Developing Sports Tourism Attractions through Football Clubs: A Comparative Study of Indonesia, Thailand, and Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37251/jthpe.v3i1.3088Keywords:
Comparative Study, Football Clubs, Sport Tourism, Tourism AttractionsAbstract
Purpose of the Study: This study aims to analyze the development of sport tourism through football clubs using a comparative study of Indonesia, Thailand, and Ecuador. The study focuses on examining the role of football clubs as tourism attractions, identifying internal and external influencing factors, and comparing sport tourism management strategies in the three countries.
Methodology: This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach with a comparative research design. Data were collected through literature review, documentary analysis, and previous research studies on football-based sport tourism in Indonesia, Thailand, and Ecuador. Data analysis used an interactive analysis model consisting of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing, combined with SWOT analysis.
Main Findings: The findings reveal that Indonesia’s strength lies in strong supporter loyalty and match atmosphere, although managerial and financial issues remain challenges. Thailand demonstrates more professional sport tourism management through government support and tourism integration. Ecuador shows strong cultural identity and football enthusiasm but faces infrastructure and promotional limitations. All three countries utilize football as a driver of local economic growth and tourism attraction.
Novelty/Originality of this Study: This study introduces a cross-national comparative framework for examining football clubs as sport tourism attractions in emerging countries. It advances existing knowledge by integrating cultural, managerial, economic, and institutional perspectives to explain differences in football-based tourism development. The findings provide new insights into how contextual factors shape sustainable sport tourism strategies.
References
[1] P. Ni, “Analysis on the Psychological Effect of Interactive Integration of International Sports Organizations and Sports Tourism.,” J. Sport Psychol. Psicol. del Deport., no. 3, 2024.
[2] E. Moradi and R. Norouzi Seyed Hossini, “Sport tourism and destination attractiveness: bridging gaps in research for emerging economies,” Tour. Recreat. Res., vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 485–514, 2026.
[3] F. Bazzanella, M. Schnitzer, M. Peters, and B. F. Bichler, “The role of sports events in developing tourism destinations: a systematized review and future research agenda,” J. Sport Tour., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 77–109, 2023.
[4] M. Manojlović, T. Stanovčić, and Đ. Perović, “Effects of Cultural Tourism Experience on Tourist Behavior: Insights From Montenegro,” Sage Open, vol. 15, no. 4, p. 21582440251397320, 2025.
[5] Y. Lin et al., “Exploring the effect of the sports tourism field on flow experience through a moderated mediation model,” Sci. Rep., vol. 15, no. 1, p. 27338, 2025.
[6] S. O. Sihombing, F. Antonio, R. Sijabat, and I. Bernarto, “The Role of Tourist Experience in Shaping Memorable Tourism Experiences and Behavioral Intentions.,” Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Plan., vol. 19, no. 4, 2024.
[7] S. Aldulaimi, M. Abdeldayem, and M. Y. AboKeir, “Sports Tourism as a Catalyst for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).,” Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Plan., vol. 18, no. 12, 2023.
[8] G. Raso and D. Cherubini, “The sport tourism and regional economic development: A systematic review,” Sci. J. Sport Perform., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 108–121, 2024.
[9] I. Meirobie, R. Amelia, and V. H. Vanesa, “Sportpreneurship as a Driver of Local Tourism Investment in The New World Era,” Golden Ratio Mapp. Idea Lit. Format, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 1934–1941, 2026.
[10] A. K. Jama, Y. Yulianti, W. Prihatmadji, A. Caniago, and N. Izzah, “The impact of tourism infrastructure and marketing strategies on tourist arrivals and local economic growth in Bali,” Es Econ. Entrep., vol. 3, no. 01, pp. 12–24, 2024.
[11] F. F. Adedoyin, N. Seetaram, M. Disegna, and G. Filis, “The effect of tourism taxation on international arrivals to a small tourism-dependent economy,” J. Travel Res., vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 135–153, 2023.
[12] R. Purwono, M. A. Esquivias, L. Sugiharti, and O. Rojas, “Tourism destination performance and competitiveness: The impact on revenues, jobs, the economy, and growth,” J. Tour. Serv., vol. 15, no. 28, pp. 161–187, 2024.
