Abstract
Introduction: Sports tourism is one of the growing types of tourism in which sports competitions and events attract a large number of tourists. In this regard, the present study presents the development of a model of sports tourism in Khorasan Razavi province.
Methods: The research method is descriptive-analytical and library and field studies - including direct and regular observation and questionnaires - have been used to collect the required information. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to obtain the reliability of the questionnaire. The coefficient obtained (0.81) indicates the optimal reliability of the questionnaire. In order to assess the validity of the questionnaire, the appearance and content of the questionnaire were approved by 50 guides and students of sports management and tourism experts in compiling the questionnaire. The groups involved in this research are university faculty members, students and graduates of universities in sports management and tourism, and senior officials of physical education. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS statistical software and SWOT model.
Results: The findings of the study and the model show that aerial sports such as caving are among the top sports tourism attractions in Khorasan Razavi province. Also, several factors affect the development process of sports tourism in the province. In this study, these factors were evaluated in the form of two groups of internal factors (weaknesses and strengths) and external factors (opportunities and threats).