22 January 2008

Sjef van Hoof

Hoof2.s@nhtv.nl

About space, place and environment:The geography of sport and leisure

Outline of this presentation:

• What is geography?

• Why geography?

• Space, place and environment

• Examples of empirical research

• Discussion..

About (human) geography…

Geography is about:* Spaces * Places* Environments (and Movements between spaces and places)(Edgington and Hyman, 2005)

About sport/leisure/tourism research:

1). Sport and tourism research tends to produce pieces of research with poor linkages to bodies of knowledge

2). Lack of any explicit consideration of epistemology: simple questionnaire based individual descriptive research

3). Sport and leisure travel flows are influenced by a range of factors that are not well understood

Source: James Higham and Tom Hinch (2006, p32)

Need for sport policy research:

• NOC/NSF: Space for Sport (2006): about access and availability of sport accommodations..

• Modernization of stadiums• Sport and Leisure for re-imaging and

branding: how to determine impacts?• Traffic management (NL 2002: 25% work -

38% leisure)• Place attachment

Applicability of sport/leisure marketing:

• Determination of spatial client base/ promotion strategies

• Knowledge to involve stakeholders

• Estimation of Brand Value (NAC or NAC Breda?)

Geographies of spaces:

• Exploring how sport, leisure and tourism influence spatial travel patterns and itineraries of consumers

• At different levels (local, regional, national or supranational)

• Neo-classical economic assumptions: Distance decay influences attractivity

Sport and space

• Manchester (1999): 4,000 – 6,000 foreign tourists visiting home matches of FC Manchester United

• Baltimore (1999): 11,000 supporters of Baltimore Orioles remain at least 1 night in Baltimore

Source: Stevens, 2001

Sport and space

Source: Augustin, 1996

Geography of places..

• A place is a space infused with meaning (Lew, 2001). Sport and leisure may influence the meanings that are associated with those area’s: struggle for the most authentic attractions..

• Place is a rather subjective concept, constantly constructed and reconstructed..

• Wang (1999) Leisure and travel are used to establish identity and meaning to lives

Source: VVV Eindhoven

Sport and places..

Public and private stakeholders are interested in adding brand elements of sport to their destination marketing profile

Tophophilia effect: people develop a sense of attachment to an area:

We live here with more than 7,000 families and over 25,000 people. Our neighbourhood can not be find on any map of Rio de Janeiro. Even on the most recent maps the area we live in is still coloured green as in 1930. We do not exist. But if a person like Adriano Leite becomes successfull, we become noticed.”

(Jönsson, 2006, p52. Translation by the author)

Diffusion of sport in the Netherlands

Source: RIVM, 2003

A B C

The geography of environment

• Natural and built environment that are used for sport and leisure activities

• “Sportscapes” (Bale, 1994)

• Impacts of sport and leisure accomodations and nature

• Re-imaging of physical places

• Sport may be an incubator for new forms of leisure and tourism

Refurbishing the environment

Sport and environment (1)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Hecta

res

Ruimtebehoefte 2005

Ruimtebehoefte 2020

Source: Alterra/ NOC NSF 2005

Need for indoor sportaccomodations in the Netherlands in 2005 en 2020

0

2.000

4.000

6.000

8.000

10.000

12.000

14.000

16.000

Hecta

res

Ruimtebehoete 2005

Ruimtebehoete 2020

Outdoor areas needed for sport in the Netherlands2005 en 2020

Source: Alterra/ NOC NSF 2005

Sport and environment (2)

Sport and environment (example)Relocation/refurbishment sportaccomodations

Examples of research

Conceptual model central place theory

Practical applications

Central Place theory

Concepts central place theory:

• Threshold = the minimum number of consumers needed to be able to offer a service.

• Range = The maximum distance a consumer wants to travel to obtain a good or service

Examples?

Empiric example:

Mercedes Benz dealers

Research Professional Football in the Netherlands:

* What are the geographical marketarea’s of professional football clubs? (extension, population)* Where are the marketareas of professional football clubs interfering?* Which areas do offer prospects for growth?

Empirical research:

Visitor numbers matched with population figures

Per municipality: who is going where?Per club: who travels from where?

Possible analisys: relative visitor frequency, where are gaps that may be filled?

