Bundling sport events with the host destination

TLDR

Sport event tourism faces the challenge of strategically integrating events into a destination’s broader tourism mix, requiring alignment of sport‑related activities, complementary cultural events, and destination attractions such as sightseeing and shopping, and further research is needed to refine bundling procedures. The study proposes a mixed bundling strategy that pairs sport event elements with host destination attractions, demonstrated through eight bundle components and two destination features at the Gold Coast Marathon. Conjoint analysis and clustering of 277 distance runners revealed four distinct market segments—dedicated runners, running tourists, active runners, and shop‑oriented runners—each exhibiting different attraction preferences, with most attractions appealing to all but the dedicated runners.

Abstract

Abstract An emerging challenge in sport event tourism is to incorporate events more strategically into the host destination's overall mix of tourism products and services. An effective means is to bundle event elements with the host destination's attractions using a mixed bundling strategy. Appropriate event elements include activities that support the subculture of the sport, as well as complementary cultural events. Appropriate destination attractions include sightseeing, visits to destination‐specific attractions, opportunities to shop, and activities consistent with the values or interests of the sport subculture. The potential for bundling sport event elements with the host destination's attractions is illustrated for eight bundle components and two destination features at the Gold Coast Marathon. Conjoint analysis followed by clustering identified four distinct market segments among a sample of 277 distance runners from two large domestic source markets. On the basis of cluster profiles, the segments were labeled: dedicated runners, running tourists, active runners, and runners who shop. Some host destination attractions were attractive to all but the dedicated runner segment. However, different segments were attracted to different attractions. It is argued that further work is needed to elaborate optimal procedures for bundling sport event elements with activities and attractions at host destinations.