A Preliminary Study on Choosing Sports Tourism as a Leisure Time Option

Abstract

Problem statement: It has long been acknowledged that, when speaking about sports tourism, we must consider, on one side, tourism-an economic and social phenomenon that is specific to modern civilization and on the other side sports-the most widely spread social phenomenon in the world. No other events had such a complex unfolding than sports events, and tourism had undoubtedly become one of the world’s greatest industries. Our assumption was that physical education and sports teachers have successfully contributed to the accomplishment of objective of “forming the habit of practicing physical exercise for recreational, emulative and compensatory purposes throughout the life span”. Approach: To test this assumption we have initiated a sociological research: A questionnaire was applied on a sample of 50 persons. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential procedures. Results: The results allowed the confirmation of stated research hypotheses. We have shown that practicing a performance sport is significantly related with preference for risk, adventure tourism (Chi-square = 6,614, d.f. = 1, p = 0,010). Conclusions: Citizen’s option for sports tourism activities were shown to be relevant for physical education and sports teachers, in order to better organize their activities.