The Role of Sports Tourism Development in Job Creation: Providing a Model

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the role of sports tourism development in job creation. The study was a descriptive survey study conducted in the field. The research population consisted of professors and graduate students studying sports management, entrepreneurship, and tourism at Tehran universities. The research samples were selected through a convenience sampling approach, and finally, 190 people completed the questionnaires. The instrument used in this research was adopted from library studies and literature reviews as well as interviews with five experts. This questionnaire has 10 items for the tourism development component, three items for the direct job creation component, and three items for the indirect job creation component. The face and content validity of the final questionnaire was confirmed by eight professors of sports management, entrepreneurship, and tourism. Convergent and divergent validity and composite reliability were checked and confirmed by the PLS software. Findings indicated that sports tourism had a positive and significant effect on direct job creation and all its dimensions; additionally, sports tourism had a positive and significant effect on indirect job creation and all its dimensions. The study results demonstrate that the development of sports tourism in Iran provides a basis for increasing direct and indirect job creation and permanent, seasonal, and part-time employment.