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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.

Sports tourism has become an important element of reconstruction, and also considered as a strong tourist activity for tourism development and recovery. Therefore, the main aim of current research is to study the economic impact of sporting events on host communities based on stakeholder theory in Aras Free Zone of Iran and how it may contribute to rejuvenating tourism destination. Qualitative method has been used for the aim of this chapter. A semi-structured interview is applied for data collection. The sampling method was purposive sampling with maximum diversity or heterogeneity. 21 stakeholders have been interviewed who involved in the Iran-Azerbaijan International Cycling Tour or the International Traditional Archery Competition – Aras Geopark Cup. Potential cycling tour stakeholders are selected to conduct in-depth interviews in terms of the economic impact of sport tourism events specifically cycling tours which can be operated by social distancing rules in Aras Free Zone, Iran. The interviews were analysed by thematic analysis. Extracted codes were categorised into four themes: infrastructure development and services, increased awareness of the host community, managerial and policy development, business development, and investment. This study suggests that small scale sports tourism could be considered as motivation drivers in emerging tourist destinations; Specifically, those sports that can be practiced in the pandemic situation following physical distancing such as cycling. The findings of this study help to policymakers and destination marketers to use appropriate sports tourism events as a tool for economic development and tourism recovery of destinations. Managerial implications and limitations are discussed.

The organization of several small-scale events throughout the year is called event portfolio and may contribute to the development of the city strategy in the touristic, social and economic fields. The organization of a set of sporting events represents an important innovation in the development of city marketing. This paper analyzing the scarce literature on event portfolio provides the main elements to benefit from this innovative strategy to achieve sustainable sports tourism for host cities. Among the innovative strategies, the inclusion of leverage and cross-leverage approaches in the management of event portfolios is studied in depth.

The study is divided into two phases. First, the Web of Science (WOS) and SCOPUS databases are searched using keywords. Once the selection of scientific studies that analyze the phenomenon of event portfolios has been obtained, an exhaustive review is carried out, allowing us to obtain novel findings on the field of study.

The work provides a classification of the portfolios of sports events analyzed in science considering the configuration (formal vs informal) and whether there is an integrated strategy. Second, the delimitation of the deficiencies and the most important aspects to be developed in sports-events portfolio management.

This study contributes with a summary of the main elements to consider when managing sports events portfolios. Moreover, the importance of integrated strategies is underlined, as well as the relevance of leveraging the strategies. The contributions are of interest in being a novel field with room for scientific development and with an eminently practical nature.

This chapter discusses emerging issues in event management with a focus on small-scale events. The author reflects on managerial approaches to stakeholder involvement and engagement, and underlines the complexity of strategy formulation for destination development planning. This contribution also provides advanced conceptual instruments for event marketing as guiding principles that permeate destination-marketing strategies. In addition, the author investigates the role and nature of sponsorship linked to enhancing the value of small-scale events and highlights fundamental issues in developing a marketing management model for place marketing and the key drivers of event management strategies involving sponsors and event participants.

This chapter aims to present and analyze how the methodology/approach of service blueprinting may contribute to managing and offering high quality experiences to sport tourists.

In this study we use a combination of theoretical tools to develop a finalized services blueprint map for sport events. The method consists of a literature review and a presentation of empirical findings. First, using a case study, we present the process through which a small-scale sport event blueprint map was constructed. Secondly, based on a meeting with the management staff and the use of diaries, we analyze the comments of tourists in the sport event area. Thirdly, we compare and describe the main contact points between the front-line staff and sport event tourists in a service blueprint. Finally we apply the six dimensional construct domain analysis of service experiences and combine this information in a table format for the Failure, Effect, and Action analysis.

This study shows that observation, diaries, service blueprints, comment management, and FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) are a range of corporate research approaches and management tools that can offer new insights into the theory and praxis of service management applications and can improve the experiences of sports tourists.

This study is related to sport rural events. Researchers have to check with the same method to study the results also in other sport events.

The analysis of Small-Scale Sport Event Services Blueprinting can be combined with other useful managerial tools, like the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis to better manage the contact points, the “moments of truth” of tourist experiences in the sport event service system. In addition, the SMF case study shows that it is useful to point out the problematic areas in the service system using combined methods and managerial tools with the aim of enhancing and contributing to better manage sport tourism event experiences.

