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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 32611

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Prof. Dr. Alejandro Vega-Muñoz

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Guest Editor

Public Policy Observatory, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago 7500912, Chile
Interests: sustainable tourism; tourism entrepreneurship; hospitality; tourist behavior
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Orlando Llanos Contreras

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Guest Editor

Administration Department, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Concepción 4090541, Chile
Interests: entrepreneurship; sport entrepreneurship; family entrepreneurship

Dr. Miguel Angel García-Gordillo

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Guest Editor

Facultad de Administración y Negocios, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Sede Talca 3467987, Chile
Interests: sport tourism; health economics; health-related quality of life and economy

Dr. Jesús Morenas Martín

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Sport Science, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Interests: sport tourism; brain; physical activity interventions; exercise training physical exercise; outdoor activities; outdoor sports; climbing; motor control; biomechanics; recreation and leisure
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Prof. Dr. José Carmelo Adsuar Sala

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Sport Science, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Interests: health-related quality of life; health promotion; health education; physical and sports activities as a strategy to promote a healthy society; physical activity interventions; exercise training physical exercise; physical health; assessment of physical capacity; health; quality of life in groups of subjects and active lifestyle (elderly; children, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s, etc.); balance and muscle strength; rehabilitation; osteoporosis; fall prevention; validity and reliability of physical fitness testing; active tourism; outdoor behavioral healthcare; wilderness therapy; forest bathing; shinrin-yoku
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Both tourism and sports are activities of human socialization, which are of global economic importance and can contribute to a more environmentally sustainable economy, as they develop in a context of “industry without chimneys”. However, as a result of various political decisions of confinement and physical–social distancing, they have been interrupted, with varying degrees of intensity among countries, but with notable differences compared to other economic sectors.

In this sense, the greatest paralysis of activities in the tourism sector has been due in large part to the uncertainty about border closures and the bureaucracy that underlies having to comply with various travel requirements depending on the countries involved, and in the case of sports, it has even led to the postponement of the Olympic Games, in addition to the evident decrease even in physical activity due to home confinement.

Therefore, these changes in these activities do not only affect environmental sustainability by stopping this green economy, but also have an impact with an evident deterioration in the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) related to economic growth, and those related to poverty, social inequality, and health and welfare. The impact of the decline of these human activities and their consequent and irrecoverable economic losses requires a restart. Thus, entrepreneurship in both tourism and sport is necessary and attracts social interest and uncertainty among experts.

This restart, however, will not take the form of resuming at the same point of detention, because the global political agenda wants to promote a more sustainable economic, social, and ecological return, if possible giving way to a healthier way of life. Thus, it is intended to generate more prosperity to the local environment than it has so far, also seeking to end the agglomeration of people in certain places or dates of the year, to reduce any discrimination around people who are employed or who are enjoying tourist sites and sporting events as much as possible, to reduce waste generation, to minimize the use of scarce and non-renewable resources, etc.

On the other hand, the existence of a conjunction between tourism and sport is possible. Thus, sports activities will end up becoming an important part of tourism packages, such as hiking, climbing, golf, surfing, etc. Therefore, an increase in the offer of this type of tourism is expected with the help of sector marketing, effective use of technology (such as big data), and better communication networks.

The Web of Science (WoS) main collection database shows that in the last 10 years, the number of articles published related to tourism entrepreneurship (1,400+) and sports entrepreneurship (350+), although at different scales, have experienced an exponential growth, which shows the interest of the international scientific community in these topics. Many of these articles describe the need to continue publishing in this line, since these human needs will continue to encourage investment in both activities.

