Sport Tourism in India

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Tourist is a travel for leisure, leisure or service function. The World Tourist Company specifies tourists as people travelling from one location to another and staying in locations outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, organisation and other functions. The importance of tourism, as an instrument of financial development and employment generation, especially in remote and backwards locations, has actually been well acknowledged the world over. It is a big service industry internationally in regards to gross income in addition to forex profits.

Tourism can play an essential and efficient role in accomplishing the growth with equity. Tourism has the possible to grow at a high rate and ensure as a result development of facilities of the destinations. It has the capability to capitalize on the country's success in the services sector and supply sustainable models of development. Tourist includes 2 aspects-- the journey to the location and the stay including the activities.

Tourism plays a considerable function in promoting long lasting or good friendship amongst the countries of the world and likewise states and regions within the nation, in bringing diverse people deal with to face, in widening social opportunities, in establishment of nationwide identity and likewise leads to nationwide combination, in resulting in security and better maintenance of historical monoliths, in helping to revive and reinforce cultural heritages, in breaking down bias, suspicions that exist in between nations or states and areas within the country, in having social significance, to provide different job opportunities, in economic growth of not just nations however likewise numerous states and areas within the nation.

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In recent years tourism in India has shot up at lighting speed. India has succeeded in becoming the most preferred place amongst domestic and overseas traveler. Tourism exposes the international traveler to India’s diverse culture. According to some official estimates Indian tourism has surpassed global tourism as far as penetration of foreign tourists and revenue is concerned. As far as internal reasons are concerned, India tourism has progressed due to the rate of growth of Indian economy. To develop the infrastructure the tourism industry has invested in latest equipments, international standard security systems and CRM tools.

Tourism is the largest service industry in India, with a contribution of 6.23% to the national GDP and 8.78% of the total employment in India. India witnesses more than 5 million annual foreign tourist arrivals and 562 million domestic tourism visits. The tourism industry in India generated about US$100 billion in 2008 and that is expected to increase to US$275.5 billion by 2018 at a 9.4% annual growth rate.

1.1.1 Types of travel

Leisure Travel- A group of people for recreational purpose. People refers to the travel by a family or a often travel to various destinations to relax from busy schedule. It includes all kinds of activities performed by an individual during his visit to a holiday destination.

Educational Travel- This involves travelling to an education tourism in order to gain knowledge. People who travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.

Corporate Tourism- This includes the travelling of people for business purposes. People also visit the country to attend various trade fairs which are held throughout the country. This type of tourism is undertaken by business people sometimes individual or business people go on tour to satisfy their lust for traveling.

They may sometimes mix business and leisure tourism in business tourism. Visiting Friends and Relatives- this refers to the travelling of people to visit persons related by close family ties and combining these activities with the vacation. Travel is a form of travel involving a visit whereby either (or both) the purpose of the trip or the type of accommodation involves visiting friends and / or relatives

Incentive Tours- This tour is conducted in order to replenish the stamina in the exhausted body and enabling the employees at their best. These tours also boost up the potential of the tired individual. This segment of tourism caters to such corporate programmes tailor-made to suit the client's requirements in any part of the world. The size of the convention, facilities required, competitive pricing, natural attractions, safety and opportunities to shop are some of the factors considered before selecting a MICE destination.

Wildlife Tourism- It is tourism that involves encounters with non-domesticated animals either in their natural environment or in captivity. It includes a wide range of activities such as bird watching, general wildlife view, visiting zoos, view underwater life recreational fishing.

Eco-Tourism- this involves travelling to undisturbed areas with a specific objective of study, admiring and enjoying nature and its wild plants and animals found in these areas. Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights.

Adventure Tourism- this tour attracts those tourists who prefer to have adventurous holidays like white river rafting, mountaineering and skiing. Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas. Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity, as tourists seek different kinds of vacations

Cultural Tourism- this refers to the activity which enables people to explore or experience the different ways of life of other people reflecting social customs, religious traditions and intellectual ideas of a cultural heritage which maybe unfamiliar. Cultural tourism (or culture tourism) is the subset of tourism concerned with a country or region's culture, specifically the lifestyle of the people in those geographical areas, the history of those people, their art, architecture, religion(s), and other elements that helped shape their way of life. Cultural tourism includes tourism in urban areas, particularly historic or large cities and their cultural facilities such as museums and theatres.

Sports Tourism- this refers to international trips specifically taken to watch sporting events. Sport Tourism refers to travel which involves either viewing or participating in a sporting event[1] staying apart from their usual environment.

1.2 Introduction to Sport Tourism
As the topic of the study is “Sport Tourism in India” and its various significance and impacts in promoting India as a sport tourism destination. Tourism and sport are key elements of today’s culture and have a specific influence on the behavior of society. On the other hand tourism is the world’s largest industry which is a developing and growing one.

Broadly defined, sport tourism includes travel away from one’s primary residence to participate in a sport activity for recreation or competition, travel to observe sport at the grassroots or elite level, and travel to visit a sport attraction such as a sport hall of fame or a water park. Individuals or groups of people who actively or passively participate in competitive or recreational sport during their travel. Sport is the prime motivation to travel, although the touristic element may reinforce the overall experience.

