Local Support on Sports Tourism Development: An Integration of Emotional Solidarity and Social Exchange Theory

Abstract

Globally, sports tourism is considered a vital type of tourism that combines sports and tourism to attract tourists, contribute to the economy, and promote local culture. Despite its straightforward relevance, the current literature finds some drawbacks of the social exchange theory (SET) in modeling local support in tourism development, particularly when dealing with emotional interactions among tourists and locals. Thus, this study integrates the emotional solidarity construct (i.e., welcoming nature, sympathetic understanding, and emotional closeness), residents’ attitudes, and the extension of SET (i.e., support for sports tourism, community contribution, and future support for sports tourism development) to model the residents’ support for future sports tourism development, with personality traits as a moderating variable between emotional solidarity and attitude. This study uses random sampling to obtain the response from 1004 residents in Danao City (Philippines)—an emerging destination for sporting events. Furthermore, partial least squares—structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is utilized to examine the direct relationships among the exogenous and endogenous constructs and the moderating effect of personality traits (i.e., Big Five personality traits). The results revealed that all direct relationships were supported, indicating that those emotional interactions among tourists and residents would affect the latter’s view on their support for sports tourism which would consequently translate to support for future development agenda. However, the moderating effect of the personality traits was not supported. Furthermore, a multigroup analysis was conducted to gain more profound implications on the varying attitudes of the residents towards sports tourism. Based on the study’s findings, insights were drawn for governments to design specific measures for developing sports tourism in view of local support.

1. Introduction

Tourism is globally recognized as a significant industry in job creation, wealth distribution, and local development (World Tourism and Travel Council [WTTC]), [1]. As primarily associated with the people’s movement along local and international boundaries, tourism promotes the meeting of different nationals, encouraging people to promote social interactions, allowing them to experience positive vibes, and expanding their consciousness. The industry is deemed an agent of economic development [2], with Comerio and Strozzi [3] outlining four clusters on the pathways tourism impacts the economy. More importantly, in recent decades, developing countries have been focusing on initiating developments in tourism [4,5]. Like other developing countries, the Philippine tourism industry is overgrowing, evident in the contribution to domestic tourism expenditure, comprising the bulk (84%) of the tourist outlay in the country at USD 55 billion in 2019. The strong local tourism expenditure supported domestic opportunity in recent years, accounting for 11.7% of the GDP in 2017 to 12.1% in 2019 [6]. However, sports tourism has developed only lately as a typology despite its rapid rise. Aside from contributing to the respective sports, the sports tourism industry supports the government and local communities by raising funds and promoting sports activities. Accordingly, it was previously projected that sports tourism would increase from USD 1.41 trillion in 2016 to USD 5.7 trillion in 2021 globally [7].

The increasing number of sporting events results from the concerted efforts to boost tourism and open up more prospects for development. Getz and Page [8] argue that hosting sporting events can benefit destinations by improving their exposure and image. It can also open up opportunities for developing tourism-based revenues from those connected to the event, especially the locals, or from outside observers who travel to experience the sporting events [9]. As its success is associated with gathering crowds, particularly local residents, understanding residents’ opinions is essential for the local government or stakeholders in crafting plans for tourism development [10,11]. The role of local support in tourism development is widely discussed in the domain literature. For instance, resistance from the residents may arise in response to the detrimental effects of tourism on the environment and social welfare [12]. Specifically, in the case of Venice and Barcelona, the resident’s quality of life has been negatively affected by tourism activities; thus, residents are launching campaigns against tourism, which result in undesirable effects on the industry [13]. Thus, aside from the positive impact tourism activities have on local development, negative consequences have been documented in the literature, which make local support pivotal to tourism planning and development.

A conventional way to promote local support for tourism activities is to secure residents’ satisfaction, largely associated with quality of life, future development, and desire to live in the place [13]. Residents’ satisfaction is considered a consequence of tourism activities’ economic and social benefits. It is widely claimed that the community must have shared access to any tourism initiatives and be involved in the decision-making process regarding tourism development. This involvement positively influences the residents’ satisfaction and intention to participate in tourism activities [12]. Yet, some observations show that local residents are not usually involved in the decision-making and micro-management of tourism development (e.g., [14]). Furthermore, a lack of experience, resources, and interest would unfavorably impact successful entrepreneurial engagements [15]. Thus, some argue that residents are more likely to focus on the shared social benefits instead of the direct economic advantage of tourism development [16,17]. These social benefits may involve a sense of pride and self-actualization resulting from a tourism activity (e.g., hosting a sporting event) [18].

The relationship between attitude and support for tourism development by the residents has been exhaustively studied with the behavioral constructs of social exchange theory (SET) [19]. In SET, individuals share resources with the expectation of reciprocity [20]. SET demonstrates how individuals’ attitudes and behaviors interact with one another [21] and is considered one of the most influential management theories [22]. It is regarded as a convenient framework for investigating the different dimensions and directions of attitude among people (e.g., community members) [23,24,25]. Within the tourism domain, the SET framework is widely used to describe the relationship between the residents’ support for tourism, contributions to the community, and future tourism development. Contextually, SET explains the residents’ tendency to support tourism initiatives as they believe the benefits will outweigh the costs [26]. For instance, locals who have gained more benefits from tourism are more supportive of tourism development and would participate in an exchange interaction for value [27,28,29]. Gursoy et al. [30] emphasized that residents who view tourism activities as beneficial have more positive attitudes towards future tourism developments. These benefits include enhanced quality of living [31], increased job opportunities, and improved overall potential for the community [32]. Several works have extended SET and examined various factors as their theoretical framework in local support (see works of [16,33,34,35]). SET has been used in varied contexts, including leadership [36,37], education [38], and residents’ perceptions [39]. Various works in the domain literature utilize SET for local support; however, a significant criticism of SET is its lack of sufficient theoretical precision and limited utility. As argued by Cropanzano et al. [40], the characteristic of SET that strictly assumes positive support as an immediate consequence of the absence of a lack of support from the actors in the system may not be the case for all.

As SET suggests, social exchange will not occur if neither of the two individuals receives adequate rewards. The assessment of the benefits of the exchange is affected by an individual’s emotions, which SET fails to consider [41]. Furthermore, the emotions experienced in the exchange process affect the differing perception of the individual’s present and future interactions [42]. In tourism, there is an existing complex relationship between tourists and residents that SET fails to capture [41]. Hence, Woosnam and Norman [43] utilized Durkheim’s theoretical framework of emotional solidarity to measure the significance of residents’ attitudes towards tourism by developing an emotional solidarity scale. Concurrently, emotional solidarity has been adopted in the tourism literature to evaluate the level of familiarity or closeness between residents and tourists (e.g., [44,45,46]). Thus, a close examination of the attitude of residents towards local support for tourism development is of critical importance, especially in an emerging type of tourism (i.e., sports tourism). This relationship has already been established by Woosnam [47]. However, relying on emotional solidarity alone may pose a challenge in explaining the relationship between the residents’ emotional solidarity with their support for sports tourism and future development. Thus, Erul et al. [46] considered the supporting effect of the Big Five personality traits on the relationship between emotional solidarity and support for tourism development. As a result, a complete understanding of the residents’ attitude and level of support is achieved. However, no work has yet to integrate this effect of the Big Five personality traits into the local support for sports tourism.