Prof. Dr. Alejandro Vega-Muñoz
Prof. Dr. Orlando Llanos Contreras
Dr. Miguel Angel García-Gordillo
Dr. Jesús Morenas Martín
Prof. Dr. José Carmelo Adsuar Sala
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

crowdfunding
ecotourism
healthy tourism
massive events
pro-environmental sports
pro-environmental tourism
sport entrepreneurial
sport entrepreneurship
sport events
sport tourism
sport trends
sustainable entrepreneurial
sustainable tourism
tourism entrepreneurial
tourism entrepreneurship
tourism trends
tourist wellbeing
wellbeing of the sportsperson

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 722 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structural Relationship between Ecotourism Motivation, Satisfaction, Place Attachment, and Environmentally Responsible Behavior Intention in Nature-Based Camping

by Kyungsik Kim, Yongdi Wang, Jianmin Shi, Wangda Guo, Zixiang Zhou and Zhaoyong Liu

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8668; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118668 - 26 May 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2171

Abstract

This study aims to make an investigation on the relationship between ecotourism motivation (EM), satisfaction (SA), place attachment (PA), and environmentally responsible behavior intention (ER) based on the analysis of camping tourism andstudy the mediating roles of SA and PA in the relationship between EM and ER. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on 400 camping tourists who visited the Yunnan Province of China within the last year. The distribution of survey questionnaires range from 12 February 2023–24 February 2023. The results reveal that EM positively influences SA, PA, and ER, whereas, although SA positively impacts PA, it does not significantly affect ER. In contrast, PA positively affects ER. Furthermore, PA has a positive mediating impact on the relationship between EM and ER, whereas, SA does not significantly mediate this relationship. Finally, SA and PA act as chain mediators between EM and ER. The findings contribute to the tourism literature by shedding light on the complex relationships between EM, SA, PA, and ER in the context of camping tourism, thereby, enhancing tourist satisfaction and promoting environmentally responsible behavior, thus, contributing to the growth of a sustainable camping industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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21 pages, 1512 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of the China Open 500 Event on Sense of Community: Comparisons of Volunteers’ Pre- and Post-Event Perceptions

by Runyuan Jia, Juan Antonio Sánchez-Sáez and Francisco Segado Segado

Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6547; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086547 - 12 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1359

Abstract

Volunteers at major sporting events have become a key element for the success of these events. Therefore, the organiser should know exactly those aspects that strengthen the bond between the sports volunteer and the event. The aim of the present research was to assess the change in volunteers’ perception of community feeling at the China Open 500 tennis tournament. The sample was selected by using a purposive non-probability sampling procedure with a 99% confidence interval and a sampling error of 0.5% (n = 805). The data collection tool was the structured questionnaire applied through a face-to-face personal survey of volunteers before and after the event. The proposed structural model for the perceived community feeling of the China Open 500 volunteers was confirmed via a second-order factor analysis. The results confirmed the existence of the six proposed factors: Administrative Consideration, Common Interests, Equity in Administrative Decisions, Leadership Opportunity, Social Spaces, and Competitiveness. The change in the volunteers’ sense of community from the training phase to after the event shows that there is a direct link between a sense of community and the volunteer experience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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23 pages, 12813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Efficiency Evaluation and Influencing Factors of Sports Industry and Tourism Industry Convergence Based on China’s Provincial Data

by Mei Yang, Hongling Zhou, Yali Li and Jinyu Zhang

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5408; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065408 - 18 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1687

Abstract

As sunrise industries, green industries and happiness industries, the sports industry and the tourism industry have natural convergence, and the convergence of the sports and tourism industries is not only a new strategic support point for the sustainable development of the two industries but also an important way to drive healthy and sustainable development of related industries. We measure the efficiency of sports–tourism convergence in 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) in China from 2013 to 2019 using the benevolent cross-efficiency DEA model and the qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method and conduct a configuration analysis of the influencing factors. The research indicates: (1) the efficiency of the development of sports–tourism convergence is low and its role in the sustainable development of the tourism and sports industries needs to be improved. (2) The efficiency of sports–tourism convergence shows spatial distribution characteristics of decreasing efficiency in the eastern region–central region–western region. (3) Industrial structure, transportation conditions, openness to the outside world, political support and their combination are the core driving factors affecting integration of sports and tourism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

26 pages, 1959 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Overview of Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism, Destination, and Hospitality Research Based on the Web of Science

by Nelson Andrade-Valbuena, Hugo Baier-Fuentes and Magaly Gaviria-Marin

Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 14944; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142214944 - 11 Nov 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3151

