ABSTRACT

In addressing these questions I will take each of three topics in turn: 1) Policy development and implementation; 2) Research and scholarship; and 3) Curricular considerations.

Around the world there appear to be mixed results in developing and implementing integrated sport tourism policies. In the United States there has been a growing awareness of the importance of sport related travel in recent years. In 1999 the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), one of the leading agencies tracking travel related trends in the US, conducted a study on sport tourism and found that more than 75 million American adults (two fifths of the population) attended a sports event while on vacation (TIA 1999). At the state and local levels, since 1986, thirteen sports commissions have been established whose mission is to attract sports events to their communities. Some of these sports commissions are independent, nonprofit organizations, some are a division of local convention and visitors bureaus and others are a government agency at the city, county or state level. The National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC) started with fifteen members in 1992 and currently has more than 280 members, less than 10 years later. The NASC was formed by a group of individuals who had the foresight to realize the potential that sport tourism held for their communities and the need to collaborate if this potential was to be achieved. Despite the growing awareness of the importance of sport related travel in the US, there is still a lack of overall coordination and cooperation as is characteristic of the nature of the tourism industry in the US as a whole. On a state by state basis, some states have explicit policies and bodies to ensure the promotion of sport tourism, for example, the Florida Sports Foundation is contracted by the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development to promote sport and Florida as a sports venue. But even with such organizations, individual communities actively compete against one another to host events. Since 1997, Walt Disney World (WDW) in Orlando, Florida has also entered the sport tourism arena opening its Disney’s Wide World of Sports. This venue contains world-class facilities for hosting a range of sports events from baseball and beach volleyball to basketball and gymnastics. The intent

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modation. Thus, with regards to the US there is a growing awareness of the potential benefits of sport tourism for communities, however, this awareness has not been accompanied by an integrated policy or even cooperation among agencies in some eases. The focus of this growing awareness has also been overwhelmingly on event sport tourism with some attention on a regional basis to golf and skiing as active sport tourism pursuits, however, the recognition of active sport tourism as an important segment of sport tourism remains limited.