Sports Tourism and Long–Term Economic Impacts

Today, sports tourism has turned into one of the important trade and economic strategies for income, employment and infrastructure development for most countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the viewpoints of the tourism experts, physical education experts and sport tourists on the effects of the development of sport tourism on employment and income in Golestan province. Statistical population consisted of 217 subjects (53 tourism experts, 90 physical education experts and 74 sport tourists). This study was a descriptive survey and a researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data (α=0.83). For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics (chi-square test) were used. Statistical calculations were performed using SPSS software. The results showed a significant relationship between sport tourism development and an increase in income (P<0.01, X²=185.9) and between sport tourism development and employment (P<0.01, X²=135.6).