The appeal of sports tourism significantly hinges on the participants’ interest in sports [48]. This unique characteristic makes it difficult for the residents to appreciate sports events hosted in their community since sports is an uncommon personal interest. Consequently, the need to understand the perspective and attitude of residents, both sports enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts, is deemed pivotal in the literature on sports tourism [49,50]. Thus, the main departure of this study is to integrate emotional solidarity and SET to gain a more in-depth understanding of the community-based perspective on future sports tourism development. This study aims to explore the influence of emotional solidarity on the residents’ support for sports tourism and future sports tourism development as an application of SET. In the context of economic and social benefits brought about by sports tourism, communities in developing economies have yet to recognize this potential [51]. The proposed integrative model is empirically tested in a community of a developing country (i.e., the Philippines) using partial least squares—structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM is one of the most popular methods to estimate complex models with various constructs and indicators in the structural paths without imposing distributional assumptions on the data [52]. It is now widely regarded as the most effective analytical tool for evaluating cause-effect models with latent variables. Following the application of PLS-SEM, the insights of the proposed model would inform the design of initiatives to enhance local support for sports tourism development.

The structure of the paper is as follows: Section 2 details the review of the related literature, while Section 3 highlights the development of the hypotheses. Section 4 demonstrates the methodology utilized in the study. Section 5 presents the results and their implications. Some policy insights are outlined in Section 6. It ends with concluding remarks, limitations, and future research directions in Section 7.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Impact of Sports Tourism

Tourism is a vigorously growing sector of the global economy and is directly linked to social and cultural changes in modern societies [53]. It effectively reduces poverty in some traditional communities because it diversifies income opportunities in addition to selling local products [54]. Well-developed local tourism could significantly contribute to the employment opportunities of the community and foster economic development by attracting tourists and establishing ties with investors, ensuring a continuous improvement of one’s community [55]. Advancements in transportation and communication technologies have amplified the globalization of tourism since the 20th century [56]. Due to increased investments in physical and human resources, tourism expansion contributes to economic growth, especially in developing countries. Tourism development brings about the development of other sectors, such as handcrafting, food processing, and agriculture, which contribute to the well-being of the entire community [57]. Despite its positive effects, the rapid growth of tourism development harms some social aspects, induces environmental damage, and generates a significant volume of waste [56]. Thus, environmental groups and organizations worldwide are encouraged to respond immediately to protect and preserve natural resources and cultural values [54]. As a result, tourism has prompted friction between younger people who interact with tourists regularly and older people who keep to themselves and maintain a conservative outlook. Nevertheless, as part of a feedback loop, Cardoso and Silva [58] emphasized that income generated from tourism activities positively affects the environment through the restoration and preservation of historical infrastructure and environmentally protected areas. Given its detrimental effects, a need to enhance tourism-related activities would be possible with strong policy reinforcement.

Within the tourism portfolio, sports tourism is an integral part of the industry, with the most apparent economic contribution and high-value products [59]. It has been highlighted as one of the relevant tourism sectors contributing to the economy on a global scale. It has been accounted for as an essential part of the income in the tourism sector [48]. Sports tourism is associated with a leisure trip wherein individuals temporarily leave their residences to participate in physical sporting activities, visits, or view attractions [60]. Many tourism industries combine sports to promote local culture, facilitate economic development, and attract customers [56]. An example of sports tourism activities is sports tours. With sports activities as their primary focus, sports tours are offered to common interest groups that organize tours to touring venues. Sports tourism tours can be self-guided or organized, depending on access, location, and nature [61]. Kurtzman [62] highlighted the characteristics of sports tourism (i.e., number of visitations). Tourism and sports are both characterized by seasonality [63]; thus, tourism managers regard sports tourism as a strategy to modify seasonal patterns of tourist demand [64,65]. Sports tourism has slowly gained significance in major cities and countries, and small towns have established specialized sports tourism agencies [66]. The popularity of sporting events can be attributed to the fact that they bring state, county, city, or municipality-level host communities important benefits depending on their size. Apparently, the economy and tourism are where sporting events have the most evident effects [59,67]. The economic benefits of sports tourism generally come from luring customers who will spend money and investors who participate in particular projects [59]. Commonly, it is associated with new employment opportunities for residents, generating an essential source of income and creating business opportunities in the locality [50]. Furthermore, it can serve as a platform for urban renewal, growth, and the development of new services [68]. On the other hand, communities can gain from hosting athletic events by increasing their visibility and image development [8,9]. At the same time, improving a community’s prominence and image creates an avenue to advertise the community as a desirable travel destination [66]. Consequent to the development of sports tourism, similar to other tourism types, shifts in moral and social norms and values have been linked to its social influence on the community [69].

2.2. Sports Tourism Development

According to Carneiro et al. [70], the growth of the tourism industry is intrinsically a political activity, and as a result, there is a perpetual conflict between various factors and interests. Hence, governments frequently integrate significant influence on the direction and rate of tourism development through public sector organizations [71]. Governments at all levels are taking a strong interest in developing the tourism industry in many destinations on the notion that it can spur economic growth and eradicate poverty [72]. While the positive impact of tourism is widely recognized, sports tourism development can also negatively affect tourism destinations, including their communities [73]. To ensure that various perspectives are addressed in the development process, it is crucial to understand sector-wide best practices [70].

Developed and developing countries have recently launched attempts to establish and popularize sports tourism. Sports events play a critical role in the growth of sports tourism [74]. These events bring forth increased tourism income for sports [75]. Events and relationships that result from people’s participation in a tourism event, whether to play or watch sports events, form the core of sports tourism [76]. The development of sports tourism has become an industry, an area of research focus, and an economic and social development strategy for many countries worldwide [69,74]. Sports tourism and events generally made a positive appeal to the countries in the Global South more recently, especially in developing economies [77,78].

