Athletes as destination ambassadors: understanding the role of athlete attachment and sport involvement on country-of-origin’s image and intention to visit

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine (1) the effects of athlete attachment on the athlete’s country-of-origin (COO) image and visit intentions, and (2) how athlete attachment is influenced by individuals’ involvement with sport (in general and to specific sport). Data were collected from four European countries (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy) using an online questionnaire (n = 818) focused on one prominent tennis athlete and his COO. A confirmatory factor analysis assessed the psychometric properties of the constructs, and a subsequent structural equation model was conducted to test the research hypotheses. Results indicate the relationships between athlete attachment, COO image and visit intentions were positive and significant among participants of all countries. General sport involvement was positively related to specific sport involvement among participants of all countries, but only impacted athlete attachment for one country participants. In turn, specific sport involvement was significantly related to athlete attachment in all countries and showed a positive effect on visit intentions among participants of one country. These findings advance the understanding of leisure contexts by highlighting athlete’s importance as country ambassadors and generating destination benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• Destination image
• involvement
• athlete
• ambassador
• spill-over effects

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing

The authors did not use any AI or AI-assisted technologies.

Data statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on reasonable request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher Hautbois

Christopher Hautbois is full professor at Universite Paris-Saclay, Dean of the faculty of Sport Sciences. His research interest deals with the social impact of sport and the effect mega-sporting events on place branding.

Rui Biscaia

Rui Biscaia is an Associate Professor at the University of Bath, UK, and Adjunct Associate Professor (with ‘Agregação’) at Nova School of Business and Economics, Portugal. His research focus on the impact sport organisations have on contemporary society and on the promotion of long-term sustainable relationships between sport consumers, organisations and associated sponsors.

Mathieu Djaballah

Mathieu Djaballah is an Associate Professor at the University of Paris Saclay, France (Faculty of Sport Science). His research focus on the economic, social and environmental impacts of sport organisations, from both management and marketing backgrounds.