Co-Creation of The Tourism Experience at International Sport Tourism Events

The co-creation of the tourist experience in sporting events has received little scientific attention. This study aimed to analyse the influence of co-creation of the tourist experience on the memorability of the experience through the attention and involvement of sporting event tourists, and to verify whether this influence changes with the type of experience (i.e. active participant versus spectator). A total of 356 questionnaires was collected at two international cycling events held in Portugal in 2021. The data were analysed with structural equation analysis and a Mann-Whitney test. Co-creation influences attention and involvement, which, in turn, help to explain the relationship between co-creation and memorability, highlighting differences between the two types of experience. For the first time, the on-site co-creation model was applied to sport tourism events. In this touristic context, experiences must be developed through a customized approach based on the creation of hedonic and eudaimonic experiences.