Leisure, Tourism, & Sport

I. Changing leisure patterns

1. The growth and changing purpose of leisure time for societies in different geographic and developmental contexts
2. The categorization of touristic activities (cost, duration, destination) and sporting activities (cost, popularity, site)
3. The link between economic development and participation in leisure activities
4. Factors affecting personal participation in sports and tourism, including affluence, gender, stage in lifecycle, personality, place of residence

II. Tourism and sport at the local and national level

1. Human and physical factors explaining the growth of rural and urban tourism hotspots including the role of primary and secondary touristic resources
2. Variations in sphere of influence for different kinds of sporting and touristic facility, including neighbourhood parks and gyms, city stadiums and national parks
3. Factors affecting the geography of a national sports league, including the location of its hierarchy of teams and the distribution of supporters
4. Large-scale sporting, musical, cultural or religious festivals as temporary sites of leisure and their associated costs and benefits

III. Tourism and sport at the international scale

1. Niche national tourism strategies with a global sphere of influence, including adventure tourism, movie location tourism and heritage tourism
2. The role of TNCs in expanding international tourism destinations, including the costs and benefits of TNC involvement for different stakeholders
3. Costs and benefits of tourism as a national development strategy, including economic and social/cultural effects
4. Political, economic and cultural factors affecting the hosting of international sporting events, including Olympics and football World Cup events

IV. Managing tourism and sport for the future

1. The consequences of unsustainable touristic growth in rural and urban tourism hotspots, including the concept of carrying capacity and possible management options to increase site resilience
2. The concept of sustainable tourism, including the growth of ecotourism
3. Factors influencing future international tourism, including greater use of social media, international security and diaspora growth
4. The growing importance of political and cultural influences on international sport participation, including international agreements, inclusion via changing gender roles and the growing importance of the Paralympics