Active sport tourism consumption by German private households

Abstract

Recent studies on the economic dimensions of sports and physical activity in Germany have revealed that sport-related tourism is one of the important contributors to private household consumption. Due to a lack of representative and large-scale data sets, this topic has never been displayed in detail before. By using computer assisted telephone and web interviews, we collected a total data set of n=19,396 persons living in Germany. The expenditures for active sport tourism were isolated, which is understood as travelling to take part in different sporting activities. Data are provided on the overall spending of German households for sport trips, with skiing (€ 3.4 bn) and scuba diving (€ 2.2 bn) being the sports with the highest consumption. We differentiate 71 types of sport and provide data on the most important 20 types. German households undertake 28 million trips each year and spend on average € 460 for each trip. This adds up to € 12.8 bn, which is a significant contribution to the economic dimension of sport. Austria, the Netherlands and Spain are the most important destinations for German households regarding active sport trips. The paper provides useful data to shed further light on the active sport tourism market.