Abstract

This book outlines the impacts of small scale sport tourism events on local sustainable development in different countries. Using half marathons organized in small and medium sized cities as an example, the chapters are robust case studies, applying a unified methodology in order to provide a clear overview of the sport tourism system in each country.

The book begins with a description of the methodologies used and an overview of the countries studied. The country chapters focus on several dimensions of sport tourism in each city, including but not limited to the history of past sport tourism events in the municipality, the characteristics of the city hosting the event, the demographic profile of participants in the event, and the quantifiable economic, environmental, and sociocultural impacts of the event. Each chapter concludes with analysis and policy recommendations for holding future events that contribute to local sustainable development. The book concludes by summarizing and comparing the main results across different countries, and presenting main conclusions and overarching recommendations.

Written by international experts in sports tourism, this book is geared towards academic researchers and students, interested in sport tourism, sports economics, management, and sustainable development, as well as policy makers and professionals tasked with bringing such events to their cities.

About the authors

Ricardo Melo is a Professor at the Coimbra Education School, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Portugal. His current academic interests are nature sports, sustainable local development, and the impacts of sport tourism events. He is a Vice President of the International Research Network In Sport Tourism (IRNIST).

Claude Sobry is Professor Emeritus at the University of Lille 2, France. He has published widely in the areas of macroeconomics, sport economics, sport governance and sport tourism. He is the founder and President of the International Research Network In Sport Tourism (IRNIST).

Derek Van Rheenen is the Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Athletic Study Center. He earned his Ph.D (1997) in Cultural Studies, his Master’s degree (1993) in Education, and his undergraduate degree in Political Economy/German (1986), all from U.C. Berkeley (US). He coordinates the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education (CSSE) M.A. Program in the Graduate School of Education. He is a Vice President of the International Research Network In Sport Tourism (IRNIST).