Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic

Aypar Satı; Settar Uğur Kurt; Necmiye Nida Özgen

doi:10.48119/toleho.1155749

EN

Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 has affected sport events, marathons, and trail-running events. Thus, it has become essential to understand the attitudes and intentions of runners, regarding their participation in the races. Therefore, this study aims to examine the changes in runners’ attitudes relating to their decision whether to participate in races, and changes in their habits because of the pandemic. Employing a qualitative research design, data were collected from 12 interviewees in Ephesus Ultra Marathon Trail Race, and by using participatory observation method. The results revealed that the participants’ motivations for participating in race events during the pandemic were socialization, healthy living, realizing their goals, and maintaining friendships. Despite the risks, the participants did not hesitate to participate in events for their belief in athlete immunity, confidence in individual precautions, their respect for the rules and the absence of fear. However, the decrease in the number of activities was found to create dissatisfaction, as it limited socialization.

Keywords

running events, ultra trails, event studies, sport tourism, COVID-19

References

Abraham, V., Bremser, K., Carreno, M., Crowley-Cyr, L., & Moreno, M. (2020). Exploring the consequences of COVID-19 on tourist behaviors: Perceived travel risk, animosity and intentions to travel. Tourism Review.
Allen, M. (2017). The sage encyclopedia of communication research methods (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Aro, A. R., Vartti, A. M., Schreck, M., Turtiainen, P., & Uutela, A. (2009). Willingness to take travel-related health risks—A study among Finnish tourists in Asia during the avian influenza outbreak. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 16(1), 68-73.
Ateljevic, I. (2020). Transforming the (tourism) world for good and (re) generating the potential ‘new normal’. Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 467-475.
Bauer, R. A. (1960). Consumer behavior as risk taking. In Proceedings of the 43rd National Conference of the American Marketing Association. Chicago, Illinois, American Marketing Association. June 15-17.
Beaton, A. A., Funk, D. C., Ridinger, L., & Jordan, J. (2011). Sport involvement: A conceptual and empirical analysis. Sport Management Review, 14(2), 126–140.
Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a new modernity, Sage Publications.
Berg, B. L. (2001). Qualitative research, message for the social sciences. 4th Edition, Allin and Bacon, Boston, 15-35.
Boguszewicz-Kreft, M., Kuczamer-Kłopotowska, S., & Kozłowski, A. (2022). The role and importance of perceived risk in medical tourism. Applying the theory of planned behaviour. Plos one, 17(1), e0262137.
Carmody, S., Murray, A., & Borodina, M. (2020). When can professional sport recommence safely during the COVID-19 pandemic? Risk assessment and factors to consider. British Journal of Sport Medicine. 54, 946-948.

