ABSTRACT
Until the 1990s, sport tended to be treated as a general or even accidental context for tourism research rather than as a central focus. For example, research associated with hallmark events such as the Olympic Games has added significantly to our understanding of the impacts of mega events but it has provided much less insight into the features that distinguish the nature of sport-based events from other types of events. A similar criticism can be made related to other areas of related research, such as outdoor recreation and health-based tourism. The purpose of this paper is therefore to conceptualize sport tourism by positioning sport as a central attraction within the activity dimension of tourism and then considering its relationship with the spatial and temporal dimensions of tourism.