Following its positive impact on the economy, sports tourism is constantly being used to restructure rural and urban local communities, which need regeneration in emerging economies [69,74,79]. In addition to the widely publicized economic impacts of sports tourism and event hosting, additional long-term benefits can be leveraged for the long-term sustainable development of the local economies [80]. For instance, sports tourism often leads to the escalation of infrastructure development and the creation of different sporting facilities and leisure activities [80]. The utility of tourism as a sustainable instrument against poverty depends on how well tourism development relates to the overall policies in terms of investment, economics, agriculture, energy, and the environment. In addition, sustainable tourism development depends on its integration with employment, its linkage with the agricultural and services sectors, and its role in stimulating infrastructures such as the construction of airports, roads, ports, railways, and other investments that can support economic value-adding activities [81].

2.3. Integration of Emotional Solidarity and Social Exchange Theory

Emerson [20] first presented SET as a sociological theory. It describes a two-sided rewarding process involving two or more social groupings [82]. When used within the tourism literature, SET describes an interaction between residents and tourists. If residents believe tourism has more rewards than costs, they will be more inclined to connect and exchange with tourists. This has been supported by Fredline [83], who emphasized that if locals feel that the benefits gained from hosting an event outweigh the costs, they will exhibit a supportive behavioral intention and have an optimistic attitude towards hosting events in the future. The residents act helpfully and have a good attitude toward organizing future events if they believe the advantages exceed the costs. Residents’ attitudes will change if they have a terrible experience, leading to a lack of support [84]. Alternatively, locals who find the exchange harmful would become unreceptive to the growth of the tourism industry [85].

Studies evaluating the opinions of locals have regularly used SET [39,85,86,87]. Despite its popularity, according to Cropanzano et al. [40], SET has limited utility in areas such as intergroup understanding and concern [88], trust in the government [89], and residents’ social and psychological empowerment because it lacks adequate theoretical accuracy. These results imply that non-economic benefits play a significant role in social interactions and affect locals’ perceptions of tourism. Another drawback to using SET in tourism research is that it has been primarily applied to study interactions between residents and the tourism industry or government factors, ignoring social exchange and its effects within a community [89,90,91]. Given these issues on hand, several scholars [82,88] support combining SET with other theoretical frameworks for a more comprehensive approach. Emotional solidarity is appropriate when evaluating feelings in social contact among community members and exchanging emotions that deepen social relationships [43,46]. Woosnam and Norman [43] assessed the emotional interactions between locals and tourists to a specific location using three variables from emotional solidarity: welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding. It is used as a result of other constructs such as shared ideas, shared behavior, and interaction, as well as a predictor of extra measures such as support for tourism development [92,93]. For instance, Woosnam [47] was the first to use emotional solidarity and its variables to anticipate how people would perceive the effects of tourism (as measured through the tourism impact attitude scale or TIAS).

3. Hypothesis Development

3.1. Welcoming Nature

The residents’ welcoming nature refers to the level of pride, vitality, and participation they offer to their community to help develop local tourism [43,94]. It is emphasized that residents’ receptiveness to the arrival of tourists in their community implies residents’ likelihood to appreciate the economic contributions from tourism. The residents’ welcoming nature is further reinforced when they have already reaped the rewards from their investment in tourism activities [47]. In sports tourism, positive acceptance of athletes through local participation is a significant indicator of the residents’ perception of sports tourism [95]. However, some studies find that the relationship between the residents’ welcoming nature and attitude towards sports tourism is insignificant (e.g., [47]). This weak influence may indicate a superficial interest of the residents in the tourists [47,96]. On the contrary, Lai and Hitchcock [94] have determined a significant relationship between the residents’ welcoming nature and their attitude towards tourism development. This suggests that society’s norms strongly drive this significant association (e.g., societal perception of the residents as accommodating hosts and tourists as guests) [73]. Following these contrasting views, the following hypothesis is established.

H1. 

Residents’ level of welcoming nature toward tourists directly affects their attitude toward sports tourism.

3.2. Sympathetic Understanding

The development of mutual understanding and connection between the residents and tourists is regarded as sympathetic understanding [36]. Among the three emotional solidarity factors, sympathetic understanding is considered the most influential, which explains how residents perceive the effects of tourism [47] and how residents and tourists view the world from each other’s perspective [44,93]. Considering the frequent use of shared facilities and amenities between locals and tourists, especially in sports tourism activities, most of them can claim that they have already achieved a good level of understanding [92]. With this kind of sympathy, residents can easily position their perspective on the detrimental social effects of tourism on their community, which has an insignificant impact on their attitude towards tourism, as found by Woosnam [92]. However, this weak relationship may be negligible when tourists express genuine interest in the local culture, heritage, and traditions [97]. This cross-cultural exchange benefit promotes the residents’ positive attitude towards tourism. Thus, this study hypothesizes that:

H2. 

Residents’ level of sympathetic understanding toward tourists directly affects their attitude toward sports tourism.

3.3. Emotional Closeness

Locals and visitors frequently share physical space in tourist destinations, including sports events. These cases blur the boundaries of physical space, leading to a certain degree of emotional closeness [43]. Emotional closeness refers to the possibility of emotional connection and established friendships between the residents and tourists [36,94]. Despite this emotional connection, Woosnam [47] and Li and Wan [98] found a weak influence of emotional closeness in predicting residents’ attitudes towards tourism. This insignificant relationship can also be reflected in how the friendship is forged. According to Woosnam [47], residents may find the connection established as fleeting and hurried, causing them not fully to recognize the contributions of tourism to the community. However, others also contend that the locals’ emotional closeness to the tourists depends on their interests and receptive perception [99], not on the amount of time spent on the interaction. Thus, a strong shared belief and interest supporting the experienced emotional connection are enough to confirm the significant influence of such connection on the residents’ attitude towards tourism [100]. In light of the justification mentioned above, this study hypothesizes:

H3. 

Residents’ emotional closeness toward tourists directly affects their attitude toward sports tourism.

3.4. Attitude towards Sports Tourism

The early introduction of the psychology of attitude involves the work of Eagly and Chaiken [101], which define attitude as “a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor and disfavor”. The positive influence of the residents’ attitude as an indicator of their level of acceptability and support of tourism has been emphasized in numerous studies (e.g., [102,103]). Erul et al. [46] explored the relationship between the three factors of emotional solidarity (i.e., welcoming nature, sympathetic understanding, and emotional closeness) and the residents’ attitudes to explain their behavioral intention to support tourism. Furthermore, they underscored the significance of considering the attitude of the residents in developing future tourism policies and strategies. Since sports activities are considered a niche market, a need to understand the attitude of non-sports enthusiast residents (i.e., a non-targeted market) is of critical importance [49,50]. Therefore, this study hypothesizes that:

H4. 

Residents’ attitudes toward sports tourism directly affect their support for sports tourism.