Choo, H. K., Choo, Y. (Clara), & Kang, H. M. (2016). Do sport tourists’ perceived risks affect their involvement and intention to (re)visit? An empirical study for risk-reduction strategies. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 17(1), 19–36.
Cleland, J. (2019). Sport fandom in the risk society: Analyzing perceptions and experiences of risk, security and terrorism at elite sport events. Sociology of Sport Journal, 36(2), 144-151.
Cooper, J. A., & Alderman, D. H. (2020). Cancelling March Madness exposes opportunities for a more sustainable sports tourism economy. Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 525-535.
Creswell, J. W., & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory Into Practice, 39(3), 124-130.
Creswell, J.W. (2013) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 4th Edition, SAGE Publications, Inc., London.
Cunliffe, S.K. (2006), “Best Education Network Think Tank V keynote address: risk management for tourism: origins and needs”, Tourism Review International, Vol. 10 Nos 1/2, pp. 27-38.
Daniels, T., & Tichaawa, T. M. (2021). Rethinking sport tourism events in a post-COVID-19 South Africa. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 10(4), 1241-1256.
Davis, L. (2020). The adaptation of the live PDC darts event during the COVID-19 lockdown. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-7.
DeJong, A. F., Fish, P. N., & Hertel, J. (2021). Running behaviors, motivations, and injury risk during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey of 1147 runners. PloS one, 16(2), e0246300.
Dubinsky, Y. (2022). Country image, cultural diplomacy, and sports during the COVID19 pandemic: Brand America and Super Bowl LV. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 1-17.
Elshaer, I. A., Azazz, A. M., Mahmoud, S. W., & Ghanem, M. (2022). Perceived Risk of Job Instability and Unethical Organizational Behaviour Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Family Financial Pressure and Distributive Injustice in the Tourism Industry. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(5), 2886.
Espiner, N., Degarege, G., Stewart, E. J., & Espiner, S. (2022). From backyards to the backcountry: Exploring outdoor recreation coping strategies and experiences during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 100497.
Faulkner, B. (2001). Towards a framework for tourism disaster management. Tourism Management, 22(2), 135-147.
Getz, D. (2008). Event tourism: Definition, evolution, and research. Tourism Management, 29(3), 403-428.
Getz, D., & McConnell, A. (2014). Comparing trail runners and mountain bikers: Motivation, involvement, portfolios, and event-tourist careers. Journal of Convention and Event Tourism, 15(1), 69–100.
Grix, J., Brannagan, P. M., Grimes, H., & Neville, R. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on sport. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 13(1), 1-12.
Hedenborg, S., Fredman, P., Hansen, A. S., & Wolf-Watz, D. (2022). Outdoorification of sports and recreation: A leisure transformation under the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. Annals of Leisure Research, 1-19.
Hinch, T., & Kono, S. (2018). Ultramarathon runners’ perception of place: A photo-based analysis. Journal of Sport and Tourism, 22(2), 109-130.
Hoang, V. T., Al-Tawfiq, J. A., & Gautret, P. (2020). The Tokyo Olympic Games and the risk of COVID-19. Current Tropical Medicine Reports, 7(4), 126-132.
Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288.
Işık, C., Sırakaya-Türk, E., & Ongan, S. (2020). Testing the efficacy of the economic policy uncertainty index on tourism demand in USMCA: Theory and evidence. Tourism Economics, 26(8), 1344-1357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816619888346
Jackson, M. (2019). Utilizing attribution theory to develop new insights into tourism experiences. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 38, 176-183.
Johann, M., Mishra, S., Malhotra, G., & Tiwari, S. R. (2022). Participation in active sport tourism: impact assessment of destination involvement and perceived risk. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 26(2), 101-123.
Kozak, M. (2017). Bilimsel araştırma. Ankara: Detay Yayıncılık.
Keshkar, S., Dickson, G., Ahonen, A., Swart, K., Addesa, F., Epstein, A., ... & Murray, D. (2021). The effects of Coronavirus pandemic on the sports industry: An update. Annals of Applied Sport Science, 9(1).
LaGree, D., Wilbur, D. and Cameron, G.T. (2019). A strategic approach to sports crisis management. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 20(3), 407-429.
Langarita, R., & Cazcarro, I. (2022). The socio-economic impact of sports tourism events in rural areas and losses from COVID19: A case study in Spain. Applied Economics, 1-15.
