ABSTRACT
In the prologue to this text some preliminary comment was offered on the use of the term ‘sports tourism’. While this provided some guidance as to the focus of the book, the problems of defining ‘tourism’ and ‘sport’ in themselves, let alone ‘sports tourism’, meant that such discussion could only provide the briefest of understanding and the intention was always to explore the concept of sports tourism in far greater detail at a later stage. In many ways, the book as a whole is designed to provide this fuller understanding and this chapter will develop this task by looking at what makes the sports tourist unique. It will begin by outlining definitions of the sports tourist and will then turn to examine behavioural patterns that differentiate such a person from other tourists. The interaction of the participant with the activity and place will then be analysed as a significant factor in conceptualizing the sports tourist.
