Sport tourism: comparing participant profiles and impact of three one-day events in South Africa

Abstract

Sport tourism has emerged as one of the fastest-growing spheres of the leisure travel market and has become a subject of interest at academic and governmental levels alike. Sport, together with arts festivals, has made an effective contribution to the economic development of towns, cities and regions. This article examines three one-day sport events in South Africa,each involving between 13 000 and 27 000 participants. Attention is given tothe number of participants who took part in these three events in 2005 and 2007 respectively, as well as to certain demographic data, in order to determine the extent of the infl ux of sport tourists into Cape Town and Durban during these events