Optimizing Sport and Event Tourism: Enhancing Destination Value and Addressing Social Issues

Sport and event tourism represents a vital niche in the tourism industry, offering distinctive opportunities for destinations to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive global market. While such events significantly boost the destinations’ profiles and add substantial economic value, they simultaneously present challenges related to social inclusivity and diversity. Recent research such as Minnaert (2012) emphasizes the complexities inherent in these forms of tourism, which require careful navigation between enhancing destination appeal and managing social equity issues.

This Research Topic aims to thoroughly explore sport and event tourism to discover optimal strategies for maximizing destination value and simultaneously addressing pressing social issues. There is a burgeoning need to understand the lifecycle of events, the differentiation between niche and traditional events, and the interaction between visitor experiences and local communities. Moreover, advancing research is imperative to explore workforce development in the sector, economic impacts of large-scale events, and the sustainability of tourism practices that integrate sport and festivities.

To gather further insights in these multifaceted domains, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• The lifecycle and management of major sports events
• Unique characteristics of niche events versus traditional events
• Comparative experiences and consumer behavior in sports-related events and tourism
• Employment opportunities, required skills, and professional knowledge in sport event management
• Economic impacts and implications of mega sports events
• The social, cultural and environmental impact of major sports events
• Sustainable development practices in sport tourism

Contributions may vary from original empirical studies to theoretical analyses, and manuscripts employing interdisciplinary approaches or comparing global perspectives are highly encouraged.

Keywords: Sport tourism, Event tourism, Sustainable development, Economic impacts, Social issues

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.