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Destinations use sport events to attract participants and spectators, who then hold perceptions of both the sport event and destination. This research aimed to a) understand how active sport tourists perceive the meaning of a sport event experience and b) develop a scale for that meaning. Both aims are studied in a post trip context as evaluative research. Two focus groups were used to understand the meaning of the sport event experience among active sport tourists. Results from the focus groups suggest participants attribute meanings related to organizational, environmental, physical, social, and emotional aspects of the sport event experience. Next, semantic differential items were developed to measure the meaning of a sport event experience in the post trip phase. The items were tested with two different sport event participant samples using surveys. A uni-dimensionsal scale of 11 semantic differential items emerged. These items provide a measure for the evaluative meaning of a sport event experience.

Hosting recurring sport events can be a solution for sustainable tourism development resulting in destination loyalty and higher place attachment levels. This study proposes active event sport tourists may include in their destination perceptions a number of destination and event attributes, given the direct association of the event with the place. The feasibility of the convergence of event and destination image attributes in one scale was explored and that scale’s influence on place attachment and on specific active sport tourists’ behaviors was examined. Data were collected from sport event tourist participants (n = 2,015) at a recurring marathon event via an online survey. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the factor structure of destination image to include event characteristics. Regression analysis was used to test the impact of destination image factors on behavioral intentions and place attachment and supported the predictive validity of destination image factors. Implications for event and destination marketers are discussed.

Utilizing a social worlds perspective, the study examined active-sport-event travel career progression in the sport of cycling. Event travel careers are considered potentially lifelong patterns of travel to participate in events that evolve through stages with distinct behaviors and motivations. Quantitative methods were used to test tenets of an inductively derived model of the active-sport-event travel career for cyclists. An international sample of cyclists were surveyed online; N = 1,452 responded. Using general linear modeling, the results depicted an escalation in motivation related to intellectual, social, mastery competence, giving back, and competition against others with career progression. However, while travel behavior related to preferred events characteristics changed with career progression, preferred characteristics related to destinations and travel style remained relatively stagnant. Implications for destination and event management are discussed.