Strategies for the Development of Sports Tourism of Older Adults in Iran

Tourism is one of the suitable activities for the older adults to improve their physical and mental health. Sports tourism is a journey that takes place with the purpose of participating in a sports event or performing a sports activity. This study is designed with the aim of identifying the strategies for the development of sports tourism for the older adults in Iran. This is a practical study and has been carried out using the qualitative research method based on thematic analysis method. Its participants include all experts and specialists in the field of tourism, tourism specialists in the universities, university professors in sports management, experts of tourism and cultural heritage organizations, active tour agencies, retirement centers and nursing homes. Participants were selected using purposeful sampling till the conceptual saturation which was achieved after conducting 13 interviews. The final categories include friendship and interaction, pragmatism, culture building, networking, sports-oriented, technology and modern science, advertising and foresight and targeting in the form of strategies for the development of sports tourism for the older adults. Sports tourism for the older adults can be one of the significant cases for future targeting of the country. The results of this study can lead to providing a platform for the growth of research in the field of cognitive system of tourists.