Investigating Role of Management and Planning in Sport Tourism Security Management

Each year, the sport events host thousands of tourists who come to participate and watch the games. Provision of a safe and secure environment for these tourists is necessary. Therefore, in this work, the role of management and planning in sport tourism security management is investigated, and the factors affecting the management and planning of event security are identified.

Millions of spectators attend the sporting events annually, necessitating the provision of a safe and secure environment for these patrons in the sports tourism destinations. Despite the incidents such as the crowd problems, fires, bombs, structure collapses, and overcrowding as well as threats of terrorism in sport events, there must always be a mindset that the safety of sport tourism can potentially be compromised. In the area of security, the lack of planning can have devastating consequences and increase the likelihood of disaster. Thus, exploring the critical factors affecting the issues related to management and planning in the field of tourism security seem to be essential. In order to prevent the possible threats, the sports event authorities and organizers should be encouraged to focus on the strategies that might reduce the risks and threats, while developing the plans, policies, procedures, and effective security measures in order to enhance safety and security.

The methodology of this research work was applied in terms of purpose, the data collection was descriptive-survey, and the research approach was mixed. 17 semi-structured interviews with the experts were conducted to provide the data on the main factors affecting the sport tourism security management. A 31-item questionnaire related to the impact of planning and managing on the security of the sport tourism was designed, and 240 keys answered them. The data obtained was analyzed using the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in order to identify the factors involved, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that was conducted to test the impact of the identified factors and items on the sports tourism security.

The results obtained showed that planning and management were the main factors affecting the sport tourism security management. In addition, the human resource management, event management, risk management, crisis management, and collaborating event organizers as five sub-factors for planning and management affect the sports tourism security. According to the results obtained, a proper human resource management and the use of skilled manpower to ensure the security of sporting events as well as the proper planning and consideration of risk management and crisis approaches can increase the security and increase the satisfaction of the tourists present at the events.