چکیده:
Aim: there are some factors impacting on the intention of tourists to attend in an athletic
event and their choice process. Every country, city, and athletic event offers products and
services to attract tourists and every tourist can choose one of different destinations or events.
This research was conducted with the aim to study the factors attracting tourists toward
athletic events. Methodology: the present research was conducted using descriptive- survey
method in the field form. The sample size consisted of 319 individuals (n=319) of tourists
visiting Iranian national football teams competitions. In order to gather data, the Wimbledon
questionnaire was employed. Its validity was confirmed by ten professors of Guilan
University and ten tourism experts (it was previously determined to be %86 using Cronbachs
Alpha technique). Research finding were analyzed at a significant (p ≤0. 05) employing
binominal distribution test. Findings: research findings indicated that factors of advocate
motivation, and the destination and novelty are very important in attracting the tourists, while
the factors of self- evolutionism was not considered as an effective one the presence of
tourists in athletic events. Conclusion and discussion: research results showed the factors of
advocate motivation, the destination and novelty play an important role in the presence of
tourists in our sport events, while the factor of self-evolutionism is not so important in this
case. Thus, it is suggested that the motivations of tourists visiting our athletic events should
be carefully studied and identified and considered in the planning in order to attract more
tourists toward our sport events.