Speaking about sports tourism in India, it is now booming as it is progressing as a developing country. I have taken up this project as I am a sport person myself and I would really want to make a research in this field of study and know how it can be beneficial for our country.

First of all speaking about sports tourism it means how sports in a country can promote tourist destination. How sports tourism can create an awareness and influence the tourists in order to promote a destination. Sports tourism is one of the interesting and important factor that involves many individuals and their personal skills.

Secondly speaking sport tourism in India is currently booming. For example, DLF Indian Premier League Cricket which involves a huge amount of investment over every single cricket players and overall matches and program. There are many advertisements, sponsorships and promotion involved in this League. This shows how it is booming in attracting the crowd who love watching cricket.

Other example could be the Olympic held in India. Athletes and all the sports players and sport lovers came from all around the world to cheer and support their country. Other example is the Grand Prix event held in India, showed the number of spectators crowding in the stadium from around the world, gave a rise as India begins its innings in sports tourism.

1.3 Sports Tourism and its offerings
Be it the Grand Prix, Wimbledon matches or PGA Championships, Sports Tourism has diversified from its conventional form restricted to viewing the sport live, to be clubbed with MICE or leisure trips. Hence, delegates from corporate world are often witnessed weaving their conventions and business sessions with various sporting events. The present scenario has further evolved itself to include families accompanying delegates and fans to the sporting event. They consider the event as an incentive to visit and explore the destination wherein they indulge in shopping and other leisure activities.

Several Indian tour operators are also being approached by their international counterparts in order to promote Sports Tourism in their countries. In August 2009, Beyond Boundaries, an Indian Sports consultancy service organized one-of-its-kind three-day cricket match that was played on the snow-capped Bernese Alps of Jungfraujoch, Switzerland. Various international veteran cricketers came together to swing the bat once again. The company also arranged sufficient value-added programmes for the sponsors, participants and their spouses, making the event a blend of leisure and MICE.

The Cricket World Cup generated great interest in India about the destination and the word of mouth publicity from those who visited the country for the World Cup aided by packages by the travel trade resulted in tourist traffic to South Africa. The subsequent Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 tournament escalated the traffic and catapulted South Africa among the popular destinations in Indian market.

1.4 Commonwealth Games 2010— a boom to Indian tourism
With innumerable infrastructure disasters and last minute hiccups, the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi turned out to be a politically tumultuous event. Many major travel agencies and tour companies in the country also decided to play it safe and backed out from promoting the Games.

However, the Games played a vital role in creating a major chunk of long over due infrastructure in the capital and also showcasing ‘Incredible India’ to the world. The opening ceremony was a spectacular melange of our diversity and culture. The Games went off without a hitch and gave great exposure to the country. As per information from the Immigration authorities at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) from October 1-14, 2010 (Commonwealth Games period) stood at 75,606. Also, according to industry feedback, FTAs to India in October 2010, saw an upsurge by 9.2 per cent (about 4.87 lakh tourists), as compared to the same period last year. 1.5 Cricket World Cup Mania

As the cricket mania gathers momentum in the country with a massive cricket craze, most travel agents and tour operators in India seem to be making the best of the opportunity by designing packages around the tournament to change the outlook of Sports Tourism, which is still a niche trend in the country. The response has so far been good that most travel and tour operators foresee shortage of tickets due to increasing demands from fans.

An increasing number of requests to block dates during the CWC have come from groups of NRIs and families as well. Tour operators are forming larger groups to make bulk reservations so as to sell packages at economic rates.
As it is obvious, the result is that demands are higher for Indian matches. However, most of them feel lack of cooperation from the government in promoting the tournament. The India Tourism Office should take the lead and conduct road shows and other promotional activities in countries abroad for CWC. Amongst other challenges, some tour operators are facing a delay in visa processing.

1.6 Tagging India as a Sports Tourism destination
When an international sport enthusiast comes to India, he should also experience the rich cultural heritage of the country. Watching a round of the snake boat race in the Backwaters of Kerala or a bullock cart race in Tamil Nadu, will provide the spectator with diverse experience while touring the country. The Rural Olympics 2010 held in Kila Raipur, Punjab, attracted hundreds of international tourists. It was organised by the local Grewal Sports Club. Some tourists from England, who had come to watch the event, felt that the Punjab government should promote it internationally.

Skiing, which is a prominent sport in New Zealand and various European countries is also possible in North India. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand have world class ski slopes and skiing tournaments in these states can attract large number of international visitors.

Another traditional sport in India which can be capitalised upon for Sports Tourism is Polo whose origin dates back to AD 15th Century Mughal era. Today, Polo is played primarily in the state of Rajasthan and a few remote mountainous enclaves of the subcontinent, notably Gilgit, Chitral, Ladakh and Manipur. State tourism boards and the travel trade should focus on developing such sporting events and marketing the same as they deliver unique experiences.

1.7 Need for the study

India is a popular holiday destinations in the world where sports tourism is gaining immense prominence and popularity. Sports tourism in India is being encouraged by the tourism providers in India. It means that vacations to
India are sports-oriented. Sports tourism in India is indeed lucrative from the point of revenue-earning.