Lebrun, A. M., Su, C. J., & Bouchet, P. (2021). A more sustainable management of domestic tourists in protected natural parks: A new trend in sport tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic?. Sustainability, 13(14), 7750.
LeCompte, M. D., & Goetz, J. P. (1982). Problems of reliability and validity in ethnographic research. Review of Educational Research, 52(1), 31-60.
Liu, A., & Pratt, S. (2017). Tourism's vulnerability and resilience to terrorism. Tourism Management, 60, 404-417.
López-García, S., Muriel-Isidro, J., Ruibal-Lista, B., Maneiro, R., Amatria-Jiménez, M., & Moral-García, J. E. (2021). Trail-running, skyrunning and mountain running: Organizational structures of modalities. Preprints, 2021010308.
Ludvigsen, J. A. L., & Hayton, J. W. (2020). Toward COVID-19 secure events: Considerations for organizing the safe resumption of major sporting events. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-11.
Ludvigsen, J. A. L., & Parnell, D. (2021). Redesigning the games? The 2020 Olympic Games, playbooks and new sport event risk management tools. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-13.
Maditinos, Z., Vassiliadis, C., Tzavlopoulos, Y., & Vassiliadis, S. A. (2021). Sport events and the COVID-19 pandemic: Assessing runners' intentions for future participation in running events-Evidence from Greece. Tourism Recreation Research, 46(2), 276-287.
Malliaropoulos, N., Mertyri, D., & Tsaklis, P. (2015). Prevalence of injury in ultra-trail running. Human Movement, 16(2), 52-59.
Martins, D. J. D. Q., Moraes, L. C. L., & Marchi Júnior, W. (2021). COVID-19 impacts on school sport events: An alternative through E-sport. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-5.
Mayring, P. (2004). Qualitative content analysis. A Companion to Qualitative Research, 1(2), 159-176.
McCloskey, B., Zumla, A., Ippolito, G., Blumberg, L., Arbon, P., Cicero, A., ... & Borodina, M. (2020). Mass gathering events and reducing further global spread of COVID-19: A political and public health dilemma. The Lancet, 395(10230), 1096-1099.
McKercher, B., & Pine, R. (2005). Privation as a stimulus to travel demand?. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 19(2-3), 107-116.
Miles, L., & Shipway, R. (2020). Exploring the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for stimulating future research agendas for managing crises and disasters at international sport events. Event Management, 24(4), 537-552.
Mirehie, M., & Cho, I. (2021). Exploring the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sport tourism. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship.
Mitchell, V. W. (1999). Consumer perceived risk: Conceptualisations and models. European Journal of Marketing.
Nauright, J., Zipp, S., & Kim, Y. H. (2020). The sports world in the era of COVID-19. Sport in Society, 23(11), 1703-1706.
Page, S., Yeoman, I., Munro, C., Connell, J., & Walker, L. (2006). A case study of best practice—Visit Scotland's prepared response to an influenza pandemic. Tourism Management, 27(3), 361-393.
Parnell, D., Widdop, P., Bond, A., & Wilson, R. (2020). COVID-19, networks and sport. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-7.
Perić, M., & Slavić, N. (2019). Event sport tourism business models: The case of trail running. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 9(2), 164-184.
Perić, M., Dragičević, D., & Škorić, S. (2019). Determinants of active sport event tourists’ expenditure-The case of mountain bikers and trail runners. Journal of Sport and Tourism, 23(1), 19–39.
Perrin-Malterre, C. (2018). Tourism diversification process around trail running in the Pays of Allevard (Isère). Journal of Sport and Tourism, 22(1), 67-82.
Prayag, G. (2018). Symbiotic relationship or not? Understanding resilience and crisis management in tourism. Tourism Management Perspectives, 25, 133-135.
Prayag, G., Spector, S., Orchiston, C., & Chowdhury, M. (2020). Psychological resilience, organizational resilience and life satisfaction in tourism firms: Insights from the Canterbury earthquakes. Current Issues in Tourism, 23(10), 1216-1233.
Reisinger, Y., & Mavondo, F. (2005). Travel anxiety and intentions to travel internationally: Implications of travel risk perception. Journal of Travel Research, 43(3), 212-225.
Ritchie, B.W. (2004). Chaos, crises and disasters: A strategic approach to crisis management in the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 25(6), 669-683.
Roselius, T. (1971). Consumer rankings of risk reduction methods. Journal of Marketing, 35(1), 56-61.
Rozmiarek, M., León-Guereño, P., Tapia-Serrano, M. Á., Thuany, M., Gomes, T. N., Płoszaj, K., ... & Malchrowicz-Mośko, E. (2022). Motivation and Eco-Attitudes among Night Runners during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability, 14(3), 1512.
Santana, G. (2004). Crisis management and tourism: Beyond the rhetoric. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 15(4), 299-321.
