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Until now the majority of researchers of sports tourism have focused their research on the tourist and their characteristics, meaning, on the demand. Since the majority of authors (Gibson 1998; Seddighi and Theoracharous 2002; Hudson 2003; ?inch and Higham 2001) studied tourists and their characteristics we decided to focus on the providers of active sports holidays. According to Planina, Mihali_(2002, pg. 29) the tourism model is built on demand and supply. The supply side was analyzed by WTO (2004) in their research amongst European tour operators with the highest turnover in order to establish how sport features in products involving Latin America. Based on this idea we decided to carry out a research amongst providers of active sports holidays and asked them about a typical client. We divided the providers into segments according to the type of guests. The research was carried out to find the answer to the question “What do providers of active sports holidays offer in Slovenia and how they perceive their guests?” We were interested to know what they actually offer and the trend of the enquiries they receive from their visitors. The characteristics of the visitors are important to help providers decide how to develop their facilities to meet the demands of the market. We learnt that in Slovenia the majority of tourists are short‐length stays. We also researched the supply and demand and learnt that the providers expect the demand to be highest for skiing and cycling. In the largest of the segments the activities most frequently offered are swimming (water sports), tennis (racquet sports), the usual team sports and skiing. However, the demand for these sports is not growing. Amongst the activities which are in lesser demand but have been defined by the providers as growing are mountain biking and golf.

The paper is focused on the sports tourism offer giving the example of Croatia. Emphasis is placed on the quality of the sports tourism offer — that considered being the key of success on the tourism market. The aim of the paper is to stress the need for developing sports tourism offer required by the tourists of today. Sport is a part of the health tourism offer. Health, recreation, sport, fitness, beauty and leisure time are the elements of the quality of life. Sport is not adequately represented in the Croatian tourism offer. This paper suggests measures that need to be taken in order to increase the share of sports in the tourism offer. Such measures should lead to aligning the supply with the demand, and to increasing financial effects. Tourism plays a very important role in the economic development of Croatia, and it deserves high priority in the development strategy.

The purpose of this study aims to examine sports tourism through a conceptual lens. The study offers a deep assessment of the general structure and purpose of sports tourism. Thus, the authors aim to determine the contributions of scientific studies in the field of sports tourism to sports tourism literature.

A qualitative research design was created and data collected using document analysis. The research articles were categorized and analyzed according to their objectives, journals of publication, keywords, application areas, research methods used, data collection techniques and findings

It was been determined that the research articles in the field of sports tourism contributed significantly to the sports tourism literature and to the cumulative progress of the field.

The implications of this study is that only publications in the field of sports tourism (in the tourism category) indexed in the Web of Science between 2014 and 2018 were examined.

Studies to be carried out in the field of sports tourism should be seen as continuations, rather than repetitions, of one another. Thus, more information about the field of sports tourism is needed to better articulate the structure of the field for the benefit of future researchers.

There is a need for studies to contribute to the development of sports tourism in the literature. This study aims to take a step in this direction. With the increase of activities to be carried out in both the field and practice of sports tourism, a better relationship will be established between sports, local people and relevant stakeholders.

More theoretical studies in this field (Gibson, 1998a; Soedjatmiko, 2015) suggest that the field of sports tourism can be further developed. In light of this call, the present study will provide an overview of sports tourism research as a whole, thus contributing to future research by its own merits. It will guide the authors to determine how activities in the field of sports tourism have grown and how they are progressing

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

This paper has the objective of making the case for the development of sports education as a critical element in the growth of sports tourism in the Caribbean.

This paper reviews some of the key definitions offered in the literature for sports, tourism, sports tourism and sports education. It then discusses the status of sports tourism in the Caribbean, using the CWC 2007 event as the main focus. The paper then proposes a template of a sports education curriculum for adoption in the Caribbean region.

Both the strengths and weaknesses of the sports tourism infrastructure in the Caribbean are reported in this paper. While the Caribbean possesses viable resources for tourism, as well as a strong foundation in sport, the institutional arrangements and formulae for developing sports tourism are either lacking or weak.

A substantial body of writing and research has focused upon the tourism product of the Caribbean. However, there has been comparatively little attention directed towards the theoretical, policy and operational issues related to Caribbean sports tourism. This research lacuna creates a vacuum of intellectual support and guidance for tourism scholars, tourism and sport administrators.

The author sees a direct route from this paper to the offices of tourism, sport and tertiary education administrators in the Caribbean. The paper proposes a workable model aimed at creating a greater synergy between sport and tourism in the Caribbean.

Tourism departments, directorates of sport, and institutions of tertiary education should derive benefit from the proposal and introduction of this novel construct in sports education and training.

Collaboration is now an important part of public sector management. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that have helped shape the relationships between public agencies involved in sports tourism.

