Sean Gammon

A question of primary and secondary motives: revisiting and applying the sport tourism framework

The motivation(s) of the sport tourist has been a regular source of discussion within much of the sport tourism literature (Gammon and Robinson, 1997; Gibson, 1998a; Hinch and Higham, 2004; Kurtzman and Zauhar, 1995a; Standeven and De Knop, 1999). Much consideration has been paid to the interaction and influence each sport or tourism motive has upon the other. This paper discusses the complexity of combining these motives; concluding that it is unrealistic to list all the possible motivational variations, but more enlightening to suggest that a relationship exists based upon primary and secondary considerations. Using this premise, a sport tourism framework is detailed (originally outlined in 1997) which not only illustrates a tentative sport tourist typology (based upon competitiveness, recreation, activity and passivity) but also a method which organisations can utilise, in order to identify current and future sport tourism developments. Four applications of the framework are included which demonstrate its utility with regards to general, domestic, local and sport specific profiling. Lastly, it is suggested that a sport tourism index be created where countries, regions and cities can compare their current sport tourism offerings with either competitors or national/international averages.

Something Lived, Something Learned: Nostalgia's Expanding Role in Sport Tourism

Nostalgias role in sport tourism is multifaceted and stems from the nostalgic appeal of sport, tourism and related social experience. Sport, tourism, and by extension, sport tourism are useful incubators for nostalgia, as memories of past experience within each domain (whether lived or learned) are linked to an individuals personal and social identities. This essay discusses two broad conceptualizations of nostalgia in sport tourism: nostalgia for sport place or artefact, and nostalgia for social experience. Nostalgia sport tourism is considered congruously with travel to visit place and artefact, travel to participate in physical activity, travel to watch sport, and travel to volunteer at sport events.

More than just Nostalgia? Exploring the heritage/sport tourism Nexus

Abstract Sport-related heritage is increasingly being recognized as a potent instigator of tourism, though it is usually incorporated within the context of nostalgia sport tourism. While sites, attractions and experiences about the sporting past often provide a venue for the sport tourist to engage with nostalgia, what has become more evident is that housing all elements related to sports-related history beneath nostalgias roof is misleading. Heritage, on the other hand, is a broader, more encompassing term that may better represent the issues and topics that remain so fundamental to our understanding of sport-related tourism. This paper situates nostalgia sport tourism within a heritage context and finds that heritage is a more fitting categorization for this form of sport tourism. Four characterizations of sport heritage are identified: tangible immovable sport heritage, tangible movable sport heritage, intangible sport heritage, and goods and services with a sport heritage component. These categorizations do not discount the role of nostalgia in sport travel. However, the vast majority of attractions and experiences related to the sporting past reflect a more holistic purpose, to which nostalgia is but one of several components.

On home ground? Twickenham Stadium Tours and the construction of sport heritage.

Constructions of home are powerful from both heritage and tourism perspectives, as ‘home’ suggests a certain type of heritage precedence while also providing a competitive tourism advantage over rival locations. Sport tourism sites also disseminate notions of home as part of their narrative, both to create and solidify particular heritage claims as well as to enhance the tourism potential of a location. Home narratives are used, in particular, during stadium tours, where tourists go ‘behind the scenes’ at a famous sports venue. Tour narratives at Twickenham Stadium were examined in this study. At Twickenham, it was found that the stadium was represented as ‘home’ during tours in three different ways: as the literal home of the English National Rugby team; as the spiritual home of the sport of rugby; and as the home of particular notions of English identity. These representations were created as a means of claiming cultural propriety, particularly with regard to the sport and its heritage, as well as in recognition of the venues role as an international tourism destination. However, the employment of home narratives, which espouse notions of stability and continuity, also mask wider heritage and tourism anxieties, in particular competition from rival sites.

Stadia tours and the power of backstage

Abstract Stadia tours arguably represent the least researched area within the sport tourism literature. Consequently this paper explores the reasons for the growth and popularity of this relatively new type of visitor attraction by suggesting its appeal is similar to non-sport related tours as outlined by Couldrys (1998) analysis of the Granada studio tour in Manchester. It is argued that the success of a stadium tour is in its ability to promise and consequently reveal the authentic backstage. Moreover it is suggested that these types of tours illustrate (by use of a case study at the Millennium Stadium: Cardiff) the growing recognition of sports stadia being salient symbols of local, national and international heritage.