Sports are an integral part of the Indian sub-continent. India is top destination offering tourists with great and excellent scope for skiing in the Himalayan ranges, going on bicycle tour on the Indian roads or canoeing or whitewater rafting in the hilly streams and rivers. You can go in for mountaineering, rock climbing and aero-sports like hand gliding, ballooning and paragliding in places like Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Darjeeling. There are numerous water sports and activities in India, especially in Goa and other popular beach destinations. Surfing the waves or water-scooting is great fun in the Indian seas. Scuba diving, angling and fishing are integral part of sports tourism in India.

Golf courses in India largely encourage sports tourism in the Indian peninsula. Golf is an internationally acclaimed sports and favorite to people. The magnificent golf courses attract professional golfers and amateur golfers. Even the luxury resorts in India have private golf courses where tourist can tee off to a fun time during their leisure vacation to India. There are many traditional games in India which tourists take great interest; one such sport is the famous boat race of Kerala.

Business tours combined with active sports activities are becoming highly popular; here business meets leisure and such kind of sports tourism on business tours is a global corporate strategy for employee entertainment and well-being. Moreover sports tourism is nurtured by the professional sportsperson; they have to travel extensively for their career. Sportsmen and sportswomen come from all parts of the world to participate in international championships and tournaments like Cricket World Cup, Soccer World Cup or tennis events like Wimbledon. For instance ASEAN games and Commonwealth games have drawn sports professionals to India and will do so in all the future sports events in India.

Sports tourism in India is an absolute must for all the thrill seekers. The geographical diversities of India open up great avenues for adventure sports
and activities.

1.8 Statement of problem/ Title of the study

This research basically deals with the problems faced by the tourism industry in various sports quotas. It deals with financial aspect of sport events, unfamiliarity with the host-destination, climate, competition, etc.

This study deals with the problem like leisure constraint which has an influence on the various aspects like interpersonal, intrapersonal and structural constraints. This clearly shows the influence on the constraints and motivation.

Lack of infrastructure tops the list of challenges faced by most tour operators in the country while promoting Sports Tourism. Most travel operators feel that the government should cooperate more resourcefully for them to showcase India’s true potential as a sports destination. The media coverage during 2010 Commonwealth Games exposed India’s ‘eleventh hour’ planning policies, a number of event management companies face difficulties in scheduling their sporting events due to this problem.

Another major problem faced by industry players is of touting and ambush marketing. The problem is that the sponsors hike ticket rates for petty profits which often results in underselling of tickets. Also, a lot of ambush marketing has been taking place these days. Even though it hardly affects the business, they are trying their best to curb the issue.

1.9 Objective Of Study

A deeper understanding of the motivations of people to be a sport tourist

Promoting India as sports tourism destination

To analyze the impact of hosting sports events in the Indian tourism industry

To study the rise in tourist arrival both during and after sport events

To study how hosting such sport events would be beneficial in the future

1.10 Research Methodology

Primary Data- Information regarding the impact, success and benefit of promoting sports tourism in India is to be obtained by preparing Questionnaire which will help in analyzing the thoughts of the general public about hosting sports events in the country. The population size will be 50.

Secondary Data- Various information regarding the impact of Sports Tourism, its success and its benefits to the host nation, that is, India and other information such as economic and cultural benefits gained while hosting such event and how this event is going to help in boosting the tourism in the country. Secondary data is to be obtained from internet, newspaper articles, magazines and journals.

1.11 Scope of Study

Boosting Tourism- Through this research, the impact of Sports Tourism in India will help in boosting the tourism in the country can be analyzed.

Sports Tourism- From this research, the contribution of sports in boosting the tourism in the country can be analyzed. Various steps can be taken or improvement can be made on the existing factors to attract tourists.

Benefits of hosting Sports Events- From this research, the carious benefits such as economical, integration between countries and improvement in the countries infrastructural facilities from hosting sport events in the country can be analyzed.

1.12 Limitation Of Study

Language barriers

Time constraints

Difficulties expressing their attending motives

2 Review Of Literature

Sports Tourism: Factors Of Influence On Sport Event Visit Motivation in which tourism and sport are key elements of today’s culture and have a specific influence on the behavior of society. Especially since the 1960’s sport has become a huge international matter with large amount of media attention, money and also political interest. On the other hand tourism remains the world’s largest industry as well as very developing and growing. So Hendrik-Jan Ottevanger (2007), has tried study the factors of influence on sport event visits and motivation.

He has also given special interest to the relation between the sport event and the host-destination. And from the results he was able to conclude that fan motives are the main reason why people would like to visit a big sport event, followed by the factor of entertainment and the role of the host-destination as motivation.

Sports tourism in India is indeed lucrative from the point of revenue-earning. Sports are an integral part of the Indian sub-continent. Sports tourism in India is an absolute must for all the thrill seekers. The geographical diversities of India open up great avenues for adventure sports and activities. Vimala Ko Sasi (2005), has tried to study Sports Tourism as an vital force for world peace and increasing understanding and interdependence.

