Generation Z Active Sports Tourism: A Conceptual Framework and Analysis of Intention to Revisit

Action sports events are part of a multibillion-dollar industry supported by prominent sponsors—such as Red Bull, GoPro, and Samsung, among others—and individuals engaging with these events through various roles. In fact, the International Extreme Sports Festival (FISE) of Montpellier in France attracts around 600,000 spectators, 1800 athletes, and 400,000 digital followers (VoGo [2019]. VoGo at the FISE World Series Montpellier 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2020, from https://www.vogo-group.com/en/at-the-fise-montpellier-2019/ ). Nowadays, the average age of athletes and spectators is below 25 years for BMX, skateboarding, and wakeboarding events (Statista. (2018). Number of participants in wakeboarding in the United States from 2006 to 2017 (in millions). Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/191,342/participants-in-wakeboarding-in-the-us-since-2006/ ), thus making Generation Z the key market for action sports events. This chapter will explore what drives Generation Z participation as sport tourists in action sports events. Specifically, based on underpinnings emerging from recent literature of psychology and marketing, this chapter aims at assessing how Generation Z’s intention participate in extreme sports event is shaped by their need for intense sensations, desire for mastering skills, and feelings of self-enhancement, together with the image participants hold of a particular event. In doing so, a conceptual model is proposed and tested, and outputs indicate Generation Z participation in an international action-sport event. Results will offer insights into key marketing aspects related to Generation Z’s revisit intention to action sport events, and will provide useful managerial implications.