Total visits in NL:214,74 per 10.000

Edam-Volendam 1381,43 De Wolden 33,23

Heerenveen 958,17 Borsele 32,80

Kerkrade 929,81 Hunsel 32,58

Waalwijk 862,96 Vlissingen 31,75

Doetinchem 807,12 Texel 30,06

Veendam 736,24 Ameland 29,12

Westervoort 709,94 Middelburg 28,87

Roosendaal 599,69 Haelen 26,58

Skarsterlân 594,46Schiermonnikoog 24,91

Arnhem 584,74 Hulst 24,31

Almelo 570,06 Sluis 20,06

Helmond 542,33 Terneuzen 15,68

Duiven 534,69 Terschelling 11,59

Goirle 524,43 Urk 4,25

Tilburg 516,80 Vlieland 0,00

Source: Dejonghe & van Hoof, 2004

Primary data sample

Table based on 39 * 492 cells

Inhab NACPer 10000 NAC

Per 10000 Total % NAC

Best 28244 5 2 384 0%

Bladel 19092 1 1 255 0%

Boekel 9372 0 0 303 0%

Boxmeer 29352 0 0 120 0%

Boxtel 29513 1 0 207 0%

Breda 164397 6619 403 437 92%

Cranendonck 20336 0 0 216 0%

Cuijk 24325 0 0 126 0%

Deurne 32130 4 1 280 0%

Dongen 25148 182 72 226 32%

Drimmelen 26747 590 220 270 82%

The geography of NACabs

per 10,000 inhab Municip

Freq/10,000

6619,47 437,04 164397 Breda 402,65

490,85 268,15 20386 Zundert 240,78

941,98 296,29 39352 Etten-Leur 239,37

589,54 269,95 26747 Drimmelen 220,41

398,58 278,36 24894 Gilze en Rijen 160,11

849,70 273,87 53136 Oosterhout 159,91

252,48 210,16 20939 Geertruidenberg 120,58

407,55 192,73 36553 Moerdijk 111,50

217,87 234,63 22607 Rucphen 96,37

51,26 152,78 6507 Baarle-Nassau 78,78

229,41 181,00 29746 Halderberge 77,12

181,99 226,15 25148 Dongen 72,37

202,49 599,69 78110 Roosendaal 25,92

146,10 87,37 66024 Bergen op Zoom 22,13

51,26 168,51 23386 Steenbergen 21,92

33,32 97,00 21557 Woensdrecht 15,46

35,88 106,71 26384 Werkendam 13,60

12,00 229,56 9413 Alphen-Chaam 12,75

46,14 862,96 45584 Waalwijk 10,12

Marketareas in the Netherlands

Copyright: Wolters Noordhof 2006

Areas with Ri >=71,91/10.000 Relative marketshare >= 50%

An indicator of Place Identification?

Municipality Cebuco1 FC Volendam 1310,27 1 SC Heerenveen 643,992 SC Heerenveen 945,48 2 Veendam 641,503 Roda JC Kerkrade 926,33 3 RKC Waalwijk 620,244 Graafsch. Doetinchem 772,52 4 Graafsch. Doetinchem 449,225 RKC Waalwijk 761,01 5 Roda JC Kerkrade 397,676 Veendam 684,93 6 Vitesse Arnhem 376,877 Vitesse Arnhem 554,02 7 PSV Eindhoven 335,958 RBC Roosendaal 517,22 8 Willem II Tilburg 327,819 Heracles Almelo 514,85 9 NEC Nijmegen 317,84

10 Willem II Tilburg 458,07 10 FC Volendam 309,9413 PSV Eindhoven 390,46 21 Feyenoord Rotterdam 154,3328 Feyenoord Rotterdam 155,22 22 Ajax Amsterdam 146,0230 Ajax Amsterdam 138,43 31 FC Omniworld Almere* 83,3032 FC Omniworld Almere* 121,13 38 Excelsior Rotterdam 14,6438 Excelsior Rotterdam 15,38

Average visits per 10,000 inhabitants in 2004

Source: van Hoof en Dejonghe, 2004

Space (absolute) versus place (cultural)

Example of research by students 1:

Application in student thesis research:

Source: Lodder, 2006

Example of research by students 2:

Friction of distance for Sport Participation in different neighbourhoods in Utrecht

Source: Hakfoort, van Leeuwen and Tiggelhoven (2007)

Emerging alliances in the leisure industries, the commodification of culture

(© Mommaas, 2003)

sport

nature & recreation tourism

hotel & catering

retail

media

art & culture

entertainment

(traffic & transport)

(food & stimulants)

(cons. electronics)

wellness

games

resorts

events

Application geographical research in Sport/Leisure/Tourism?

Auteurs: Trudo Dejonghe, Sjef van Hoof en Thijs KemmerenPrijs: euro 21,65 (exclusief btw en verzendkosten)ISBN-10: 90-5472-011-5ISBN-13: 978-90-5472-011-9Omvang: 176 pagina's

Voetballen in de kleine ruimte

Sjef van HoofNHTV Internationale Hogeschool BredaTel: 076 530 1241Hoof2.s@nhtv.nl