Throughout the world, Sports Tourism can contribute to the establishment of a new international economic order that will help to eliminate the widening economic gap between developed and developing Sports Tourism countries and insure the steady acceleration of economic and social development and progress in particular of the developing countries.

Constraints To Sports Tourism- A Cross Cultural Analysis the authors Simon Hudson, Tom Hinch, Gordon Walker & Bonnie Simpson have tried to study on how the culture is influencing the sports tourism participation. This is studied on the basis of constraint based approach to arrive at various answers to questions with relation to culture and sports. Scope of study is to realize that culture plays an very important role in influencing the leisure and motivation towards sports tourism. It identifies the various aspects of constraints that influence the tourist interest.

This study basically proves that culture influences the leisure constraints of sports tourism and it also identifies various motives and constraints towards sports tourism. In this study a model of leisure constraint is prepared to find out if culture has any affect on leisure constraint on sports tourism. The leisure constraint is basically is an individual experiencing the limit for leisure preferences which involves individual participation and enjoyment of leisure. This model has suggested that the development of an individual preferences for an activity occurs as a result of intra and interpersonal constraints and individual motives.

Running Away From Home: Understanding Visitors Experiences and Behaviour of Sport Tourism Events by authors Richard Shipway and Ian Jones have tried to study the concepts of serious leisure and social identification. The key finding of this article was the strength of identification that participants had with the activity, and the nature of the event itself, which made this identity much more salient than other identities during the course of the event. This sense of identification was used to explain the unique ethos of the group, the use of significant personal effort, the perseverance of participants, the durable benefits obtained by the runners and the career structure associated with this social world.

This study is based on understanding of sport tourism behaviour, through the use of Stebbins’ (1992, 2007) concept of serious leisure. By examining sport tourists within a context where their sporting identity was likely to be more salient, the consequences of this social identification can be explored to explain the particular characteristics of ‘serious sport tourism’.

The Interrelationship between Sport Event and Destination Image and Sport Tourists Behaviours by authors Kyriaki Kaplanidou & Christine Vogt have proposed and tested a theoretical model examining the interrelationships between sport event image, destination image, satisfaction with the event, past experience with the event and destination, intentions to revisit the destination and subsequent behaviours of sport tourists to revisit.

A population of active sport tourists, whose primary trip purpose was to participate in a sport event, was used to test empirically the proposed model. And questionnaire was used to collect data after the event completion. While concluding this study the research found that when events are the point of attraction to a destination, as proposed with this study, then behaviour can be indirectly influenced by intentions, past experience with the destination, destination image and sport event image.

The Potential of Narrative Research in Sports Tourism by authors Brett Smith & Mike Weed have tried to study the relationship between sport and tourism although there is an increasing debate about the greater use of interpretive qualitative research in this area. The researchers have put an effort to galvanize researchers and offer a direction for scholarship, this article seeks to explore narrative as one form of interpretive research.

They first offer an understanding of what narrative inquiry can be by laying out a theoretical basis for this kind of research, and making a case for the relevance of narrative as an alternative methodology. The consideration is given to conducting narrative research in sports tourism. The article closes by suggesting that narrative inquiry is a germane way of theorising and doing research within sports tourism. And the researchers have attempted to argue for narrative research as one perspective among many that should be part of the armoury of social scientists exploring the relationship between sport and tourism.

Service Quality, Satisfaction, and Intent to Return in Event Sport Tourism, in this study David j. Shonk and Packianathan Chelladurai have proposed a conceptual model of quality in event sport tourism wherein perceived quality of sport tourism (Sport Tourism Quality) is said to influence tourist satisfaction which, in turn, influences the tourist’s intention to return to the place of the event and/or the event itself. In this study Sport Tourism Quality is indicated by four primary dimensions each of which is defined by two or more sub dimensions.

The primary dimensions are (a) access quality (composed of access to destination, sport venue, hotel), (b) accommodation quality (including the environment, interactions, and value), (c) venue quality (comprised of environment, interactions, and value), and (d) contest quality (indicated by process of the contest and the product of the contest). The proposed multidimensional model of sport tourism quality would facilitate research into the dynamics of sport tourism and offer guidelines for practitioners as they constantly strive to provide the very best experience for sport tourists.

Sport and tourism are believed to be among the world’s most popular leisure experiences (Ritchie & Adair, 2004). Sport is now regarded by many to be the world’s biggest social phenomenon (Kurtzman & Zauhar, 2003) and tourism its largest industry (Goeldner & Ritchie, 2006). The global growth and impact of tourism in general is indicated by the number of people who travel internationally. In this proposed model, perceived Sport Tourism Quality leads to tourist satisfaction and such satisfaction influences tourist’s intention to return to the place of the event or the event.

Fun in the family: Tourism and the Commonwealth Games by authors Leonie Lockstone and Tom Baum uses the context of the Commonwealth in order to focus on a specific dimension of tourism that is located within it, that of the mega all- Commonwealth event, the Common wealth Games, and its impact in tourism terms. Sports events and tourism are closely linked and it is abundantly clear that the tourism potential of mega sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games is a major factor in encouraging cities to bid to host such events.

