Abstract (150 Words)
This study intends to examine Olympic tourists’ consumption experience by taking account of the visitors’ sports attachment. A total of 486 completed and usable surveys were collected during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The results indicated that sports attachment served as an important factor which may influence Olympic tourists’ destination perception and their overall experience. Olympic tourists with higher degree of sports attachment were more motivated to travel and attend the Games, and had better destination image of the host city than those who had lower level of sports attachment. In addition, they tended to reflect a better Olympic experience and were more likely to have repeat visitation to the host city in the future. When combined with the effect of the demographics, sports attachment was the primary driving force that influences the variation of visitors’ experience evaluation. The study provided insights of the relative importance of Olympic visitors’ own emotional involvement of sports and athletes/teams on their judgment of the total experience.
The Role of Visitors’ Sports Attachment on Olympic Tourism Experience
This study intends to examine Olympic tourists’ consumption experience by taking account of the visitors’ sports attachment. A total of 486 completed and usable surveys were collected during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The results indicated that sports attachment served as an important factor which may influence Olympic tourists’ destination perception and their overall experience. Olympic tourists with higher degree of sports attachment were more motivated to travel and attend the Games, and had better destination image of the host city than those who had lower level of sports attachment. In addition, they tended to reflect a better Olympic experience and were more likely to have repeat visitation to the host city in the future. When combined with the effect of the demographics, sports attachment was the primary driving force that influences the variation of visitors’ experience evaluation. The study provided insights of the relative importance of Olympic visitors’ own emotional involvement of sports and athletes/teams on their judgment of the total experience.