Sato, S., Oshimi, D., Bizen, Y., & Saito, R. (2020). The COVID-19 outbreak and public perceptions of sport events in Japan. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-6.
Scheer, V., Valero, D., Villiger, E., Rosemann, T., & Knechtle, B. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on endurance and ultra-endurance running. Medicina, 57(1), 52.
Seabra, C., Abrantes, J. L., & Kastenholz, E. (2014). The influence of terrorism risk perception on purchase involvement and safety concern of international travellers. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(9-10), 874-903.
Seraphin, H. (2020). COVID-19: An opportunity to review existing grounded theories in event studies. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 22(1), 3-35.
Sharifpour, M., Walters, G., Ritchie, B. W., & Winter, C. (2014). Investigating the role of prior knowledge in tourist decision making: A structural equation model of risk perceptions and information search. Journal of Travel Research, 53(3), 307-322.
Sheptak, R. D., & Menaker, B. E. (2020). When sport event work stopped: Exposure of sport event labor precarity by the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Sport Communication, 13(3), 427-435.
Shipway, R., & Jones, I. (2007). Running away from home: Understanding visitor experiences and behaviour at sport tourism events. International Journal of Tourism Research, 9(5), 373-383.
Skinner, J., & Smith, A. C. (2021). Sport and COVID-19: Impacts and challenges for the future (Volume 1). European Sport Management Quarterly, 21(3), 323-332.
Sönmez, S. F., & Graefe, A. R. (1998a). Determining future travel behavior from past travel experience and perceptions of risk and safety. Journal of Travel Research, 37(2), 171-177.
Sönmez, S. F., & Graefe, A. R. (1998b). Influence of terrorism risk on foreign tourism decisions. Annals of Tourism Research, 25(1), 112–144.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. London: Sage Publications, Inc.
Swarbrooke, J., & Horner, S. (2007). Consumer behaviour in tourism. London: Routledge.
Swart, K., & Maralack, D. (2020). COVID-19 and the cancellation of the 2020 Two Oceans Marathon, Cape Town, South Africa. Sport in Society, 23(11), 1736-1752.
Taylor, T. & Toohey, K. (2007). Perceptions of terrorism threats at the 2004 Olympic Games: Implications for sport events. Journal of Sport Tourism, 12(2), 99-114.
Tomino, A. C., & Perić, M. (2022). Sport-Tourism running events in the post-COVID-19 world: Any sign of change?. Academica Turistica-Tourism and Innovation Journal, 15(1).
Toohey, K., Taylor, T. & Lee, C. (2003). The FIFA World Cup 2002: The effects of terrorism on sport tourists. Journal of Sport Tourism, 8(3), 186-196.
Toohey, K. & Taylor, T. (2008). Mega events, fear, and risk: Terrorism at the Olympic Games. Journal of Sport Management, 22(4), 451-469.
United Nations (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on sport, physical activity and well-being and its effects on social development. https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2020/05/covid-19-sport/ (Accessed: 23.07.2022).
Urbaneja, J. S., Julião, R. P., Mendes, R. M. N., Dorado, V., & Farías-Torbidoni, E. I. (2020). Impacto de la COVID-19 en la práctica deportiva de personas participantes en eventos deportivos de carrera a pie y ciclismo en España y Portugal (The impact of COVID-19 on physical activity on people who participate on running and cycling sporting events. Retos, (39), 743-749.
Van Herck, K., Castelli, F., Zuckerman, J., Nothdurft, H., Van Damme, P., Dahlgren, A. L., ... & Steffen, R. (2004). Knowledge, attitudes and practices in travel-related infectious diseases: The European airport survey. Journal of Travel Medicine, 11(1), 3-8.
Viljoen, C. T., Sewry, N., Schwellnus, M. P., van Rensburg, D. C. J., Swanevelder, S., & Jordaan, E. (2021). Independent risk factors predicting gradual onset injury in 2824 trail running race entrants: SAFER XVIII Study. Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.
Weber, R. P. (1990). Basic content analysis. London: Sage Publications, Inc.
Weed, M. (2020). The role of the interface of sport and tourism in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 24(2), 79-92.
Westmattelmann, D., Grotenhermen, J. G., Sprenger, M., & Schewe, G. (2020). The show must go on-Virtualisation of sport events during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Information Systems, 30(2), 119-136.
Yang, E. C. L., & Nair, V. (2014). Tourism at risk: A review of risk and perceived risk in tourism. Asia-Pacific Journal of Innovation in Hospitality and Tourism (APJIHT), 3(2), 1-21.
Yıldırım, A. ve Şimşek, H. (2016). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri. Ankara: Seçkin Yayıncılık.
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Tourism (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Aypar Satı ^*
0000-0002-9549-196X
Türkiye

