, attraction, attachment and allegiance have been created from my personal involvement and social interaction with over 200 active ageing athletes, including an inspiring Australian centenarian named Dorothy (Dot) de Low. By sharing my story, I hope to encourage others to stop hiding in the shadows, embrace their subjectivity and share their lived experiences of active sport tourism engagement.

KEYWORDS:

• Creative analytic practice
• creative non-fiction
• active sport tourism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.