Background: Effective tourism management in the field of sports tourism requires an understanding of differences in socioeconomic characteristics both within and between different market segments. ...Objective: In the broad tourism market demographic characteristics have been extensively analyzed for differences in destination choices, however little is known about demographic factors affecting sport tourists' decisions. Methods: A sample of Slovenian sports tourists was analyzed using data from a comprehensive survey of local and outbound tourist activity conducted by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia in 2008. After data weighting the information for 353,783 sports related trips were available for analysis. The research model adopted suggests that four socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education and income) significantly affect a tourist's choice of sports related travel either locally within Slovenia or to a foreign country. Furthermore the destination (local or foreign) has an influence on the choice of the type of accommodation selected and the tourist's total expenditure for the trip. For testing the first part of our model (the socio-demographic characteristics effects) a linear regression was used, and for the final part of the model (the selection of accommodation type and travel expenditure) t-test were applied. Results: The result shows the standardized β regression coefficients are all statistically significant at the .001 level for the tested socio-demographic characteristics and also the overall regression model was statistically significant at .001 level. Conclusions: With these results the study confirmed that all the selected socio-demographic characteristics have a significant influence on the sport-active tourist when choosing between a domestic and foreign tourism destination which in turn affect the type of accommodation chosen and the level of expenditure while travelling.
This paper examines the impact of the global economic crisis on revenues on all non-governmental sport organizations (sport NGOs) in Slovenia, as a small European economy. Five types of operating ...revenues of all sport NGOs from 2007 to 2010 have been analyzed. We found that the overall trend of sport NGOs revenues does not correspond exactly to the trends of the Slovenian economy. The greatest financial impacts were experienced in grassroots sport, while professional sport NGOs have increased their operating revenues, mostly due to increases of public revenues. The findings suggest that the true impact of the recession on Slovenian sport NGOs remains to be seen. We conclude that the ongoing recession will affect grassroots sport the least, while semi-professional and professional sport NGOs will be under financial threat. Because of the synergistic effects of different types of NGOs, this could affect the sustainability of Slovenian sport.
Este artículo examina el impacto de la crisis económica global en los ingresos de las organizaciones deportivas no-gubernamentales (ONG's deportivas) en Eslovenia, como una pequeña economía europea. Han sido analizados cinco tipos de ingresos de explotación de todas las ONG's deportivas desde 2007 a 2010. Encontramos que la tendencia general de los ingresos de las ONG's deportivas no se corresponden con la tendencia de la economía eslovenia. El mayor impacto financiero fue experimentado en el deporte base, mientras que las ONG's deportivas profesionales han incrementado sus ingresos de explotación, generalmente debido al incremento de ingresos públicos. Los hallazgos sugieren que el auténtico impacto de la recesión en las ONG's deportivas eslovenias está aún por ver. Concluímos que la recesión en curso afectará lo mínimo al deporte base, mientras que las ONG's deportivas semiprofesionales y profesionales estarán económicamente amenazadas. Debido a los efectos sinérgicos de los diferentes tipos de ONG, esto podría afectar la sostenibilidad de los deportes de Eslovenia.
Este artigo analisa o impacto da crise econômica mundial sobre as receitas das organizações desportivas não governamentais (ONGs de esporte) na Eslovênia, como uma pequena economia europeia. Cinco tipos de receitas operacionais de todas as ONGs do esporte 2007-2010 foram analisados. Descobrimos que a tendência geral das receitas das ONGs do esporte não corresponde exatamente às tendências da economia eslovena. Os maiores impactos financeiros foram encontrados no esporte de base, enquanto as ONGs desportivas profissionais têm aumentado suas receitas operacionais principalmente devido ao aumento das receitas públicas. Os resultados sugerem que o verdadeiro impacto da recessão sobre as ONGs eslovenas desportivas continua a ser observado. Conclui-se que a recessão em curso afetará o esporte de base o mínimo, enquanto as ONGs de esportes semi-profissionais e profissionais estarão sob ameaça financeira. Por causa dos efeitos sinérgicos de diferentes tipos de ONGs isso poderá afetar a sustentabilidade do esporte esloveno.