Abstract

Sustainability, entrepreneurship and tourism, destination and hospitality research have attracted scholars’ attention for their relevance in bringing to fruition a future that links economic well-being with the environmental, cultural, and social sustainability of human beings. This article provides a bibliometric overview of the academic research where these topics intersect. To accomplish this, various bibliometric methods are implemented, which include a performance analysis and graphic mapping of the academic production in this specific topic. This research uses the Web of Science database to identify and classify the most preponderant investigations in the field and considers articles, authors, institutions, countries, and journals. To complete the performance analysis, a series of indicators, such as number of papers and number of citations, are used. Graphic visualization maps are produced using the co-citation and co-occurrence of keywords under the Visualization of Similarities—VOSviewer—software. The results show a growing concern for entrepreneurship in sustainable tourism development research, which is evidenced in the increasing number of studies during the last decade. Some influential research institutions and authors from countries including the USA, New Zealand, and Norway are found to be influential leaders in this topic. Additionally, the results show that journals from the area of hospitality, leisure, sport, and tourism are frontrunners in this subject. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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29 pages, 1057 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sport Event Tourism in Bucharest. UEFA EURO 2020 Case Study

by Ana-Irina Lequeux-Dincă, Amira-Andreea Sava, Camelia Teodorescu, Aurel Gheorghilaş and Mioara Clius

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14543; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114543 - 05 Nov 2022

Viewed by 2318

Abstract

Mega sport events were among the very few types of events still attracting tourists during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and represented an exceptionally attractive tourism opportunity for Bucharest through the matches scheduled for the UEFA 2020 championship. Motivated by the novelty of the event which was organized for the first time in the Romanian capital city and motivated by the exceptionally restrictive context imposed by the sanitary crisis, the aim of this study was to analyze domestic tourist participation in and satisfaction with this event. An extended survey focusing on the autochthonous participants was applied to gather data and then further computed using SPSS software through crosstabulations and associated statistical analysis adapted for nominal and ordinal variables. The main results emphasize a large participation of Romanian football supporters who came specifically for the event. Most of them expressed dissatisfaction with souvenir, food and drink products sold within the stadium area but were satisfied with the COVID-19 measures and their costs. Supporters coming from rural areas opted for VFR accommodations while retirees and elderly supporters preferred hotels. Occupation and age were the main variables determining accommodation preferences as well as satisfaction with souvenir prices. These options may be valuable input for future adapted marketing strategies for sport event tourism in Romania. Lacking important urban tourist attractions and competing with other mature European urban destinations, mega sport events may represent an opportunity for autochthonous large cities to increase tourist attractiveness and maintain leisure travel even during periods of travel restrictions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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23 pages, 3879 KiB

Open AccessArticle

New Year’s Eve Show: An Opportunity to Further Develop Sustainable Local Tourism in Chile

by Ángel Acevedo-Duque, Tohtli Prado-Sabido, Tatiana Gomes Ramires, Luiz Vicente Ovalles-Toledo, Lidyeth Azucena Sandoval Barraza, Rina Álvarez-Becerra and Gonzalo R. Llanos-Herrera

Sustainability 2022, 14(7), 3962; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073962 - 27 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2359

Abstract

Although the pandemic is still with us and COVID-19 continues to saturate the news, everyone has abundant reasons to travel, whether it be physical and mental exhaustion from prolonged shutdowns, vaccine tourism, family reunions, long-awaited vacations, summer in the southern hemisphere, school break or year-end holidays. The main purpose of this research was to examine and understand the main motivations that lead consumers to attend national events as part of their local tourism activities. Through interviews, we have therefore collected the complementary experiences of specialists who work day-in-day-out to encourage local, quality and sustainable tourism. Using a naturalistic qualitative methodology, our hermeneutic analysis is structured in five phases and based on data—of a social nature—from public and private institutions which believe in endurable tourism. In order to validate these results and for them to be considered by other institutions and other countries when modifying and proposing activities to maintain sustainable tourism, the interviewees had to be representatives of public and private institutions and national tourists who have worked and attended the celebrations of the end of the year 2021 in this region of Chile. Our main conclusions from the analyzed units show that these types of local events enhance local tourism and lead to sustainable political, economic, social, and ecological activities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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27 pages, 2437 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Economic Development and Mountain Tourism Research from 2010 to 2020: Bibliometric Analysis and Science Mapping Approach

by Liyun Zeng, Rita Yi Man Li, Jotikasthira Nuttapong, Jinkun Sun and Yunyi Mao

Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 562; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010562 - 05 Jan 2022