Such tourism potential relates to the immediate attraction of the event to athletes and officials associated with the event, volunteers and paid employees who work at the event and, in particular, international and domestic visitors as games spectators and participants. This study about the Commonwealth Games in tourism terms, highlights the role that mega sports tourism can play in stimulating the local and national tourism economy and, perhaps, providing a different dimension to tourism visitation than that associated with mainstream leisure and business travel.

It also provides a study of Commonwealth tourism in a high-profile, globally visible form, something that is perhaps lacking in other dimensions of tourism within and between Commonwealth member states. This study also suggest that more inclusive definitions and better segmentation of sports tourism visitors is required in order to identify the associated impacts of visiting spectators, athletes, accompanying family and friends, officials, support staff, media and volunteers and accurately estimate the new money their travel generates in the host economy.

This study attempts to demonstrate, is that the Games do add an important social, cultural and sporting dimension to the Commonwealth, creating reasons to travel and visit for those involved including competitors, officials, spectators and volunteers. They also provide a Commonwealth- wide platform to promote destinations and countries in their best possible light.

Cultural Learning through a Sport Tourism Experience: The Role of the Group by authors Sheranne Fairley and B. David Tyler have tried to study understanding cultural differences that has been identified as a key competency for students learning about international issues. Experiential learning and immersion have been identified as key methods of cultural learning provided through both international trips and study abroad experiences.

Short-term study trips, a form of group-based sport tourism, are a commonly used avenue provided to expose students to a different culture and facilitate cultural learning. This research uses participant observation, interviews, and content analysis of student reflection papers on five international trips, which form part of a university course, to study the effectiveness of teaching culture through short-term, sport focused group travel. Such travel alleviates the financial and temporal challenges of long term study programs but faces challenges because of the short time period and potential group-centric behavior.

Results suggest that while cultural learning is somewhat hindered by insular behavior common in group travel, the group can itself serve as a valuable learning opportunity through periods of informal discussion and exposure to other group members’ experiences. Activities on the trip, such as meetings with sport organizations, game attendance, and home stays with locals, are central to foreign exposure. Further, pre-trip preparation in the form of readings, lectures, and videos coupled with post travel debriefing deepen individuals’ understanding of cultural variations.

Thus, students should be encouraged, or perhaps even forced, into encounters with natives. While some instances emerge naturally, others must be prompted. Experiences that allow individuals to reflect and explain their own culture are particularly useful in understanding the culture that they enter before, during, and after the short-term study trip.

The Perceived Impacts of Sport Tourism: An Urban Host Community Perspective by authors Nancy Hritz and Craig Ross have tried to study was to examine how residents of Indianapolis, Indiana perceived the impacts sport tourism has upon their city. A total of 347 surveys were returned in a mailed questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four factor structure of social benefits, environmental benefits, economic benefits, and general negative impacts. Social and economic benefits were strong predictors for support for further sport tourism development revealing a strong identification with the advantages of sport tourism in their city such as an increased cultural identity and social interaction opportunities.

Brunt and Courtney (1999), in their study of a small British coastal tourist resort, discovered that the socio cultural impacts of tourist-host interaction could be applied to host residents and was influenced by their particular role or relationship to the tourism industry. Vogt and Jun (2004) discovered that general residents were not as informed about the different types of tourism segments who visited their destination and therefore were not able to offer their opinion on the types of impacts they may have. Andriotis and Vaughan (2003) further agreed that average resident perceptions’ of the different types of tourists may be vague and they may not be aware of any type of tourism other than the mass market.

Thus, individuals who reside in a particular community and also work and/ or have business interests in the tourism industry can offer valuable opinions and professional knowledge of the different types of tourists who visit their destination.

This study assessed the perceived impacts of tourism in Indianapolis by examining ICVA business community members’ attitudes toward sport tourism in their destination. Overall, sport tourism was supported by the participants. However, there was some indication of variability in terms of how much support they are willing to give with the relationships of negative tourism impacts affecting their support with convention and sport tourism.

The findings of the study have both theoretical and applied implications in the tourism industry. Overall, the theoretical implications for the social exchange theory were supported in the findings for this study.

Serious Sport Tourism and Event Travel Careers by authors Donald Getz and Aaron McConnell have tried to advance their study on the theory pertaining to serious sport tourism, through the application of serious leisure and ego-involvement theory and the analysis of a survey of participants in the Trans Rockies Challenge mountain-bike event.

Participants were questioned post event about their motives, involvement in their sport, event-related travel, and destination and event preferences. Analysis revealed that most respondents were highly involved in competitive mountain biking, and were primarily motivated by self development through meeting a challenge. Many respondents also participated in a portfolio of other competitive sport events that provided similar personal rewards. Results suggest that many serious sport tourists develop travel careers centered on competitive events.

A hypothetical framework for assessing six dimensions of event travel career trajectories is developed, leading to consideration of practical management implications and research needs. Results of this study of involvement among mountain bikers demonstrate the existence of event tourist careers, and related portfolios of competitive events, that motivate amateur athletes to travel to a range of events. This analysis also supports a set of hypotheses concerning six dimensions of the event tourist career trajectory: motivations; travel style; temporal and spatial dimensions; event types, and event and destination choices.