Sponsorship undoubtedly represents one of the most important ways of funding various sports subjects. The objective of this article was to find a comprehensive definition of the sponsorship contract. ...In the paper, which summarizes the findings of foreign and our local literature we established (1) which the essential and crucial elements of this contractual relationship are, (2) the legal nature of a sponsorship contract, and (3) I opted for the definition of a sponsorship contract which could be useful on the international level. Sponsored subjects represent a certain value for sponsors in the form of special value, which is transmitted from the sponsored subject to the sponsor. This value is also the foundation of the definition of a sponsorship contract, adopted by the International Chamber of Commerce, which we found to comprehensively regulate the relationship between a sponsored subject and the sponsor in compliance with the requirements provided by legal standards of the modern autonomous law. The definition covers all of the key components of the sponsorship contract and is important as it allows to analyze the particular contractual relationship in the direction of finding typical elements of the sponsorship contract, regardless of the title of that contractual relationship. It is our belief that the above mentioned definition allows a specific assessment of the particular legal relationship in the direction of subsumption of the elements of a sponsorship contract, what constitutes an important step towards the appropriate interpretation of this contractual relationship.
: Doping behavior, including the misuse of performance-enhancing drugs, is currently a serious problem in sports, and the efficacy of preventive efforts directly depends on information regarding the ...associations among different precipitating factors (PF) and doping behavior. This study aimed to establish the PF of potential doping behavior (PDB) in competitive swimmers.
: The study included 301 swimmers from Slovenia (153 females, 16.4 ± 2.4 years), tested during the 2017 National Championship. Variables were collected by previously validated questionnaires, which included questions on sociodemographics, sports-related factors, consumption of dietary supplements, knowledge of doping, factors of hesitation, and doping-related factors (i.e., number of doping tests, opinion about the presence of doping in sport). The PDB (positive, neutral, or negative intention toward doping) was observed as a criterion, while other variables were included as predictors in multinomial regression analyses (with "negative" as reference value), which additionally controlled for gender and age category (cadet-, junior-, and senior-level) as confounders.
: The results confirmed higher susceptibility to doping in males (positive: odds ratio (OR): 2.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27⁻6.04), those swimmers who reported higher alcohol consumption (neutral: OR: 2.18, 95%CI: 1.06⁻4.16, positive: OR: 2.14, 95%CI: 1.05⁻4.37), and those regularly used dietary supplements (positive: OR: 3.62, 95%CI: 1.25⁻10.52). Competitive achievement in Olympic- (neutral: OR: 0.57, 95%CI: 0.41⁻0.81, positive: OR: 0.59, 95%CI: 0.39⁻0.88), and non-Olympic disciplines (positive: OR: 0.54, 95%CI: 0.35⁻0.83) was protective against PDB. Swimmers who were more concerned about the negative social consequences of doping behavior (i.e., condemnation by family and friends) were less likely to declare a positive intention toward the PDB (family condemnation: OR: 0.69, 95%CI: 0.56⁻0.86, friends' condemnation: OR: 0.65, 95%CI: 0.52⁻0.80).
: The results of the study provide more precise insight into the specific factors associated with PDB in swimming. The established precipitating factors should be incorporated into targeted anti-doping campaigns in this sport.
This paper assesses the competitiveness of Slovenian sport tourism destinations and compares it with other domestic destinations and those abroad. The methodology is based on different destination ...competitiveness models. An integrated instrument of the sport destination competitiveness was developed and tested for validity of content and used to assessthe competitiveness. There are eight main hypotheses tested. The research results confirm the main hypothesis − that Slovenian tourism managers believe Slovenian destinations are more competitive at home than abroad. The contribution of the research lies in the fact that it has applied the generic instrument for measuring destination competitiveness on sport tourism destinations and, for the first time, their competitiveness is measured in Slovenia.
This paper assesses the competitiveness of Slovenian sport tourism destinations and compares it with other domestic destinations and those abroad. The methodology is based on different destination ...competitiveness models. An integrated instrument of the sport destination competitiveness was developed and tested for validity of content and used to assess the competitiveness. There are eight main hypotheses tested. The research results confirm the main hypothesis − that Slovenian tourism managers believe Slovenian destinations are more competitive at home than abroad. The contribution of the research lies in the fact that it has applied the generic instrument for measuring destination competitiveness on sport tourism destinations and, for the first time, their competitiveness is measured in Slovenia.
