In search of parkrun tourism: destabilising contradictions or progressive conceptual tensions?

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to reflect on the nature of “parkrun tourism” and the challenges this presents to the understanding of sports tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

The contradictions and contested terrain of sports tourism is discussed with the reference to three of the most widely used definitions for the field.

Findings

Parkrun tourism is introduced comprising four formats: spanning the domestic and global; the informal and formal; the organic and institutional; and the experience and commercial product.

Research limitations/implications

The particular challenges that parkrun tourism presents to existing understandings of sports tourism is considered. The conclusion discusses the prospect of future research, both empirical and theoretical, on parkrun tourism.

Practical implications

The authors outline a range of ways in which parkrun tourism affords opportunity for further inquiry for parkrun scholarship and sports tourism.

Originality/value

A new specification for sports tourism is proposed that accommodates parkrun tourism.

Citation

McKendrick, J.H., Bowness, J. and Tulle, E. (2020), "In search of parkrun tourism: destabilising contradictions or progressive conceptual tensions?", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 335-347. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-10-2019-0183