Acquired pasts and the commodification of borrowed heritage: the case of the Bank of America Stadium tour

Contemporary understandings of heritage and heritage tourism have viewed ‘heritage’ as more than just tangible objects and places but also the social values and practices associated with things and places of heritage. As such, sports heritage venues often emphasize the history of the sport or the team to sustain the legacy of the place and create a meaningful experience for the visitors. However, stadiums that are relatively new lack the ‘recognizable’ heritage that could be incorporated into their stadium tour narratives. To understand different forms of heritage construction, this study examines tours of the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, home of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Being a stadium with little history, its tour narratives are not rooted in the heritage of the venue itself but rather in the more intangible traditions, language, and rituals of NFL fandom. In particular, the stadium tour espouses the identity, experience and performance of being an NFL fan, providing patrons an opportunity to not only reflect on their past spectator experiences, but also to create new personal/collective heritage through continued consumption. In addition, the tour borrows heritage from other NFL-based heritage markers in order to reinforce the authenticity of the location and experience, seemingly until such time that the facility and team can establish a recognizable and commodifiable ‘home-grown’ heritage.

Examining the Olympics: heritage, identity and performance

Sport is undoubtedly a central part of culture. As MacGregor (2006, p. ix) states, ‘it is impossible to know a people until you know the game they play. To understand America, you need to know football. To understand Brazil, soccer’. It would therefore be quite tempting to encapsulate the entirety of a people in terms of a sport: rugby union is an essential aspect of New Zealand culture, just as ice hockey is in Canada, and cricket in India. As we know, however, American, Brazilian, New Zealand, Canadian and Indian cultures are far more complex than their sports alone; thus, it would seem foolish to exclude other cultural practices from an understanding of these nations and their societies. This, for us, presents a clear rationale for considering the nexus between sport, identity and performance, which, we suggest, can be viewed through the lenses offered by a range of heritage and cultural practices. Indeed, it strikes us as odd that, until recently, few discussions of heritage and its relationships to sport could be found within academic circles. Perhaps, though, this should not come as too great a surprise, given that sport seemingly sits so uncomfortably within wider heritage concerns. Indeed, as Moore (2008) points out, in places such as the UK, sport is not readily accepted within the ‘heritage-scape’, in large part due to the tensions that continue to swirl around and between popular culture and the ‘high culture’ of traditional heritage sites like museums. This is a conclusion shared by Gammon (2007, p. 3), who has argued that ‘there may well be an air of triviality connected to sports and indeed a perception of its apparent ubiquity that renders it unworthy of protection and consideration’. The heritage field is by no means alone in this assumption. Historians, too, have often taken umbrage with sport heritage, arguing that public representations are primarily concerned with celebration, veneration and nostalgia, rather than a critical examination of complex sporting pasts (Kidd 1996). Perhaps this discomfort stems from the fact that sport heritage is ‘recent’ and thus falls victim to a broader propensity to eschew and ignore contemporary pasts in traditional heritage circles. Or, perhaps, it is because sport is susceptible to what Snyder (1991) calls ‘flashbulb memories’, the saturation of sports’ coverage in line with our willingness, desire even, to ‘re-live’, memorialise and nostalgise sporting pasts that reside outside of personal living memories.

Heroes as heritage: the commoditization of sporting achievement

The paper aims to explore and develop discussion relating to sports heritage by introducing the proposition that sporting heroes can be equated to forms of both tangible and intangible heritage. It begins by identifying the nature and function of sports heroes, while delineating a basic sports hero typology based upon a dialectic process that drives the emotional responses of the spectator and/or fan. Furthermore, the paper explores the commoditization process of the sporting hero that reframes them into heritage “objects”. These “objects” are, in turn, responsible for the intangible heritage achievements produced during their careers. It is argued that sports heroes represent a hitherto unexplored source of tourist interest (specifically related to authenticity and motivation) which may add to our understanding of heritage studies in general.

Sport Tourism Finding Its Place

Watching the recent team performances that took place in the opening matches at the football World Cup in Brazil, viewers could be forgiven for acquiring more enjoyment from the surprised look on the managers’ faces — as they did from the open and attacking styles displayed by their teams. Why was it that even the most defensively minded of teams played more creative and expansive football? Part of the answer undoubtedly has to do with place. The ambience and atmosphere, coupled with the history and heritage of Brazilian football seemed to impact on the players (arguably in a negative way for the local team). This, albeit, over simplistic example, illustrates well the invisible connections that influence how sport tourists (in all their guises) feel, perform and behave in designated areas primarily designed for sport.

The marginalisation of Paralympic heritage

The impact of the Paralympic Games and disability sport upon the lives of people with disabilities and the perceptions of non-disabled society regarding people with disabilities has been immense. Yet examples of this disability sport and Paralympic heritage are all but invisible amongst the wider area of sports heritage. This paper will attempt to outline some of the possible reasons why this might be the case and cite some examples of how this apparent marginalisation of Paralympic heritage might be overcome as we move forward beyond the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.