Using critical case sampling 54 in‐depth interviews were conducted with public officials in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The authors have produced the “Theory of collaborative advantage in relation to sports tourism”. This model captures the dynamics of collaboration in the sports tourism policy arena. A total of 12 practitioner themes and four cross‐cutting themes were identified and although each theme and the issues and tensions identified within it can affect inter‐organizational relationships in a particular way, the model illustrates how each theme is interlinked and is part of a larger, more complex picture.

Like all empirical research, this paper has its limitations but if the issues that affect collaboration are not identified then they cannot be addressed. Although no two collaborative settings are the same, public sector managers need to be aware of the factors that affect, or may affect, inter‐organizational relationships so that they can pre‐empt problems and maximise the use of resources.

Hopefully this paper will, in some way, lead to better planning and management of sports tourism and encourage those involved in sports tourism policy to adapt a collaborative, rather than an isolated, approach.

This study has contributed to knowledge by providing a better understanding of the inter‐relationships in the sports tourism policy arena.

The Climbathon is an annual mountain running championship that takes place in Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Participants race to the peak (4,095.2 metres) and back, a distance of 21 kilometres of rainforest and mountain terrain, with a steep vertical gain of 2,300 metres. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the first 25 years of the Climbathon and to identify the key success factors behind the staging of this small-scale international sports event in Southeast Asia.

The research design for this study is interpretive, utilises a qualitative case study approach incorporating analysis of documents, oral history interviews, and personal observations gained through attendance and volunteering at the event which produced six insights, suggested as key success factors for the Climbathon. This study was guided by one key research question, to understand what has ensured the continuity of this small-scale international sports event known as the Climbathon.

Findings suggest the Climbathon has endured the test of time due to an innovative use of the summit trail, adherence to international sporting regulations, a pro sports tourism public policy led by the tourism ministry, membership to international sports organisations, corporate sponsorship, and a special sense of place towards Mount Kinabalu and the Climbathon for the event organisers, volunteers and officials.

This case study presents knowledge about the Climbathon but findings are not generalisable. Any application of the success factors would have to be as guidelines adapted for a specific sport event. The use of oral history as part of a case study is subjective and open to interpretation. Future work could incorporate interviews with participants, spectators, volunteers and the local sub-committees to gain alternative perspectives.

This study makes an original contribution to the events and tourism field by presenting a case study on the success factors of the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon. The study suggests a three pillar model of “Place-Plan-People” which may be used as a guiding philosophy for event development and delivery of small-scale international sports tourism events in Asia and elsewhere. The inclusion of oral history as part of a case study research design is novel and useful when knowledge is not available in any published form.

The purpose of this paper is to review the past 75 years of sports tourism and explore the potential of the next 75 years.

This is a personal perspective paper that reflects upon the emergence and development of the field of sport tourism, contemporary challenges and future pathways.

Research must extend to wider manifestations of sport, and sport-related tourism, in response to the growth of participation and pleasure sports and the increasingly important roles of those sports in addressing the growing social and environmental challenges of contemporary life.

This paper offers insights into the future of sports tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main driving factors behind the recent increase in the event market size in Qatar from a public policy perspective. It reports on a case study of the 2006 15th Asian Games that assisted in further examining both the underlying and implicit motives behind the phenomenon as well as its expected policy implications.

This exploratory paper uses a case study approach in which two complementary types of data sources are employed. The qualitative data was mainly obtained from in‐depth semi‐structured interviews conducted with 26 key stakeholders ranging from middle to senior professionals, academicians, high‐ranking officials from the local tourism/sports authorities, and representatives from the private sector. The data was further enhanced by an extensive review and analysis of related documents available in the public domain. Data was analyzed using an iterative thematic content analysis whose findings served to illustrate the theoretical perspectives in the relevant prevailing literature.

Findings suggest that Qatar is using events as a way to reimage and position itself as a destination and increase its profile internationally in addition to gaining a competitive edge regionally. Other explanatory factors include: economic sustainability and diversification plans and tourism‐related policies as well as social development strategies. Another identified driver is linked to globalization and modernization trends. These driving factors are consistent with the ones acknowledged in the literature on national and urban event strategies and their purpose.

The analysis conducted in this paper laid the foundation for much needed future evaluation studies on the country's tourism strategies and trends as well as events' impacts. The treatment of this subject from a governmental policy angle has not received nearly enough attention among scholars of tourism policy and events management. Moreover, considering the growing event market in Qatar, this paper fills the gap in the literature in terms of analyzing the driving forces behind this growth and highlights important issues specific to a relatively unexplored region undergoing rapid development.

Sports events are tourist attractions and their image components can relate to the destination image concept and structure. This study examined sports event images held by active and passive sports tourists at four marathon races in Germany. Some differences in the perception of event images were found for active and passive sports tourists as well as for different types of destinations. For active sports tourists, emotional, physical and organisational image associations were clustered closer. For passive sports tourists, social and historical image associations were clustered closer. The type of destination elicited different event images among active and passive sports tourists.