Analysis of Innovative Marketing in Sports Tourism and Identification of Obstacles to Its Improvement (Case Study: Iran)

Abstract

All over the world, sports tourism is one of the effective factors in the rapid growth and prosperity of the tourism market, and hostingsports competitions plays an important role in the prosperity of the tourism market. Sports tourism in Iran has been neglected due to the lackof sufficient knowledge, management and documented and specific strategies, and as a result, many unique opportunities in this field have been lost. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to analyze innovative marketing in sports tourism and identify obstacles to itsimprovement in Iran. Qualitative methodology and in-depth interviews, constituting the form of content analysis, were conducted with 25prominent professors of sports management, entrepreneurship, and expert tourism, as well as entrepreneurs in the field of sports tourism until reaching theoretical saturation. According to the findings of the research, among the main factors that hinder sports tourism in Iran arepolitical and legal factors, human resources, social, cultural factors, health factors, political and legal factors, informational andcommunication ones. All the aforesaid factors hinder the progress of innovative sports marketing in Iran. Those in charge of employment and entrepreneurship, tourism and sports in their short-term and long-term planning and policy-making should take into account these challenges and contribute to the development of sports tourism.