| Scholars and sport tourism managers have exhibited a growing interest in heritage sport tourism. This is particularly true in the context of Olympic venues, which traditionally face operational challenges once the Games are finished. The purpose of this study is to examine the motivations of visitors to sport heritage sites, as a way of helping facility managers to optimize relevant strategies and capitalize on these opportunities. To achieve this goal, a study of heritage sport tourism was conducted at the Bird's Nest stadium following the 2008 Beijing Olympics.;A qualitative approach was used featuring semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The findings suggested that participants had various motivations but most of them were related to Olympic memories. Management's tourism marketing efforts corresponded to the motivations identified by the visitors who participated in the study. However, there appear to be differences in motivations among market segments. Therefore, it is recommended that the managers of sport heritage sites should recognize that a range of market segments exist with unique motivations that require targeted marketing strategies. |