3.5. Support for Sports Tourism

Support for sports tourism development is crucial in implementing specific strategies with utmost benefits at a minimal cost [104]. Nunkoo and Smith [105] claimed that a complex relationship between residents’ trust and political trust could highly influence the willingness to support sports tourism. Hence, the success of sports tourism activities is commonly associated with residents’ support; thus, local authorities must consider the participation of residents in those activities [34]. Some agreements in the literature (e.g., [23,106]) indicated that a positive attitude toward tourism development would significantly increase the level of future tourism development. Along these lines, the benefits of sports tourism focus not only on the sport but also on the government and local communities (e.g., it improves the quality of life, raises employment opportunities, increases earnings, and enhances awareness to the public, among others) [31,32]. Davis et al. [27] suggest that residents’ support for community tourism businesses influences the perception of tourism on economic, environmental, social, and cultural impacts; hence, residents’ support for sports tourism has a significant connection to community contribution. Thus, this study hypothesizes that:

H5. 

Residents’ support for sports tourism directly affects future tourism development.

H6. 

Residents’ support for sports tourism directly affects their contributions to the community.

3.6. Contributions to the Community

Tourism has long been acknowledged as one of the world’s significant pillars for emerging nations [107]. Although the tourism industry is known for its broad scope, sports tourism is now rapidly growing in popularity in the sector [108]. It is instrumental in attracting local and international visitors and economically expanding local communities, regions, and countries [109]. In addition, Mamirkulova et al. [110] demonstrated that sports tourism activities positively impact human life perspectives (i.e., individual and family well-being, social and cultural activities, and leisure and entertainment). They make the residents more receptive to sports tourism-related activities. Thus, sports tourism encourages residents to engage and contribute more to other future tourism development [111]. Hence, this study hypothesizes that:

H7. 

Residents’ contribution to the community directly affects future tourism development.

3.7. Future Sports Tourism Development

Future sports tourism development refers to the initiatives initiated by local governments, tourists, sports enthusiasts, and other organizations that promote sports tourism. This initiative is commonly associated with the collaborative work of sports events organizers, the tourism sector, and other relevant stakeholders [112]. However, information on residents’ perceptions, their outlook on the impact of tourism activities, and their support for the development of the industry can significantly help inform the design of tourism plans and policies. When these information highlights are considered, the industry can help gain residents’ support for tourism and implement the sector’s sustainable growth [113]. Thus, future sport tourism development is associated with the benefits (i.e., social, physical, economic, and mental) it provides to residents, tourists, and other stakeholders.

3.8. The Big Five Personality Traits

Personality traits are features of an individual’s behavior that explain why people behave differently in comparable circumstances [114]. In the “Big Five personality traits” (Figure 1) of Fiske [115], the framework is composed of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Several scholars emphasize the relationship between Big Five personality traits and attitudes toward sports tourism [116]. For instance, Lakmali and Kajendra [117] claimed that neuroticism is a stable and enduring personality across various situations, specifically in a tourism context. Dedeoglu et al. [118] argue that tourists with a high level of neuroticism would likely be more anxious and have low self-esteem. In addition, Jani et al. [119] and Jani [120] infer that neurotic tourists feel more anxious and distressed about visiting a new location, therefore, tend to carry out extensive searches upon leaving. On the other hand, extraversion is attributed to an individual’s degree of engagement, being outgoing and assertive [111]. Faullant et al. [121] claim that extraversion significantly influences the joy and fear of emotional responses. For instance, in the tourism industry, extroverted travel agency sales representatives are more confident in ensuring tourists with their travel arrangements [122].

Unlike the personalities mentioned above, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness refer to the tourists’ perception of tourism destinations. Openness to experience, for instance, significantly influences the depth of tourist decision-making in calculating possible risks [123]. Openness to experience is an individual’s willingness to embrace new ideas, values, and feelings from others [124]. Residents and tourists can establish a connection by sharing the same interests and outlook. Moreover, engaging with someone kind, friendly, cooperative, and trustworthy in tourism destinations, including sports events, would promote a harmonious environment. Hence, Tan and Tang [125] deduce that a high level of agreeableness is a crucial predictor of pre-trip and tourism information references. However, this might not be the same when engaging with conscientious tourists. Tourists with low conscientiousness tend to be meticulous, particularly in planning travels. They tend to search for further information to assure memorable and good visits and somehow consider data collection as part of success [126]. Given the numerous works, this study hypothesizes that:

H8a. 

Personality traits moderate the relationship between residents’ level of welcoming nature towards tourists and their attitude toward sports tourism.

H8b. 

Personality traits moderate the relationship between residents’ level of sympathetic understanding towards tourists and their attitude toward sports tourism.

H8c. 

Personality traits moderate the relationship between residents’ emotional closeness towards tourists and their attitude toward sports tourism.

4. Methods

4.1. Sampling and Data Collection

The measurement items for each construct in this study were adopted from validated measures offered in previous works, as summarized in Appendix A. Welcoming nature (WN) has four measurement items, sympathetic understanding (SU) has four, emotional closeness (EC) has four, attitude towards sports tourism (ATST) has five, and support for sports tourism (SST) has eight, contributions to the community (CC) has six, and future sports tourism development (FSTD) has six measurement items. The study has a higher-order construct of Big Five personality traits (BFPT), with neuroticism (N) having five measurement items, extraversion (E) having five, openness to experience (OE) having five, agreeableness (A) having five, and conscientiousness (C) having five measurement items. The survey instrument was polished by academic experts who revised the wording to apply to the context of sports tourism. The survey instrument was also translated to the native dialect of the local residents (e.g., Visayan) to avoid linguistic misunderstanding. The data were obtained through a survey instrument that measures all the constructs using a 7-point Likert scale. The study surveyed the local residents of the city of Danao, Cebu, in the central Philippines, with results obtained through an online or face-to-face questionnaire completion. The survey instrument was distributed to around 1350 participants for four weeks, from 12 July 2022 until 12 August 2022. There were 1131 responses collected, 1048 of which were gathered personally with the help of the City Local Government Unit and the Tourism Office of Danao City, and 83 responses were gathered online via Google forms. The 127 responses had non-interactive responses and were subsequently removed. Of 1131, only 1004 were valid and used for the final analysis.