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 7181

Abstract

Due to hectic city lives and the growing health concerns in light of the global pandemic, mountain tourism has become increasingly popular worldwide, which has increased the related research. Based on traditional bibliometric laws, such as those authored by Price, Bradford, Lotka, and Zipf, this study acquired 1413 mountain tourism journal articles via bibliometric analysis and identified the most influential journal articles, researchers, and countries in mountain tourism research as indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database during 2010–2020. The keyword analysis revealed mountain tourism’s emerging research topics, including climate change, sustainable development, sustainability, sustainable tourism, protected areas, rural tourism, and conservation. The most influential journal was Sustainability in the mountain tourism. The research results showed that China, the U.S., and Romania produced the most significant mountain tourism articles indexed in the WoS. Most developed countries in Europe had the highest average and average normalized citations, which indicated that they may have more influence in this field as compared to other countries. Some developing countries, such as India, Nepal, and China, had higher citations, average citations, and/or average normalized citations than other countries. The main research trend was the sustainable development aspect of mountain-based tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. We identified the research gap in WoS; although there is some research shedding light on tourism via bibliometrics, mountain tourism bibliometric analysis and science mapping via VOSViewer is scarce. The paper summarizes the critical aspects of the current discussion of sustainable mountain tourism, such as transport and coopetition (i.e., combing with cooperation and competition) in mountain tourism areas. The results indicated that government agencies and destination managers need to strike a balance between sustainable mountain tourism development and environment and natural landscape conservation after COVID-19. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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16 pages, 576 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Driving Factors of the Health and Wellness Tourism Industry: A Sharing Economy Perspective Evidence from KPK Pakistan

by Nadeem Ullah, Shagufta Zada, Muhammad Amir Siddique, Yike Hu, Heesup Han, Alejandro Vega-Muñoz and Guido Salazar-Sepúlveda

Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13344; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313344 - 02 Dec 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5239

Abstract

In the recent years, the health and wellness tourism industry has become one of the new emerging industries in Pakistan. In terms of the sharing economy, the driving mechanism of the health and wellness tourism industry has undergone significant changes. Based on a combination of theoretical and practical research, the paper explores the dynamic system and mechanism of innovation development of health and wellness in the tourism industry in Pakistan. Firstly, it theoretically constructs the driving factors in four aspects, which include market demand, industrial supply, infrastructure, and external environment. Secondly, taking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KPK) as an example, it uses the entropy method and Grey relational analysis to test the driving factors system. The empirical results show that four aspects jointly influence the innovation of the health and wellness tourism industry in Pakistan. Finally, this study discusses several practical implications for the development of the health and wellness tourism industry of KPK for academics, policymakers, business owners, and scholars, with recommendations for future research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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20 pages, 1627 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Mountain-Based Health and Wellness Tourist Destinations: The Interrelationships between Tourists’ Satisfaction, Behavioral Intentions, and Competitiveness

by Liyun Zeng, Rita Yi Man Li and Xuankai Huang

Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13314; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313314 - 01 Dec 2021

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 5274

Abstract

As mountain-based health and wellness tourism increases, destination competitiveness becomes ever fiercer. The pre-visit expectations and post-visit perceptions of tourists and the tourists’ behavioral intentions are related to the competitiveness of mountain-based health and wellness tourist destinations. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we explored the factors that affect destination competitiveness and its relationships with tourism satisfaction and tourists’ behavioral intentions to return to and to recommend the location to others. We used a questionnaire for data collection from 550 tourists who visited a mountain-based health and wellness tourist destination in Panzhihua, China. The results suggested that there is an indirect positive correlation between tourists’ satisfaction and destination competitiveness, as well as a direct positive correlation between behavioral intentions and destination competitiveness, illustrating that tourist behavioral intentions can be an important factor in destination competitiveness. In the case of Panzhihua, the tourist source market in China has provided a competitive edge to this city. In addition, considering the environment’s capacity, developing an intention to return in tourists is important for tourism marketing in view of the increasing mountain-based health and wellness tourism competitiveness and concerns about sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Sport)

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