An overall assessment of sports tourism articles

Abstract

PurposeThe 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.Design/methodology/approachA 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 findingsFindingsIt 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.Research limitations/implicationsThe 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.Practical implicationsStudies 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.Social implicationsThere 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.Originality/valueMore 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