Sports Tourism Lecture 1 Characteristics of Sports Tourism

Sports Tourism Lecture 1. Characteristics of Sports Tourism

Please, study the questions and give your opinion: • What are the key characteristics of modern way of life? • What is your definition of sport tourism? • What are the main differences between sports tourism and recreational tourism? • What kinds of sports tourism can you name?

Questions to be discussed during the lecture: • Definition of sports tourism • Object, subject and functions of sport tourism • Directions and kinds of sports tourism • Achievements of spot tourists • Own experience in sports tourism

• Sports tourism – a traveling to overcome long spaces of wilderness. Sports travel is usually conducted by a team of 4 -10 people. • Unlike usual trip sports one includes a set of natural barriers of different range of complexity. • Sports tourism develops strength, endurance, the will of man, hardens body and encourages to meet with the culture and way of life of different people, as well as study the nature.

Sports Tourism as a Discipline • Object – tourism industry, tourist centers, regions, including complex of natural and cultural conditions as well as service sphere enterprises, services of which can be used by tourists at the place of their rest and transportation. • Subject – self-organized tourism hike, tour product or special programе of rest, prepared by travel operator.

Functions of sport tourism

• Sports function: creation the basis of general physical training, special tourism technique, achievement of maximum results in tourism. • Educational function: consolidation and strengthening knowledge of local history, natural history, topography, history, familiarity with the culture and traditions of the countries and people. • Recreational and health-rehabilitation function: keeping the optimum mode of loads, using the heeling effect of natural factors on the condition of the body, developing of human adaptive capacity, support the body at a sufficiently high level of fitness.

The key difference between recreational and sports tourist activities

Directions of sports tourism

• Orienteering – a kind of sport, the essence of which is to orientate with the help of the map and to find the adjusted checkpoints as fast as possible. • Sports multiathlon – kind of sport or sports discipline which include competition in several disciplines of the same or different kind of sport.

• Tourism assemblies – events, which unite mainly youth with the purpose of conduction of non-official tournaments, competitions. • Hiking – kind of sport tourism, the purpose of which is to overcome the distance by the flat ground by the group of tourists.

The main kinds of winter and summer sports tourism