Exploring the Role of Sport Tourism on the Cultural and Moral Promotion of Society

Abstract

Sports tourism is one of the types of tourism that has an increasing growth in the tourism industry. Its effects are evident in all dimensions and fields, and there is a need to explain the role of this type of tourism on promoting the culture and ethics of the host society. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to investigate the role of sports tourism on promoting the culture and ethics of the host society, which is done using a mixed method. In the first stage, semi-structured interviews were conducted using the qualitative method of the focus group of 15 experts who were selected by the purposive sampling method. In the second stage, 27 experts were identified using stratified sampling. Through the tool of the questionnaire, they expressed their opinions regarding the extracted components and indicators. According to the research findings, 32 key codes, 14 integrative codes and 4 overarching codes were obtained through coding by King and Harrocks method. In the quantitative stage, all the experts approved the extracted components and indicators. According to the results, sports tourism has a fundamental role in promoting the culture and ethics of the host society and this role is through components such as "developing and promoting positive and useful values in the host society; cultural and moral empowerment of tourists and the host society; promotion of participation and ethical cooperation; developing and promoting a culture of altruism and empathy" was approved. These cases can not only bring positive and extensive communication fields to the host society, but they are also able to be effective in creating social capital in the host society.

Keywords

• tourism
• sports tourism
• cultural and moral promotion
• mixed method