Caiazza, R., Minis, I.

Accepted for publication in Chinese Business Review, ISSN 1537-1506, vol. 11, n. 10, 849-854, 2012.

Abstract

Sport tourism events refer to sport activities with potential to attract tourists, media, athletes, and other sporting officials, with the primary purpose for travel being articipating in or viewing sport. Sport mega-events, such as America’s Cup, have been recognized as a strong component of tourism, and are becoming an integral and major part of tourism development and marketing strategies. As a catalyst for change, sport mega-events can accelerate the host city economic, political, and social development. This paper focuses on the case of the 34th America’s Cup for Naples. In order to evaluate the benefits of this event on the city, the authors first propose a general framework of main benefits that sport mega-events may bring to host cities, and subsequently, the authors applied this framework to the Naples case.
Keywords: America’s Cup, tourism management, sport mega-events