Planning tourism through sporting events

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build on the concept of using a population or portfolio of events to help rejuvenate or redefine the strategic position of a destination. The aim is to gain a general understanding of the local community outlook towards a process of repositioning the tourism product based on a portfolio of sporting events. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative research design using a case study approach examined resident attitudes in a beach community of south Italy. In total, 740 questionnaires were received and a cluster analysis was used to study the 11 statements about residents’ perceptions of tourism development and sport events. Findings – The findings reveal that resident attitudes towards tourism development are strongly related to their perceptions of their degree of involvement in the setting of strategy and the direction of development. The results also support previous beliefs about increasing interest in the sport tourism product and that sporting events are viewed as important drivers of tourism destination development. The research reveals the presence of different resident attitudes and the cluster analysis is helpful in finding homogeneous groups of residents within the destination. Originality/value – There is limited understanding of the degree to which the local community fits into the plans of a city's pro‐growth agenda and the role that a tourism strategy based on sport events can have. This is particularly true in southern Italy where the classical sun, sea and sand (3S) tourism model is in severe crisis and new ways of development are urgently required.