[13] F. Tobar and G. Ramshaw, “‘Welcome to the EPL’: analysing the development of football tourism in the English Premier League,” Soccer Soc., vol. 23, no. 4–5, pp. 432–450, 2022.
[14] F. B. Tobar, G. Ramshaw, and J. R. Oliveira, “Conceptualising the global touristic football club,” Sport Soc., vol. 27, no. 10, pp. 1658–1681, 2024.
[15] M. Lexhagen, V. Ziakas, and C. Lundberg, “Popular culture tourism: Conceptual foundations and state of play,” J. Travel Res., vol. 62, no. 7, pp. 1391–1410, 2023.
[16] R. N. Kinawy, “Kicking off prosperity: unraveling the football-marketing Nexus in Saudi Arabia’s tourism and economy,” Soccer Soc., vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 807–834, 2025.
[17] N. Vila-López, I. Küster-Boluda, C. Aragonés-Jericó, and F. Sarabia-Sánchez, “Sports ambassadors and destination image: a fuzzy set analysis,” Int. J. Sport. Mark. Spons., vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 524–540, 2024.
[18] J. R. Oliveira, S. Manjunath, R. R. Uvinha, and A. M. Capraro, “Sport tourism in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain): examining stakeholder influence on FC Barcelona’s tourism operations,” J. Sport Tour., pp. 1–13, 2026.
[19] D. Proctor and P. Bordoloi, “Beyond the 90 minutes: football, tourism and hospitality,” Res. Hosp. Manag., vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 35–43, 2023.
[20] T. Inoue, M. Kimura, Z. Walsh, T. Takahashi, H. Murayama, and H. Koizumi, “Spectator Travel and Carbon Savings: Evaluating the Role of Football Stadium Relocation in Sustainable Urban Planning,” Sustainability, vol. 17, no. 13, p. 5956, 2025.
[21] A. Panagopoulos, V. Matika, I. A. Nikas, and E. P. Paraschi, “A comprehensive structural framework for smart stadiums as essential components of smart tourism destinations,” Worldw. Hosp. Tour. Themes, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 106–119, 2025.
[22] D. G. Augusto et al., “A common allele of HLA is associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Nature, vol. 620, no. 7972, pp. 128–136, 2023.
[23] J. C. Bradbury, D. Coates, and B. R. Humphreys, “The impact of professional sports franchises and venues on local economies: A comprehensive survey,” J. Econ. Surv., vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 1389–1431, 2023.
[24] R. E. W. Thomas, T. Teel, B. Bruyere, and S. Laurence, “Metrics and outcomes of conservation education: a quarter century of lessons learned,” Environ. Educ. Res., vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 172–192, 2019, doi: 10.1080/13504622.2018.1450849.
[25] Y. Tan and Z. Zhu, “The effect of ESG rating events on corporate green innovation in China: The mediating role of financial constraints and managers’ environmental awareness,” Technol. Soc., vol. 68, p. 101906, 2022.
[26] A. Chidukwani, S. Zander, and P. Koutsakis, “A survey on the cyber security of small-to-medium businesses: challenges, research focus and recommendations,” IEEe Access, vol. 10, pp. 85701–85719, 2022.
[27] Y.-M. Wei, K. Chen, J.-N. Kang, W. Chen, X.-Y. Wang, and X. Zhang, “Policy and management of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality: A literature review,” Engineering, vol. 14, pp. 52–63, 2022.
[28] D. Damiasih, “Interrelation Between Tourism Destination Financial Management and Tourist Experiences: Qualitative Approach to Literature,” Atestasi J. Ilm. Akunt., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 1214–1223, 2024.
[29] Y. A. Rangkuti et al., “Cultural heritage and sports tourism : a systematic literature review of sustainable destination management practices,” Front. Sport. Act. Living, vol. 7, no. October, pp. 1–15, 2025, doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1680229.
[30] T. Ratković, “Aspects of spatial and temporal dimensions of sports tourism as key indicators of its synergism,” Sci. J. Manag. Sport., vol. 16, no. XVI, issue I, pp. 90–111, 2025.
