Factors Affecting Repeat Visitation and Flow-on Tourism as Sources of Event Strategy Sustainability

Abstract

The sustainability of including medium sized one-time sport events in an event portfolio is examined with reference to the capacity of one such event to stimulate flow-on tourism (i.e. tourism activities beyond the event but around the time of the event), a desire to return to the destination, and positive word-of-mouth. Relationships among four motives (socialising, escape, learning about the destination, and learning about athletics), identification with the event (self and social identity), previous visitation to the host destination, information search, tourism activities, and likelihood of recommending and/or returning to the host destination were examined for four categories of attendees at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships: primary purpose spectators, casual spectators, athletes, and non-athlete participants. All four categories of attendee engaged in some information search and participated in flow-on tourism, but to a low degree. Information search fostered flow-on tourism. Classic tourism activities (e.g. sightseeing, visiting museums) were motivated by a desire to learn about the destination, and encouraged future visitation and likelihood of recommendation. It is concluded that medium-sized one-time sport events can play a sustainable role in event portfolios, but their efficacy requires greater integration of destination experiences with the event. It is suggested that future work should examine the means to cultivate that integration, including creation of more effective alliances between destination marketers and event organizers.