The quality of the young people who form the basis of the university student population of the new century is very important as they represent our future world leaders. Childhood and adolescence is a ...precursor to a mature, adult identity, and young people may make leisure time choices that are marked by indecision, hesitation, experimentation and failed attempts or rejections. That leisure activities contribute immensely to the individual's mental and physical wellbeing is now generally well accepted, but not all over the world sport has the same strong importance. The present research has been developed to understand student's leisure activities from five countries, focusing on a sport activity in 'every-day spare time' and sport as a motive for travelling. The data has been collected through a computer assisted web questionnaire (CAWI) at the universities of five different countries, which are Slovenia, Poland, Greece, Taiwan R.O.C. and Mexico. The data were analysed using binary logistic regression. The results show differences between students from diverse cultural regions in choosing the activity in their spare time and their motives for travelling. Results shows that students from Slovenia (32.1%) and Poland (18.2%) were most likely to participate in sport as a spare time, although spending time on the Internet/PC remain the main 'activity' of the majority of students regardless of the country of origin. In addition, students typically do not see sports activity as a significant motive for traveling (4.3%), which could be a warning for sport tourism destinations and the future development of sport tourism.
This paper presents a study of the sports services market in Slovenia, besides the educational system, based on an analysis of several sources of public data: the income structure of sports ...organizations involving a sample of 8,092 organizations, the population’s consumption expenditure on sport using a representative sample and the public expenditure on sport according to reports about the realization of the national programme for sport in Slovenia. The research reveals that the total expenditure on sport in Slovenia in the studied year of 2005 amounted to 1.93% of GDP. In the structure of expenditure, the largest share of 85% is taken by private money (corporations, households), whereas public funding (state budgeting, local authorities, lottery money, EU funding) amounts to slightly less than 15%. The overall amount of expenditure was constantly rising until 2005 due to a stronger economic growth in Slovenia. Nevertheless, the amount spent on sport lags behind the increase in the population’s consumption expenditure on the so-called leisure industry, resulting in sport losing the market share within the industry. The average Slovenian household spends 2.88% of the family budget on sport, equalling EUR 496 per year. Two-thirds of these funds are spent on sports products and one-third on sports services. More and more sports services are being offered by the private sector, although the non-governmental sports sector created 70.6% of the total income of sports organizations. Left unchallenged, the weaknesses of the Slovenian sports services market could become a real obstacle to the further successful development of sport; therefore, some countermeasures to improve and form new sports services are presented in the last part of the paper.
The present study uses the CHAID segmentation method with the purpose to identify the present market and predict the future target markets of the runners at the Istrian Marathon. The 1st Istrian ...Marathon was hold in 2014 at the Slovenian coast and the runners have been surveyed. No sampling was used, but all runners have received an on-line questionnaire to fill. In total 770 valid answers were received that compose our database. The results show that marathon runners are heterogeneous by their motivation, where the travel companions and age have a significant influence to the motivation in taking part in the marathon running. Finally, 4 groups according to the motivation of the runners are suggested. The major motivation for attending the marathon is entertainment (almost 40%), but who travelled in an organised group of runners are mainly motivated by gathering with other runners. Also, younger runners than 40 and those older than 40 should be treated differently, our results predict. In the last part of the study the most profitable nodes for each included motive are presented. The findings from this study provide a number of insights and important implications for recurring small-scale marathon event organisers interested in developing marketing strategies based on the identification of the runners motivation.
The purpose of this study was to examine the classification of non-governmental sports organisations (sports NGOs) based on their financial data. Empirical taxonomy with Ward’s hierarchical ...clustering technique based on the variables acquired from financial statements of all 6,130 sports NGOs in Slovenia was used to cluster organisations into three financial design types: grassroots sports organisations, semi-professional sports NGOs, and professional sports NGOs. Clusters varied in magnitude and structure of Financial items. The findings suggest that the business of grassroots sports organisations is very simple, while with semi-professional and professional sports NGOs it is more complex, and consequently such organisations are confronted with cash flow and even solvency problems. Total average revenues of grassroots sports organisations (€6,304) are approximately one tenth the size of the semi-professional sports NGOs and 192 times smaller than professional sports NGOs. As for the structure of revenues, professional sports NGOs have a larger proportion of sales revenues and much lower membership fees, donations, and other revenues. Semiprofessional sports NGOs differ from grassroots sport in a slightly higher proportion of sales revenues and donations. As regards the structure of expenses, professional sports NGOs had a 5.6 times higher proportion of labour costs in comparison with grassroots sports and 1.4 times higher compared to semi-professional sports NGOs. Such a taxonomy could present an appropriate basis for investigating the true dimension of the impact of global economic crisis on sports NGOs in a small European sports economy.
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