[31] R. Mousavi, M. O. Najafabadi, S. M. Mirdamadi, and S. J. F. Hosseini, “Rural sports and local games: missing link between sports tourism development and sustainability,” J. Sport Tour., vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 201–223, 2022.
[32] S. Dašić and A. Gavrilović, “Sports events in the function of sports tourism development and destination branding,” 6th Int. Themat. Monogr. Mod. Manag. Tools Econ. Tour. Sect. Present Era. UDEKOM, pp. 287–302, 2023.
[33] M. Aygün, Y. Savaş, and D. Alma Savaş, “The relation between football clubs and economic growth: the case of developed countries,” Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun., vol. 10, no. 1, p. 566, 2023.
[34] M. Constantinescu and L. Ungureanu, “Economic Effects of Sports Events in Tourism. Case Study EURO 2024,” J. Environ. Manag. Tour., vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 664–672, 2024.
[35] A. P. Darko, D. Liang, Y. Zhang, and A. Kobina, “Service quality in football tourism: an evaluation model based on online reviews and data envelopment analysis with linguistic distribution assessments,” Ann. Oper. Res., vol. 325, no. 1, pp. 185–218, 2023.
[36] A. M. A. ELfakharani and H. E. Albaheth, “Examining the link between sports tourism, FDI inflow, economic growth, and FDI inflows: Does legal restrictions on alcohols consumption during sports events matter?,” Rev. Psicol. del Deport., vol. 32, no. 1, p. 207, 2023.
[37] M. Riazi, H. Ghanbar, and R. Rezvani, “Qualitative data coding and analysis: A systematic review of the papers published in the Journal of Second Language Writing,” Iran. J. Lang. Teach. Res., vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 25–47, 2023.
[38] M. Naeem, W. Ozuem, K. Howell, and S. Ranfagni, “A step-by-step process of thematic analysis to develop a conceptual model in qualitative research,” Int. J. Qual. Methods, vol. 22, no. 10, pp. 1–18, 2024, doi: 10.1177/16094069231205789.
[39] T. Tanti, D. A. Kurniawan, and A. P. Ningsi, “Description of students’ science process skills on density material,” J. Inov. Pendidik. IPA, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 156–164, 2020.
[40] Tanti, D. A. Kurniawan, Kuswanto, W. Utami, and I. Wardhana, “Science process skills and critical thinking in science: Urban and rural disparity,” J. Pendidik. IPA Indones., vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 489–498, 2020, doi: 10.15294/jpii.v9i4.24139.
[41] T. Hinch and J. Higham, Sport Tourism Development. Channel View Publications, 2020.
[42] H. J. Gibson, K. Kaplanidou, and S. J. Kang, “Small-Scale Event Sport Tourism: A Case Study in Sustainable Tourism,” Sport Manag. Rev., vol. 15, pp. 160–170, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.smr.2011.08.013.
[43] R. D. Meucci, A. G. Fassa, and N. M. X. Faria, “Prevalence of chronic low back pain: systematic review,” Rev. Saude Publica, vol. 49, pp. 1–10, 2015, doi: 10.1590/S0034-8910.2015049005874.
[44] M. Müller, D. Gogishvili, S. D. Wolfe, and G. Christopher, “Mega-events and tourism development: Critical perspectives,” Ann. Tour. Res., vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 1–9, 2021, doi: 10.1080/02614367.2021.1998835.
[45] F. Bazzanella et al., “The role of sports events in developing tourism destinations : a systematized review and future research agenda,” J. Sport Tour., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 77–109, 2023, doi: 10.1080/14775085.2023.2186925.
[46] S. Zenker and E. Braun, “Place branding: understanding identity, image and brand positioning - a bibliometric and systematic review,” Rev. Bras. Mark., vol. 24, no. 4, p. 29910, 2025, doi: 10.5585/2025.29910.
[47] R. Baggio and R. Sainaghi, “Network analysis of tourism destinations: The role of stakeholder collaboration,” Tour. Manag., pp. 453–466, 2022, doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-88389-8_21.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Angga Putra Wardana, Benjawan Yotrawat, Jonathan Quiroz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and acknowledge that the Journal of Health Innovation and Environmental Education is the first publisher licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citation of published work.
1.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