It presents the new idea of combining theoretical constructs and measurement tools in order to blueprint, analyze, and create service customer experiences.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among brand experience, sports event image and loyalty in the Jeju International Ultramarathon Race.

Data were collected from 313 ultramarathon runners during the 16th Jeju International Ultramarathon Race. Statistical analyses were carried out using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

An analysis of the relationship between brand experience and sports event image revealed that affective experience is the most influential dimension, followed by sensory and behavioral experiences. However, intellectual experience showed insignificant relationship. Sports event image indicated a positive effect on word-of-mouth and revisit intention.

Ultramarathon races are sporting events with few participants, even though it is becoming more popular. The attitude, motivation and personality of people participating in these races may be different in terms of the extreme characteristic and endurance level of sports activity. If the results of this study need to be generalized with other sports event images, a comparative study may help to understand the personality traits of people participating in ultramarathon races and other sports.

As ultramarathon races are not yet popular sports, to target more people, behavioral experience has an influential role because it is action oriented and actively engages the body. Enriching consumer life by facilitating and creating opportunities to physically experience as well as showing them alternate ways of doing things may attract them to substitute lifestyle and interactions (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). Few other popular endurance race events organize short-distance races and kid races for fun (e.g. Lavaredo Ultra trail race), to engage friends and family members before the start of the main event. Doing so may provide an opportunity to attract more runners, and they may engage in running activities and participate in these kinds of events later, after having this sort of casual experience.

Social networking sites may be used to maintain continuous interaction with the runners and followers. Supporting a social cause is another measure to generate the intellectual experience of sports events. The result of this study shows no significant relationship between intellectual experience and the sports event image. To increase the worldwide popularity of this race and to attract more international runners, a judicious use of web platforms may be an option to maintain regular contact with a wider group of audience.

This study is the first to examine the relationship between brand experience and sports event image in an ultramarathon event context. Findings contribute to an understanding of the impact of brand experience on sports event image, thereby influencing the loyalty of runners participating in an ultramarathon event.

The purposes of this paper is to segment spectators of collegiate football game using a cluster analysis and to determine differences between spectator clusters based on motivations, satisfaction, and demographic characteristics.

A survey instrument was utilized, and a total of 407 usable data were gathered through a convenience sampling method at a main campus in the Southern USA. A discriminant analysis was employed to create cluster profiles including demographic variables not previously included in the clustering procedure. Cluster analysis is a procedure used to determine best group segmentation.

Through a factor-cluster analysis, two distinct groups are identified as attendees of collegiate football games: far-away fans and seasoned sideliners. Knowing the different spectators in event attendance allows marketers of collegiate sport events to effectively target segments and attract larger numbers of visitors to each event. Although the results indicated lower satisfaction with the far-away fans cluster, they are nonetheless spending their money at these events. A concerted effort to better welcome tourists that are supporting the visiting team may help boost their image of the local community and thus increase their spending level.

The current study adds to the literature on sport event research, while providing great insight for researchers and practitioners how to segment their target market. Therefore, it is believed that the results of the present study will help future researchers and industry practitioners make use of the implications and findings to broaden their knowledge about sport marketing.

Sporting events are the core of sport tourism. However, when it comes to business models (BM) in the context of event sport tourism, that is, how value is created and delivered at events, there is an obvious lack of research. The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of BMs in the specific context of event sport tourism.

Focusing on trail-running sport events which are rapidly growing in popularity, the paper assesses actual events relative to the existing conceptual BM framework by using the analytical possibilities of the multiple-case study and by applying the interview and observation methods.

The results indicate that the core logic of the examined event-related sport tourism practices is very similar, although there are some significant differences. In addition, this study raises questions concerning potential modifications within the applied framework. Primarily, these relate to the partner network being identified as a second-order theme and an independent BM category and, communication with stakeholders (primarily with competitors), as a key process within the event BM.

This paper focuses on under-researched topics in the context of tourism, that is, the BM concept in relation to event sport tourism in general and trail-running sport tourism in particular. The paper provides a better understanding of the BM concept as a whole, and trail-running event sport tourism suppliers could benefit from the research findings by potentially avoiding business mistakes.