4.2. Case Environment

Cebu is one of the Philippines’ most popular tourist destinations, home to numerous well-known beaches, stunning marine life, mountains, and natural treasures. It is one of the country’s wealthiest cities, welcoming millions of foreign visitors each year. Cebu has established a reputation as a top destination for sports tourism after successfully hosting the annual Ironman 70.3 Philippines for over a decade and the Asia- Pacific Championship in 2016, drawing athletes and well-known sports figures worldwide. Danao City (shown in Figure 2), one of Cebu’s component cities, has recently elucidated tourism into sports-related activities, holding significant events such as mountain biking (i.e., PhilCycling National Mountain Bike Championships, Philippine National MTB XCO & Downhill Championships, Southeast Asian Games, Asian Mountain Bike Championship, and National Mountain Bike Championship), sky biking, cars show, rappelling, trail running, skateboarding, motor crossing, triathlon (i.e., National Age Group Triathlon), and leisure sports tourism (e.g., fun run, all-terrain vehicle, and airsoft). These sporting events are made possible by the availability of community sports facilities and venues such as mountain bike racing tracks, boardwalks, skating parks, motor-cross racetracks, and oval and leisure sports facilities (e.g., Danasan Eco Adventure Park). The essential components of Danao’s infrastructure that support tourism activities are likewise present, including accommodation, event venues, dining, entertainment and leisure facilities, seaports, roads and transport, waterways, shopping malls, and cultural and heritage sites. These tourism facilities support the community economy to run as smoothly as possible, allowing tourists to meet their needs. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, there has been a noticeable decrease in tourist arrivals and receipts. For Cebu’s tourism industry to flourish again, all sectors that support its growth must work closely together to promote tourism-related industries, including nature-based tourism, food and gastronomy, heritage and culture, farm and agri-tourism, health and wellness, arts, and sports tourism. As sports tourism in Danao starts to bounce back after the lockdowns, understanding the factors that promote local support for future sports tourism development is instrumental for sustainable sectoral growth.

4.3. Profile of the Respondents

In this study, the respondents are mostly 18–24 years old (23.3%), high school graduates (25.6%) female (61.4%). The majority of the respondents have been residing in the area for three years onwards (93.3%), which are public servants (45.2%) and neither public servants nor local entrepreneurs (31.4%). The summary of the profile of the respondents is presented in

Table 1. Profile of the respondent’s results.

Category		n	%	Category		n	%
Age
	18–24 years old	234	23.3		Master’s level with units	13	1.3
	24–34 years old	215	21.4		Master’s degree	10	1.0
	35–44 years old	223	22.2		Doctorate level with units	1	0.1
	45–54 years old	173	17.2		Doctorate degree	1	0.1
	55–64 years old	82	8.2
	65 years old and above	77	7.7
Sex				Total number of years in residency
	Male	388	38.6		Less than 6 months	11	1.1
	Female	616	61.4		7–12 months	33	3.3
Educational attainment					2–3 years	23	2.3
	Elementary level	54	5.4		3 years onwards	937	93.3
	Elementary graduate	105	10.5	Occupation
	High school level	168	16.7		Public servant	454	45.2
	High school graduate	257	25.6		Local entrepreneurs	235	23.4
	College level	216	21.5		Neither a public servant nor local entrepreneurs	315	31.4
	College graduate	179	17.8

.

4.4. Data Analysis Results

Using PLS-SEM path modeling, the direct relationships between the exogenous and endogenous constructs, as well as the moderating effect of the Big Five personality trait, were investigated in this study. PLS-based SEM provides a more robust and complete statistical method for determining structural models in high-complex domains [127]. It is appropriate for complex models, small sample sizes, non-normally distributed data, formative measures, and predictive and exploratory analyses [128]. The SmartPLS software, version 3.3.9 (Oststeinbek, Germany), was used in this study. Since the proposed model has one higher-order construct, the data was analyzed using the two-stage approach introduced by Anderson and Gerbing [129].

4.5. Measurement Model Assessment

The PLS analysis allows for the parallel testing of the outer measurement model and the inner structural model, as well as the presence of both reflective and formative latent variables [130]. Since the proposed model in this study includes reflective measures, the first criterion in evaluating the model is to examine the measures’ reliability and validity [128]. The results of the measurement model assessment show that all indicators were convergent and reliable, as presented in

Table 2. Measurement model assessment results.

	Loadings	AVE	α	CR		Loadings	AVE	α	CR
WN1	0.776	0.548	0.725	0.829	FSTD1	0.707	0.522	0.817	0.868
WN2	0.726				FSTD2	0.724
WN3	0.718				FSTD3	0.71
WN4	0.74				FSTD4	0.738
SU1	0.704	0.57	0.625	0.799	FSTD5	0.712
SU2	0.754				FSTD6	0.744
SU3	0.805				A1	0.671	0.486	0.736	0.825
EC1	0.76	0.572	0.751	0.843	A2	0.719
EC2	0.736				A3	0.689
EC3	0.764				A4	0.69
EC4	0.765				A5	0.715
ATST1	0.774	0.463	0.606	0.769	C1	0.681	0.466	0.714	0.814
ATST2	0.55				C2	0.703
ATST3	0.542				C3	0.626
ATST4	0.81				C4	0.703
SST1	0.719	0.494	0.854	0.887	C5	0.699
SST2	0.691				E1	0.79	0.492	0.742	0.827
SST3	0.698				E2	0.634
SST4	0.705				E3	0.592
SST5	0.717				E4	0.747
SST6	0.695				E5	0.725
SST7	0.695				N1	0.741	0.478	0.72	0.816
SST8	0.705				N2	0.782
CC1	0.719	0.496	0.797	0.855	N3	0.741
CC2	0.682				N5	0.74
CC3	0.662				OE1	0.695	0.476	0.725	0.819
CC4	0.739				OE2	0.685
CC5	0.718				OE3	0.7
CC6	0.703				OE4	0.656
					OE5	0.712

Note: α = Cronbach’s alpha; CR = composite reliability; AVE = average variance extracted; WN = welcoming nature; SU = sympathetic understanding; EC = emotional closeness; ATST = attitude towards sports tourism; SST = support for sports tourism; CC = contributions to community; FSTD = future sports tourism development; A = agreeableness; C = conscientiousness; E = extraversion; N = neuroticism; OE = openness to experience.

. The acceptable factor loading for each item was set at 0.50. Outer loading above 0.50 is acceptable, and the factor with a loading value of less than 0.50 should be removed [131]. Three item indicators (i.e., ATST5, SU4, and N4) were removed after calculations through the SmartPLS algorithm until all the item indicators reached the threshold value of 0.50. There were 62 measurement indicators for the final analysis. In this study, we set the threshold value at 0.40. The threshold value of 0.40 is considered acceptable when the average variance extracted (AVE) value is less than 0.50, the composite reliability is higher than 0.6, and the convergent validity of the construct is acceptable [132]. All constructs have the appropriate convergent validity ranging from 0.463 to 0.572. Furthermore, the measurement items are all reliable, with all the constructs satisfying Cronbach’s alpha (α) threshold value of 0.60, which is considered to have acceptable reliability and an acceptable index [133,134], and composite reliability (CR) threshold value of 0.70 [128]. The Cronbach’s alpha ranges from 0.606 to 0.854, while the CR values range from 0.714 to 0.887. These results indicate high-reliability values.

