A comparative study of the management and socio-economic impacts of sport tourism events in Durban and Cape Town

Abstract

The relationship between sport and tourism is symbiotic and offers valued visitor experiences that aid sport tourism development. The growth of sport tourism justifies critical consideration, as sport is an important activity within tourism, while tourism is fundamentally associated with several types of sport. Sport and tourism have become significant economic activities in both the developed and the developing world. Sport tourism events is an essential category of sport tourism and because of their special characteristics, require particularly good organisation. Hence, the monitoring and evaluation of sport tourism events are integral to developing a sustainable sport tourism event industry in South Africa. The focus of this study was a comparative analysis of the management and socio-economic impacts of sport tourism events in Durban and Cape Town, utilising a case study approach. The study specifically evaluates the Comrades Marathon (CM), the Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon (DCM), the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon (OMTOM) and the Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon (BR). Of importance in this study is stakeholders‟ involvement, perceptions, attitudes and understanding relating to the costs and benefits linked to the events. These particular events provided excellent case studies for comparative event impact analysis, as they are well-known sport tourism events, namely two running marathons and two canoe marathons that are held at popular tourist destinations. These case studies reflect a cross-section of experiences contrasting institutional dynamics, management issues, resident perceptions, sport event types as well as socio-economic and spatial contexts. As stakeholders have a direct influence on managerial decision making, a stakeholder analysis was undertaken. Stakeholders included individuals and organisations that were actively involved in the sport tourism events and whose interests may have been positively or negatively affected by the sport tourism event, viz. spectators, managers, sponsors, local government officials and residents. Due to the outdoor nature of the events, the movement of several people at spectator areas and along routes and the surveys being conducted face to face, a multistage, stratified, spatially-based purposive sampling method was used for spectators and residents. Two surveys were conducted at the events: a spectator questionnaire (n = 200 per event) and a service quality questionnaire (n = 100 per event). Spectators were approached while within the various spectator congregation points of each of the sport tourism events, whereas residents located within a 10-km radius of the sport tourism event route were surveyed (n = 200 per event) after the events. Structured key informant interviews were conducted with sponsors, managers and local government authorities.