Settar Uğur Kurt
0000-0001-8476-9156
Türkiye

Necmiye Nida Özgen
0000-0002-3967-0875
Türkiye

Publication Date

December 31, 2022

Submission Date

August 4, 2022

Acceptance Date

October 14, 2022

Published in Issue

Year 2022 Volume: 4 Number: 2

DOI

https://doi.org/10.48119/toleho.1155749

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA68EK73KC

APA

Satı, A., Kurt, S. U., & Özgen, N. N. (2022). Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic. Journal of Tourism Leisure and Hospitality, 4(2), 4-4. https://doi.org/10.48119/toleho.1155749

AMA

1.Satı A, Kurt SU, Özgen NN. Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic. TOLEHO. 2022;4(2):4-4. doi:10.48119/toleho.1155749

Chicago

Satı, Aypar, Settar Uğur Kurt, and Necmiye Nida Özgen. 2022. “Sport Events and Covid-19: Trail Runners’ Attitudes and Intentions During the Pandemic”. Journal of Tourism Leisure and Hospitality 4 (2): 4-4. https://doi.org/10.48119/toleho.1155749.

EndNote

Satı A, Kurt SU, Özgen NN (December 1, 2022) Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic. Journal of Tourism Leisure and Hospitality 4 2 4–4.

IEEE

[1]A. Satı, S. U. Kurt, and N. N. Özgen, “Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic”, TOLEHO, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 4–4, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.48119/toleho.1155749.

ISNAD

Satı, Aypar - Kurt, Settar Uğur - Özgen, Necmiye Nida. “Sport Events and Covid-19: Trail Runners’ Attitudes and Intentions During the Pandemic”. Journal of Tourism Leisure and Hospitality 4/2 (December 1, 2022): 4-4. https://doi.org/10.48119/toleho.1155749.

JAMA

1.Satı A, Kurt SU, Özgen NN. Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic. TOLEHO. 2022;4:4–4.

MLA

Satı, Aypar, et al. “Sport Events and Covid-19: Trail Runners’ Attitudes and Intentions During the Pandemic”. Journal of Tourism Leisure and Hospitality, vol. 4, no. 2, Dec. 2022, pp. 4-4, doi:10.48119/toleho.1155749.

Vancouver

1.Aypar Satı, Settar Uğur Kurt, Necmiye Nida Özgen. Sport events and Covid-19: Trail runners’ attitudes and intentions during the pandemic. TOLEHO. 2022 Dec. 1;4(2):4-. doi:10.48119/toleho.1155749

Cited By

Sports event quality and athlete’s behavioural intentions at the World Wrestling Championship

Management & Marketing

https://doi.org/10.2478/mmcks-2024-0019

Abstracting & Indexing

| | | | |

Making Submissions via DergiPark

The article—prepared according to author guidelines (covering text, references, tables, and figures)—should be sent to Journal of TOLEHO via DergiPark.

Please, use the links below to access the visual descriptions of the submission steps;

Full Open Access Strategy

Journal of TOLEHO is fully sponsored by Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism. Therefore there aren't any article submission, processing or publication charges.

There are also no charges for rejected articles, no proofreading charges, and no surcharges based on the length of an article, figures or supplementary data etc. All items (editorials, corrections, addendums, retractions, comments, etc.) are published free of charge.

Journal of TOLEHO is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the users or institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Therefore, all articles published will be immediately and permanently free to read and download. All items has their own unique URL and PDF file.

All items published by the Journal of Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The licence permits others to use, reproduce, disseminate or display the article in any way, including for commercial purposes, so long as they credit the author for the original creation.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal exclusive right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.

However, Anadolu University Press can also demand to make an additional license agreement with the corresponding author of the study after first publication, in order to publish the manuscript in full text on various other platforms (web page, databases, indexes, promotion circles and etc.).