The AVE of the constructs that support discriminant validity is higher than the squared correlation of each latent variable [132]. In

Table 3. Fornell and Larcker results.

	ATST	CC	EC	FSTD	SST	SU	WN
ATST	0.68
CC	0.538	0.704
EC	0.492	0.594	0.757
FSTD	0.593	0.765	0.546	0.722
SST	0.688	0.672	0.504	0.768	0.703
SU	0.478	0.583	0.667	0.528	0.485	0.755
WN	0.615	0.608	0.56	0.637	0.696	0.548	0.741

Note: square root of AVE is shown on the diagonal of the matrix in bold; inter-construct correlation is shown off the diagonal.

, the square roots of the AVE are bolded, while non-bolded values represent the intercorrelation values between constructs. All off-diagonal values are less than AVE’s square roots, which show that Fornell and Larker’s condition is met.

In this study, the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) is 0.052, and the threshold standard acceptable fit value is 0.08. The normed fit index (NFI) value is 0.797, reflecting a moderately reasonable and acceptable value. The research model fitness demonstrates an acceptable fit.

4.6. Structural Model

This study examines the predictive power of the model’s endogenous variables [135]. The strength of path coefficients, R² values (prediction power) and f² (effect size), is the main criterion for evaluating the structural model using PLS-SEM [128]. All hypotheses (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7) were supported. These are summarized in

Table 4. Path coefficient results.

	β	t Values	p Values	Decision
H1: Welcoming nature → Attitude towards sports tourism	0.463	11.381	<0.001	Supported
H2: Sympathetic understanding → Attitude towards sports tourism	0.123	3.376	0.001	Supported
H3: Emotional closeness → Attitude towards sports tourism	0.151	3.76	<0.001	Supported
H4: Attitude towards sports tourism → Support for sports tourism	0.688	20.607	<0.001	Supported
H5: Support for sports tourism → Contributions to the community	0.672	27.478	<0.001	Supported
H6: Contributions to community → Future sports tourism development	0.453	13.548	<0.001	Supported
H7: Support for sports tourism → Future sports tourism development	0.464	13.857	<0.001	Supported

(Figure 3). The acceptable R² of 0.75, 0.50, and 0.25 correspond, respectively, to substantial, moderate, and modest levels of prediction accuracy [136,137]. In this study, the R² provides the predictive accuracy of the structural model, as shown in Figure 3. FSTD is explained with the highest variance, having an R² value of 0.703 (70%). Furthermore, ATST, SST and CC have a moderate prediction accuracy with 0.417 (41%), 0.473 (47%), and CC 0.452 (45%), respectively.

Using the PLS algorithm, the effect size (f²) values were estimated, indicating 0.02 (minor), 0.15 (medium), and 0.35 (substantial) effect on the relationship between exogenous and endogenous constructs [128]. Furthermore, a value less than 0.02 implies no effect of exogenous constructs on an endogenous construct. In this study, the f² results show that ATST substantially affects SST (f² = 0.898). On the other hand, SST substantially affects CC (f² = 0.825) and FSTD (f² = 0.397). The effect of CC on FSTD is substantial (f² = 0.379). Among all the constructs, ATST garnered a medium effect from WN (f² = 0.232), a minor effect from EC (f² = 0.019), and SU (f² = 0.013). These results are consistent with other findings of the study.

4.6.1. Mediating Effect

The mediating relationships in the structural model are shown in

Table 5. Mediating effect results.

	Total Effects	Indirect Effect
	β	β	p Value	VAF	Mediation
SST → CC → FSTD	0.768	0.305	<0.001	0.397	Partial mediation

Note: VAF = variance accounted for.

(Figure 3). Hair et al. [52] recommended the approach of Preacher and Hayes [138,139] in identifying the mediating effect. The results show that CC has a complementary partial mediating effect on the relationship between SST and FSTD (β = 0.305, p < 0.001) with a Variance Accounted For (VAF) value of 0.397.

4.6.2. Moderating Effect

The moderating variable in this study is the higher-order construct of Big Five personality traits. A two-stage approach was utilized to analyze the data [129]. Specifically, the study used a disjoint two-stage approach where the lower-order components of the higher-order construct in the path model are only examined, ignoring higher-order components [135]. In performing the disjoint two-stage approach in stage one, the latent variable scores were saved, but only those of the lower-order components. In stage two, the scores were used to measure the higher-order construct. As in stage one, the other constructs in the path model were estimated using standard multi-item measures [140]. The details of the moderating relationships investigated in this study are shown in

Table 6. Moderating effect results.

	β	t Values	p Values	Decision
H8a: WN × BFPT → ATST	0.006	0.123	0.902 ns	Not supported
H8b: SU × BFPT → ATST	−0.055	1.155	0.248 ns	Not supported
H8c: EC × BFPT → ATST	0.05	1.097	0.273 ns	Not supported

Note: ^ns = not significant.

and Figure 4. The moderating effect of BFPT yields no significant result on the relationship between WN and ATST (β = 0.006; p = 0.902), between SU and ATST (β = −0.055; p = 0.248), and between (β = 0.05; p = 0.273). With this, BFPT does not strengthen the hypothesized relationships.

4.6.3. Multigroup Analysis

As a post-hoc analysis, we performed a multigroup analysis in the SmartPLS algorithm to determine the pre-defined data groups (i.e., types of residents) that may exhibit significant differences in their support for sports tourism and its future development. The multigroup analysis assesses whether two or more variables have the same or different impact across groups [141]. In this study, the Welch-Satterthwait test was used. We examined the differences in the model across three subsamples formed by combining pairwise the categories from each of the three types of residents (i.e., public servants, local entrepreneurs, and general residents). Differences have been observed on specific paths between subgroups, as bolded and summarized in

Table 7. Multigroup analysis results.

	Public Servant vs. Entrepreneurs			Public Servant vs. Residents			Entrepreneurs vs. Residents
	Path Coefficients-Diff	t Values	p Values	Path Coefficients-Diff	t Values	p Values	Path Coefficients-Diff	t Values	p Values
ATST → SST	−0.027	0.400	0.690	−0.162	3.212	0.001	−0.135	2.352	0.019
CC → FSTD	0.043	0.532	0.595	0.045	0.584	0.560	0.002	0.024	0.981
EC*BFPT → ATST	−0.098	0.776	0.438	−0.022	0.216	0.829	0.077	0.604	0.546
EC → ATST	−0.023	0.229	0.819	−0.12	1.292	0.197	−0.097	0.924	0.356
SU*BFPT → ATST	−0.011	0.087	0.931	−0.122	1.053	0.293	−0.111	0.82	0.413
SST → CC	−0.102	1.558	0.120	−0.229	3.687	0.000	−0.127	2.244	0.026
SST → FSTD	−0.025	0.324	0.746	−0.089	1.166	0.245	−0.064	0.704	0.482
SU → ATST	0.217	2.343	0.020	0.318	3.883	0.000	0.101	0.981	0.328
WN*BFPT → ATST	0.188	1.678	0.094	0.192	1.670	0.096	0.004	0.036	0.972
WN → ATST	0.096	1.054	0.293	−0.145	1.570	0.117	−0.240	2.375	0.018

Note: bolded figures denote significant differences on specific paths between any two corresponding subgroups.

