Repeat visits and intentions to revisit a sporting event and its nearby destinations

This article investigates the effect that loyalty and tourist satisfaction with a sporting event have on visitors' behavioural intention not only to revisit and recommend the event but also to revisit and recommend its nearby tourist destinations. The quantitative analysis is based on 343 self-administered questionnaires collected among the visitors of the Biathlon World Cup 2009 in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. The satisfaction variables were reduced to three factors: Services, Price, and Accessibility. Through the computation of numerous Logit models, this study shows that there is a positive relationship between the three satisfaction factors and the behavioural intention to revisit and recommend the event and its nearby tourist destinations to friends and relatives. Furthermore, loyalty to the event is strongly and positively related with the intention to revisit the event in the near future but not to revisit the destination or to recommend it to friends and relatives. © SAGE Publications 2011.