Modern sports tourism consumption trends through the example of the Spartan Race

Abstract

One of the cornerstones of tourism development in the 21st century is to increase the experiential factor. If it is successful, the volume of consumers will increase exponentially. In the field of sports tourism, the Spartan Race has become one of today’s leading products, attracting between 8 and 10 thousand participants per event. Therefore, this study aims to present a complex analysis of the consumption habits of thousands of participants targeting the product, for which a questionnaire was developed to examine the characteristics of participants in a complex way, from general sports consumption habits to tourism consumption. The study surveyed the consumption habits of 5% of participants of the Spartan Race until spring 2023. The results showed that Spartan Race consumption is highly atypical, from the motivation to participate, to travel habits, to the use of services. From a tourism perspective, the experience factor of the race can be identified as such an attraction in the market that consumers are occasionally willing to travel hundreds of kilometers several times a year for a race.