.

5. Discussion

This study examines the proposed structural model that explains future sports tourism development, with theoretical relationships of emotional solidarity construct (i.e., welcoming nature, sympathetic understanding, emotional closeness), attitude towards sports tourism, support for sports tourism, and the mediating role of contributions to the community. In addition, it investigates the moderating effect of personality traits using the Big Five personality traits, specifically agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and extraversion. The proposed structural model evaluates the residents’ support for sports tourism and its development in the future, grounded by the works in the literature through the lens of emotional solidarity and the SET. Given that SET provides little possibility for a more intimate interaction between the participants as frameworks such as emotional solidarity can provide [97], combining emotional solidarity in modeling local support bridges current gaps in the literature. The multigroup analysis provides further insights for sports tourism managers and policymakers by identifying the differences in perspectives on the hypothesized paths among pre-defined groups. Few works in the literature domain investigate these constructs, and the proposed model offers a relatively new perspective on how emotional solidarity augments SET in modeling local support for tourism development, especially in sports tourism being an emerging sector. Conceptually, this work effectively investigates the impact of emotional solidarity in increasing the relevance of SET.

The path coefficients reflected in Table 4 show that all the hypotheses (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7) were supported. The significant effect of emotional solidarity construct on attitude toward sports tourism (i.e., H1, H2, H3) supports the insights of Hasani et al. [44] and Woosnam [47], although Woosnam [47] only finds welcoming nature and sympathetic understanding as antecedents of attitude. Further implications of the results are elucidated in the subsequent discussions. The study finds a significant effect of WN on ATST (H1), similar to the work of Lai and Hitchcock [94]. This implies that residents’ receptiveness to possible changes in their community as a consequence of sports tourism would lead to a positive perspective on related activities. Moreover, SU to ATST (H2) is supported to have a significant relationship. Such a finding is similar to the findings of Woosnam and Aleshinloye [97], wherein the residents’ positive attitudes toward organizing sports events stem from their willingness to understand the tourists’ sports interests. Meanwhile, EC to ATST (H3) has a significant relationship [44]. Based on their previous positive interactions with tourists, residents would likely believe they will have the same experience as sports tourists. ATST to SST (H4) is also aligned with the findings of Erul et al. [46]. Residents’ awareness of the benefits of sports tourism (e.g., economic and social) in their community may result in their willingness to support sporting events. In addition, sports events are seasonal and attract a niche market (common interest groups) which may eventually limit the adverse impacts of tourism in the community. The SST of residents directly affects CC (H5), which supports the claim of Khalid et al. [142]. Residents’ complete understanding of the significance of sports tourism may result in a positive perception of the opportunities brought about by sports tourism development (e.g., recreational, infrastructural), particularly in improving their quality of life, public service, and overall well-being. Moreover, the relationship of CC to FSTD (H6) is supported in this study, consistent with the work of Erul et al. [46], which is a direct implication of SET. The residents’ knowledge of the contribution of sports tourism outweighs the costs resulting from their support of FSTD. Residents become receptive to FSTD as they become more aware of the progress that positively impacts them or their families from economically and socially organizing sports tourism. Lastly, the relationship between the residents’ SST and FSTD is supported (H7), strengthening the claim of Erul et al. [46]. The residents understood that their participation and proactive involvement in sports tourism activities could eventually contribute to the sound decisions of the policymakers. The Big Five personality traits were found to have no moderating effect on WN to ATST, SU to ATST, and EC to ATST. This indicates that the residents’ personality does not affect the influence of WN, SU, and EC on ATST. The residents’ behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns (i.e., choices and preferences) have a negligible bearing on the residents’ perception of supporting sports tourism. Non-sports enthusiast residents, for example, may positively support sports tourism and its development for the overall progress of the community. Overall, these findings of the model suggest that locals who are open to tourists and feel connected to them not only have positive attitudes about tourism and a higher degree of support for tourism development, but they also appreciate the benefits that tourism offers to the local community [47].

The MGA results show a significant difference between the public servants and the local entrepreneurs in their SU towards their ATST (β = 0.217). The result also partially supports the difference between WN to ATST as moderated by BFPT (β = 0.188). As a result, the public servants identified themselves more with the sports tourists and extended more effort into accommodating them. This may be attributed to the nature of their work in the community. In addition, public servants have more appreciation of the contribution of sports tourists to the local economy than local entrepreneurs. This is also similar to the results between public servants and residents, where the WN to ATST of the public servant is also higher compared to the residents as moderated by BFPT. Furthermore, public servants are more involved in the decision-making process regarding tourism development. Between the public servant and the residents, the result supports that there is a significant difference in their relationship of ATST to SST (β = −0.162), SST to CC (β = −0.229), and SU to ATST (β = 0.318). It also partially supports the difference in their WN to ATST moderated by BFPT (β = 0.192). Between the public servant and residents, the resident projects higher ATST to SST with their belief that sports tourism could provide further community growth. Local residents also project more SST to CC with the enjoyment and prestige brought about by organizing sports events that enhance their sense of belongingness in the community. The residents have higher WN to ATST as moderated by BFPT, highlighting that personality traits (e.g., sports enthusiasts) affect the appreciation and support for sports tourism. Between local entrepreneurs and residents, the residents have higher ATST to SST (β = −0.135), which could be attributed to the level of their understanding of the relevance of sports events in the community (e.g., economic) since they have more access to social information and activities. Meanwhile, local entrepreneurs are more focused on their business operations. Furthermore, local entrepreneurs and residents have a different view of SST to CC (β = −0.127), with residents having a higher perception of CC due to their higher degree of involvement with more potential benefits gained from sports events (e.g., economic and social). Overall, not all local entrepreneurs could participate in sports events, which may be attributed to the nature of their business. Moreover, the residents have higher direct WN to ATST (β = −0.24). Thus, residents have more appreciation and sense of community pride with the offering of sports tourism that highlights their locality than local entrepreneurs. This may imply that not all local entrepreneurs directly benefit economically from sports events.

6. Policy Insights

This study’s findings offer insights into the design of policies relevant to sports tourism development. Based on these findings, policymakers and sports tourism managers should focus on the sources influencing the residents’ attitudes and support for sports tourism. In this regard, we focus on the factors of emotional solidarity construct (i.e., welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding) as the antecedents of residents’ attitudes. These specific insights are presented in different themes that could be utilized by other communities’ sports tourism development agendas.

