ABSTRACT
Like Alpine skiing which will be examined in chapter 13, another well-established example of sports tourism is that associated with large urban areas. However, unlike skiing where the principal involvement is active participation, in urban areas the main emphasis is with spectator sports. Cities exhibit a number of attractions for the development of this form of sports tourism. Given their size and market influence, they inevitably possess high-quality facilities and stadiums, established initially for their own residents and sports teams. However, domestic and subsequent international competitions have encouraged substantial numbers of people to travel to cities either to support their teams or to experience the sporting spectacle. In addition, cities are increasingly hosting mega-sporting events, using their existing facilities as well as creating new ones specifically for such purposes. While perhaps not as obvious as alpine regions, cities are, nevertheless, important sports tourism places, possessing distinctive sports tourism landscapes (Bale, 1994).