Bringing together leisure and tourism theory in this way opens new lines of theory development and presents considerable scope for enhanced event management and event-tourism marketing. This research provides better understanding of what motivates certain mountain biking athletes, and sheds light on how participants select events and what they expect by way of benefits.

Future Perspective of Sport Tourism in Covasna County by authors Monika Foszto and A.I. Kiss have tried to study that Covasna County multiple Sports Tourism activities can be practiced under optimal circumstances being grouped - depending on the certain season- in Winter Sports Tourism activities or in Summer Sports Tourism activities whereby the possibility of the not very old Extreme Sports branch must also be mentioned.

Both the tourism and sports industries have recognized sports tourism as a catalyst for economic and tourism growth. It can play a crucial role in: making known to people worldwide and nationwide that the Covasna County has an array of magnificent woods and wild places with breathtaking landscapes and wonderful terrains that are very conducive to sports, adventure and recreational activities.

That, in the Covasna county, they can:
learn diverse kinds of sports;
play and experience sports for recreation and leisure;
host high-level sports tournaments;
organize friendly games
hold sports and adventure boot camps;
conduct sports conference and other educational gatherings;
advance sports professional and academic competencies.
persuading visitors to travel to a particular destination;
stimulating visitation at particular times of the year;
encouraging visitors to stay longer;
facilitating repeat visitation;
generating media coverage and promotional opportunities for a destination;
broadening perceptions of a destination.

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY/RESEARCH DESIGN

3.1 Introduction
This present chapter gives the description of the research methodology adopted for the collection of data. It encompasses of providing information regarding operational terms used in the research, the sample size i.e. the number of respondents from whom the data was collected, the sampling technique adopted, the data and source of data collection, method of data collection and the various techniques that was used in the analysis of data.

3.2 Sampling size and sampling technique
The sample size for the research is 50 in number and the sampling technique
used is non probability convenient sampling technique.

3.3 Data and sources of data collection
The data collected will be about the Study on Sports Tourism in India and its various significance and impacts in promoting India as a sport tourism destination.

Source of Data Collection is Primary and Secondary Data.

The primary data was collected through Questionnaires.

The secondary data was collected from articles and books etc.

3.4 Methods of data collection

The method of data collection was

Primary data:
The primary data was mainly collected through distribution of a well designed questionnaire to both domestic and as well as international tourist attending India for sports events and activities.

Secondary data:
Secondary data is collected from books, journals, and internet.

3.5 Various technique used in analysis of data
Technique used in analyzing the data is through Pie Graph and percentage

Table 4.1:- Sports loving respondents:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
50
100%
No
0
0%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, all the respondents responded that they did love watching sport or sport event. This shows that there is a scope for sports tourism in India as the majority of the respondents follow sports. Table 4.2:- Respondents attending sport events:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
26
52%
No
24
48%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 52% have attended various sport events while 48% have not attended any sport event.

Table 4.3:- Motivation for attending sport events:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Leisure
13
26%
Love for Sport
37
74%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 74% are motivated to attend the sport events due to their love for sport and 26% attend sport events for leisure.

Table 4.4:- Attending big sport event is a form of self exploration for respondents:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
39
78%
No
11
22%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 78% of the respondents do attend big sport event as a form of self exploration and 22% do not attend big sport event as a form of self exploration. Table 4.5:- Atmosphere in big sport event encourages the respondent visit again:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
31
62%
No
19
38%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 62% respondents believe the atmosphere of big sport event encourages them to visit it again when compared to 38% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.6:- Being part of the festivities around big sport event:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
27
54%
No
23
46%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 54% respondent like being part of the festivities around big sport event when compared to 46% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.7:- Respondent sharing sport interest with other people:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
40
80%
No
10
20%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 80% respondent would share their sport interest with other people when compared to 20% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.8:- Beauty of the game of sport makes the respondent visit a big
sport event:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
39
78%
No
11
22%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 78% respondent agree that the beauty of the game of sport makes them visit big sport event when compared to 22% who defer to agree to it Table 4.9:- Learn about destination where the sport event is held:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
29
58%
No
21
42%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 58% respondent learn about the destination where the sport event is held when compared to 42% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.10:- Sport event is the reason respondent travels towards the destination:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
37
74%
No
13
26%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 74% respondent agree that sport event is the reason they travel towards the destination when compared to 26% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.11:- Respondent like to visit other places besides the sport venues:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
35
70%
No
15
30%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 70% respondent like to visit other places besides the sport venues when compared to 30% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.12:- Respondent like to experience the culture of the place/country where the sport event is held:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
33
66%
No
17
34%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 66% respondent like to experience the culture of the place/country where the sport event is held when compared to 34% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.13:- Affect of cost factor on sport event:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
38
76%
No
12
24%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 76% respondent believe that cost factor is an affect on sport event compared to 24% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.14:- An unknown country where the sport event is held keeps the respondent away:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
39
78%
No
11
22%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 78% respondent believe that an unknown country where the sport event is held keeps them away from travelling to that destination when compared to 22% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.15:- Affect on travel in relation with bad weather where sport event is held:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
32
64%
No
18
36%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 64% respondent believe that bad weather where sport event is held affects travel when compared to 36% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.16:- India as a sport tourism destination lives up to the expectation of visiting countries:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
29
58%
No
21
42%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 58% respondent believe that India as a sport tourism destination lives up to the expectation of visiting countries when compared to 42% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.17:- Preference to watch the sport event on television:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
30
60%
No
20
40%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 60% respondent prefer to watch sport on television when compared to 40% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.18:- Demotivation factors for sport visitors to avoid from travelling India during any sport activity:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Health and Hygiene
8
16%
Safety and Security
20
40%
Transportation
22
44%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 44% say the demotivation factor for sport visitors avoid from travelling India was health and hygiene, 40% say that it was safety and security and 16% say it was transportation. Table 4.19:- India has the infrastructure and facilities to promote it as a sport tourism destination:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
30
60%
No
20
40%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 60% respondent say India has the infrastructure and facilities to promote it as sport tourism destination when compared to 40% who defer to agree to it. Table 4.20:- Government can play important role in promoting India as a sport tourism destination:

Response
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
38
76%
No
12
24%

Interpretation
Out of 50 respondents approached, 76% respondent say that government can play
important role in promoting India as a sport tourism destination when compared to 24% who defer to agree to it. 5 Findings and Suggestions

5.1 Findings:-
From the evaluation we found out that out of 50 respondents approached, all the respondents responded that they did love watching sport or sport event. This shows that there is a scope for sports tourism in India as the majority of the respondents follow sports. From the evaluation we found out 52% have attended various sport events while 48% have not attended any sport event. From the evaluation we found out 74% are motivated to attend the sport events due to their love for sport and 26% attend sport events for leisure. From the evaluation we found out 78% of the respondents do attend big sport event as a form of self exploration and 22% do not attend big sport event as a form of self exploration.

From the evaluation we found out 62% respondents believe the atmosphere of big sport event encourages them to visit it again when compared to 38% defer to agree it. From the evaluation 54% respondent like being part of the festivities around big sport event when compared to 46% who defer to agree to it. From the evaluation we found out 80% respondent would share their sport interest with other people when compared to 20% who won’t.

From the evaluation we found out 78% respondent agree that the beauty of the game of sport makes them visit big sport event when compared to 22% who do not agree to it. From the evaluation 58% respondent learn about the destination where the sport event is held when compared to 42% who don’t.

From the evaluation 74% respondent agree that sport event is the reason they travel towards the destination when compared to 26% do not agree to it. 70% respondent like to visit other places besides the sport venues when compared to 30% who defer to agree to it. 66% respondent like to experience the culture of the place/country where the sport event is held when compared to 34% who defer to agree to it. 76% respondent believe that cost factor is an affect on sport event compared to 24% who defer to agree to it.

From the evaluation 78% respondent believe that an unknown country where the sport event is held keeps them away from travelling to that destination when compared to 22% who defer to agree to it. From the evaluation 64% respondent believe that bad weather where sport event is held affects travel when compared to 36% who defer to agree to it. 58% respondent believe that India as a sport tourism destination lives up to the expectation of visiting countries when compared to 42% who defer to agree to it. From the evaluation 60% respondent prefer to watch sport on television when compared to 40% who defer to agree to it.

From the evaluation 44% say the demotivation factor for sport visitors avoid from travelling India was health and hygiene, 40% say that it was safety and security and 16% say it was transportation. From the evaluation 60% respondent say India has the infrastructure and facilities to promote it as sport tourism destination when compared to 40% who defer to agree to it. From the evaluation 76% respondent say that government can play important role in promoting India as a sport tourism destination when compared to 24% who defer to agree to it.

5.2 Suggestions:-

The Tourism Ministry must take necessary step to market India as a sport tourism destination.

Necessary marketing and advertising strategies need to be taken to popularize various sport events held in the country.

India must focus on improving the infrastructural facilities, providing safety and security and improving health and hygienic conditions in the country so that no athlete or country pulls out of the tournament, as it has been happening ever since.

The feasibility to the location of any sport event conducted need to be improved.

The sport event conducted must not affect the lives of the localities as well as should not affect the environment.

India while participating in foreign trade fairs and exhibitions must also put up a separate stall, marketing India as a sport lovers destination.

Special tour packages should be introduced by the Tourism Ministry for the
foreign tourists involving various sports.

5.3 Conclusion:-

Sports Tourism can be a vital force for world peace and increasing understanding and interdependence. Throughout the world, sports tourism can contribute to the establishment of a new international economic order that will help to eliminate the widening economic gap between developed and developing sports tourism countries and insure the steady acceleration of economic and social development and progress in particular of the developing countries.

Although Sports Tourism is a niche segment in India, it is growing rapidly, with a large number of entrepreneurs willing to invest in it. In order to support their endeavor’s, the government needs to arrange an overall sprucing of infrastructure management, security issues and marketing strategies. The travel operators themselves feel the need to introduce more value-added services so as to beckon international tourists to India.

With booming interest among Indian sports enthusiasts to explore their interests in different sport fields, and various NTOs across the world encouraging tie-ups with Indian tour operators, there is sufficient fodder for India to emerge as a Sport Tourism destination and boost overall tourism in the country. It only needs to be utilized efficiently in order to gain significant benefits.