With the significance of the welcoming nature of residents in improving their view on support for future sports tourism development, policymakers may design programs that encourage residents to be more receptive to sports tourists. First, they may provide incentives to local entrepreneurs, such as offering discounts on permits and tax incentives for their promotion and active participation in sports events (e.g., sponsorship, member of the organizing committee). It would encourage them to be more involved in sports events and invest in promotional activities. Second, policymakers may also provide financial incentives to local sports organizers (i.e., village organizers, local organizations, or associations) to be more active in organizing exciting and inviting sports events. Third, the local government may integrate organized local tours in strategic tourist areas in the community within the sports event schedule designed to immerse sports tourists in the local culture. For example, the case environment can highlight pottery making, keseo, pinatapi or tapa making, learning about the Karansa festival, and visiting tourist spots. It would boost the residents’ pride in their locality while the tourists feel the locality’s hospitality.

As sympathetic understanding encourages mutual understanding between residents and tourists, the local government may encourage entrepreneurs to sell local products such as delicacies and traditional handicrafts at sports events at discounted charges. It would promote micro- to small-sized businesses to support sports tourism events. They may also offer price incentives to residents who participate in sports events (i.e., creating a separate category for the locals, giving discounts, and offering perks). This would give locals more access to the activities and a better understanding of the sports. For non-sports enthusiast residents, other sports-related activity options may be created for them to feel involved. The government may initiate information drives to educate the locals on the benefits of sports and sports tourism in the community, such as through e-marketing, social media, and other platforms. It may develop an evaluation and monitoring system in the community (before, during, and after sports events) to assess the perceptions of the residents and tourists regarding sports services and product delivery. Such a platform may serve as a basis for future planning and development of sports tourism.

To promote emotional closeness, the local government may also design recognition programs for locals, either public servants, entrepreneurs, or the general community, who delivered quality service and offered excellent products during sports events to boost their morale and to look forward to providing better service in the future. It may also promote local participation through assigning relevant roles to residents during sports events, including peace and order, aid in traffic flow, tourist assistance desk, tour guides, and membership in organizing committees. Cultural integration of sports may be encouraged through events in the community, which will require organizers to embed the local culture. For instance, Karansa cycling in Danao City may be organized that would highlight the traditional Karansa dance during the event. This initiative may revive the declining local industry, encouraging more opportunities for social interactions between residents and tourists. The local government may require organizers to hold pre-event orientation to sports tourists and participants on local culture and customs, as well as relevant local policies to catalyze positive relationships.

To strengthen community contribution, employment opportunities and incentives may be offered to local micro-businesses and start-ups relating to sports. This would generate revenues and taxes for investments in infrastructure. The community may organize sports events for a cause (i.e., run for a cause for residents with cancer) targeting a specific marginalized sector in the community by allocating a certain percentage of the proceeds based on agreements. Local teams may be organized on particular sports to encourage residents who are sports enthusiasts via the social interactions that they would eventually form. Recreational facilities may be developed to promote the residents’ interest in sports and an active lifestyle. The government may support the maintenance of existing sports facilities (e.g., sports complexes, swimming pools, and gyms) and provide a safe environment for sports activities, such as safe cycling lanes and proper venues for motor cross, among others.

7. Conclusions and Future Works

Despite the popularity of SET in evaluating local support for tourism development, some of its drawbacks hinder its application. The current literature explores the role of emotional solidarity in augmenting the relevance of SET. However, identifying possible antecedents of locals’ attitudes, given their support for tourism development within the SET framework, remains a gap. This work offers two contributions. First, it proposes an integration of emotional solidarity constructs and SET in modeling local support. Second, it examines the antecedents of local support in sports tourism. In the proposed model, the three variables of emotional solidarity, namely, welcoming nature (WN), sympathetic understanding (SU), and emotional closeness (EC), are considered antecedents of local attitudes within SET. Their relationships were hypothesized to be moderated by the Big Five personality traits (BFPT) (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). Furthermore, the relationship between residents’ attitudes (ATST) and support (SST) towards sports tourism is also explored. Meanwhile, the social exchange integrated from SET is characterized by the relationship among SST, community contributions (CC), and future sports tourism development (FSTD). A mediating effect of CC between SST and FSTD is also considered. With PLS-SEM, the proposed integrated model is empirically tested in a case study of 1004 participants.

Using the SmartPLS algorithm, the following relationships are significantly supported. First, the emotional solidarity constructs, including welcoming nature, sympathetic understanding, and emotional closeness, are found to affect the attitude of residents in their support of sports tourism. It implies that the emotional bonds resulting from shared beliefs, engagement in similar activities, and interactions between sports tourists and locals during sporting events have an important role in residents’ view of sports tourism. This finding supports those in the literature. Secondly, residents’ support can be predicted by their attitude or view on sports tourism, and such support could be directly translated into the provision of future development agenda. As such, the optimistic view of residents on sports tourism would likely increase their support and future needed support. Third, a partial mediating effect of community contribution on the relationship between support of sports tourism and future sports tourism development is observed in this study. This finding effectively supports the provision of SET, which suggests that the degree of residents’ view of future development initiatives is influenced by their perception of the contributions they or their community obtains from those initiatives. Fourth, the study finds no moderating effect of Big Five personality traits on the relationship between emotional solidarity constructs and residents’ views on sports tourism. It indicates that the emotional interactions between sports tourists and locals are independent of their personality traits. Lastly, the degrees of the factors that predict future sports tourism development are likely dependent on the groups among local residents. In this study, the three groups comprising public servants, local entrepreneurs, and residents have differing views on how they support future development agendas. Based on these findings, the following policy insights are developed: (a) incentive programs for local entrepreneurs, sports organizers, and residents, (b) cultural integration to sports events, (c) dissemination initiatives of relevant event information, and (d) infrastructure support.

Some limitations are particularly obvious. First, the study focuses on assessing the residents’ attitude toward sports tourism and future sports tourism development in Danao City, central Philippines, with the same conditions as in other developing countries. Future cross-sectional studies may replicate the same agenda in other regions to establish the theoretical insights identified in this work. A replicate survey with a larger and more geographically varied sample is warranted for future work. Second, the study only focuses on sports tourism and its development, not the entire tourism sector. The role of emotional solidarity within the SET framework may be examined in other tourism sectors. Third, the residents (i.e., being the primary study participants) were not screened according to the years they have lived in the community. Future work may evaluate the moderating role of the length of residency in our hypothesized model. Finally, an investigation of the residents’ support using other theoretical frameworks could also be undertaken.