Effects of College Students’ Sports Tourism on Leisure Satisfaction

Abstract Background Leisure, sports, and tourism have been significant economic drivers for the United States of America and other countries around the world. One demographic that participates in sports tourism is the college student. Understanding the leisure satisfaction of college students who participate in sports tourism can provide a different perspective on the field. Method In order to analze the data, a total of 331 college students responded to the survey by utilizing the convenient sampling method. However, 91 of them were removed from the analysis because they did not have any experience of sports tourism. Thus, a total of 240 college students filled out the leisure satisfaction survey (LSS). The Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric tests were utilized to examine the demographic characteristics, pre-event research on sports tourism destinations, and visiting of local attractions on the leisure satisfaction subscales in the psychological, educational, social, relaxation, physiological, and aesthetic categories. Results Female students who participated in sports tourism had a significantly higher level of leisure satisfaction (p < .05) than males on the LSS educational and aesthetic subscales. Those who visited additional attractions and used additional amenities while attending a sports tourism event had a significantly higher level of leisure satisfaction (p < .05) on the LSS subscales of educational, social, relaxation, and aesthetic satisfaction compared with those who did not. Those who did research on additional attractions and amenities before attending a sports tourism event had a significantly higher level of leisure satisfaction (p < .05) on all subscales except for the physiological category when compared with those who did not do such research. Conclusions It is vital to understand the leisure satisfaction of a tourist experience. Sports commissions and promoters need to make sure online information on additional amenities besides the sporting event can be easily found. The study’s findings suggest that promotion of the aesthetic, social, educational, and relaxing aspects of the tourism location could be a focus. Sports commissions and promoters need to make sure online information on additional amenities besides the sporting event can be easily found.