5.4 Scope for future study:-
The research that I have pursued is on sport tourism in India which includes the study of India as a sport tourism destination as a whole. But due to the lack of time period I could not study my topic in detail. As saying sport tourism is evolving and is very important aspect of tourism industry. I have overviewed India as an sport tourism destination and the various reasons which makes it an important destination for sport tourism. Sport tourism in India has a great scope for future study as India is an destination which is developing in all the aspects of tourism.

In case of sports in India, it can be studied by comparing sport tourism with other countries. And in India itself the sports tourism can be studied by comparing different states among each other. As we know sport tourism is a booming in India in various fields of sport. There is lot of potential for sport tourism in the country which will encourage the individuals in pursuing this study.

Questionnaire

I, Sachin B Chavan am pursuing B Com- Tourism in Christ University. As a part of academics, I am doing this research on “Sports Tourism in India”. I request you to take a few moments to fill this questionnaire. This is purely for academic purpose.

What is your age?

What is your nationality?

What is your gender?

What’s your annual income?
°less than Rs.15000 °Rs.15000 –Rs.30000 °Rs.30000 –Rs.45000 °Rs.45000 –Rs.60000 °Rs.60000 –Rs.75000 °more than Rs.75000

1) Are you a sport lover?
°Yes °No

2) Have you attended a big sport event?
Big sport event can be e.g. Olympic Games, World Cup Cricket and F1 Racing before? °Yes °No

3) What motivates you to attend sport event?
° Leisure ° Love for sport

4) Is attending a big sport event a form of self-exploration for you? °Yes °No

5) Does atmosphere at a big sport event encourages you to visit it again? °Yes °No

6) Would you like to be part of the festivities around the big sport event? °Yes °No

7) Attending a big sport event gives me an opportunity to share my sport interest with other people? °Yes °No

8) The beauty of the game of sport makes me want to visit a big sport event? °Yes °No

9) I would like to learn something about the destination where the sport event is held? °Yes °No

10) The sport event is the only reason I travel towards the destination? °Yes °No

11) I would like to visit other places besides the sport venues? °Yes °No

12) I would like to experience the culture of the place/country where the sport event is held?
°Yes °No

13) High financial costs keep me away from a big sport event? °Yes °No

14) An unknown country where the sport event is held keeps me away? °Yes °No

15) The risk of bad weather keeps me away from a big sport event? °Yes °No

16) Does India as a sport tourism destination live up to the expectation of visiting countries? °Yes °No

17) I would prefer to watch the sport event on television
°Yes °No

18) What are the demotivation factors for sport visitors to avoid from travelling India during any sport activity? ° Health and Hygiene ° Safety and Security ° Transportation

19) Do you think India has the infrastructure and facilities to promote it as an sport tourism destination? °Yes °No

20) Do you think government can play important role in promoting India as a sport tourism destination? °Yes °No

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Journal:-
Hendrik-Jan Ottevanger (2007), Sports Tourism: Factors Of Influence On Sport Event Visit, Master of Arts in European Tourism Management Bournemouth University (UK). Vimala Ko Sasi (2005), Sports Tourism In India, Journal of Sport Tourism, 10(2), pp. 135–138 Simon Hudson, Tom Hinch, Gordon Walker & Bonnie Simpson(2010), Constraints To Sports Tourism- A Cross Cultural Analysis, Journal of Sport & Tourism, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 71–88 Richard Shipway and Ian Jones(2007), Running Away From Home: Understanding Visitors Experiences and Behaviour of Sport Tourism Events, International Journal Tourism Research 9, pp. 373–383 Kyriaki Kaplanidou & Christine Vogt(2007),

The Interrelationship between Sport Event and Destination Image and Sport Tourists Behaviours, Journal of Sport & Tourism, Vol. 12, Nos. 3–4, pp. 183–206 Brett Smith & Mike Weed(2007), The Potential of Narrative Research in Sports Tourism, Journal of Sport & Tourism, Vol. 12, Nos. 3–4, pp. 249–269 David j. Shonk and Packianathan Chelladurai(2008), Service Quality, Satisfaction, and Intent to Return in Event Sport Tourism, Journal of Sport Management, 22, pp. 587-602 Leonie Lockstone and Tom Baum(2008), Fun in the family:

Tourism and the Commonwealth Games, International Journal Tourism Research 10, pp. 497–509 Sheranne Fairley and B. David Tyler(2009), Cultural Learning through a Sport Tourism Experience: The Role of the Group, Journal of Sport & Tourism, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 273–292 Nancy Hritz and Craig Ross(2010), The Perceived Impacts of Sport Tourism: An Urban Host Community Perspective, Journal of Sport Management, 24, pp. 119-138 Donald Getz and Aaron McConnell(2011), Serious Sport Tourism and Event Travel Careers, Journal of Sport Management, 25 pp. 326-338 Monika Foszto and A.I. Kiss(2008), Future Perspective of Sport Tourism in Covasna County, serial I, vol. XIII (4), pp. 25-30