Abstract

This study relies on the fact that local football events may be the backbone of domestic tourism development, particularly in a country with enormous numbers of fans and well-organized football events. It examines how tourist facilities influence football fans’ travel decisions. Analyzing data collected from football tourists (n = 510) across four Tanzania Premier League matches within various time frames, the key findings from this survey revealed that beverages and transportation were the leading influencing factors for travel decisions and actions of football fans, implying a strong influence of tourist facilities on the participation of football fans in domestic tourism because their evidenced interactions during, after, and before the football events. The study contributes to an existing understanding of football tourism, underscoring the massification of football tourism as an opportunity for domestic tourism development and diversification for host destinations. However, the study recommends intensively surveying football tourists’ characteristics and expenditure patterns in famous tourist destinations.

Keywords: Football tourism, Tourists’ motivations, Domestic tourism, Travel decisions of tourists, Sport tourism, Event-based tourism