Abstract
In the field of tourism, many destinations are familiar with receiving visitors motivated to travel for traditional sport events. But working in esports is another world entirely, since it combines the competitiveness of sport with entertainment. It is from these particularities that tourism destinations that want to host this type of event must learn the basics of how to navigate the esports ecosystem and where to start when their city seeks to organize esports events. Although esports have roots based on digital consumption, their transfer from virtual space to physical space occurs more frequently through the celebration of increasingly crowded competitive events with greater international repercussion. This chapter aims to analyze the benefits of hosting esports events for the tourism ecosystem of a destination, taking Argentina and Spain as study cases. In particular, the chapter focuses on how destinations looking to diversify their offer can interact with those events, and the opportunities and challenges that they bring.
TopIntroduction
The development of competitive video games or “esports” has been established as a fundamental element in youth culture (Funk et al., 2017) which has created new business opportunities in the tourism industry (Anton, 2018; Becka, 2019; Wagner, 2006; Yenişehirlioğlu et al., 2018). As stated by Anton (2018), since the early 2010s electronic sports events have become an alternative form of leisure, filling stadiums with thousands of attendees worldwide. Driven by a will to see the best players and teams compete live, people travel to destinations that host large events, thus becoming tourists within a tourism typology called Esport Tourism (Becka, 2019).
This chapter examines the potential benefits of esports events upon tourism management. A country-level analysis was conducted taking Spain and Argentina as case studies considering that both are in different stages of development regarding Esports Tourism. This paper could be useful in the pursuit of positive effects that esports may have on touristic regions.
Methodology
The methodology used to carry out this study was divided into two main phases. First, a systematic review of the literature was undertaken based on the method of Petticrew & Roberts (2008). This goal of the literature review was a better understanding of the impacts of esport upon the development of tourism. The bibliographic research was carried out from an Event Tourism standpoint that intersects with esports. The debate regarding esports as a sporting activity was not undertaken.
In the second phase of the study, a qualitative methodology based on the Structured and Focused Comparison method (George & Bennett, 2005) was used to analyze Spain and Argentina as Esport Tourism destinations. The first step was the selection of the cases, by the authors drawing upon their knowledge of the local esports scene. In the second step, the variables of comparison for each case were determined: sport tourism context, esport scene characteristics, and development of Esport Tourism initiatives. Afterwards, collection of data from the cases was carried out, using secondary sources such as academic papers, organizations linked with esports and other sources from the web. Finally, based on the data gathered, a comparative analysis was employed to present an approximation on the development of Esport Tourism in both countries.
From Traditional Tourism To Esport Tourism
In this section, some of the key concepts for the link between tourism, events and esports are represented. The main objective of this literature review is to understand the development of esport tourism as a typology derived from traditional tourism.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Esports (Electronics Esports): The activity of competing professionally in video games.
Tourism: A social and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or professional purposes.
Sponsorship: Money given by a company to support an organization to run an event or an activity.
Tourism Consumption: The acquisition of goods and/or services in a tourism destination.
Tourism Destination: A place or location that develops resources and activities to be visited by tourists.
Touristic Product: A set of elements and services that represent the offer of a destination and can be distributed to a tourist.
Esport Tourism: A specialized area of tourism based on products that offers the opportunity to see the best players and teams compete and/or meet and share experiences with other fans.