Publication Details
Abstract
A sport tourism resource, when deployed in the process of delivering sport tourism services, yields a defined economic and social effect. However, the output of each resource in the sport tourism sector is bounded and is characterised by its finiteness. This article provides a scientific examination of the essence and the theoretical–methodological foundations of sport tourism resources. Drawing on scientific analysis, a comparative approach, survey data and the study of statistical sources, the paper classifies sport tourism resources into five interrelated categories—natural, infrastructural, financial, technological and labour resources—and evaluates their role in the sustainable development of sport tourism in the mountainous regions of Uzbekistan. Using the Omonqo‘ton (Amankutan) area of the Urgut district, Samarkand region, as a case study, the study assesses the territory’s potential for establishing a sustainable sport tourism zone. The results indicate that the country’s national nature parks alone hold a development potential of more than 213,000 hectares, and that several mountain districts of the Samarkand region possess a high capacity to form sustainable sport tourism zones. The study concludes that the rational, balanced and complementary use of an integrated resource base is the principal precondition for the efficient and sustainable development of sport tourism.