SPORTS TOURISTS AND NON-SPORTS TOURISTS: ARE THEY DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF SOCIODEMOGRAPHICS, PSYCHOGRAPHICS, OR BEHAVIOR?

Researchers have paid increasing attention to sports tourists as destinations have realized the potential for the significant economic impact of sports tourism. Many studies have profiled and segmented sports tourists using different techniques. However, there is a lack of research that compares sports tourists with non-sports tourists. The current study conducted a comparison using several sociodemographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics from a large data set gathered on an online research platform. Although study results show some differences between sports and non-sports tourists, effect size metrics render these differences miniscule or even negligible. Besides practical implications for destination marketing organizations, future research suggestions are also provided in order to decide if sports tourists need to be targeted differently from non-sports tourists.