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Harnessing the power of football: safety-risk perceptions of sport tourists at the 2013 FIFA Confederations CupTM in Brazil

Commissioned to host the 2014 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World CupTM tournament, Brazil was given access to a global platform which holds the power to stimulate considerable levels of tourism value. However, tourist anxiety surrounding safety and security raised questions as to whether the event could successfully achieve the host nation's diverse set of underpinned socioeconomic objectives. As a benchmark of success in this regard, Brazil was first set to host the 2013 FIFA Confederations CupTM, a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World CupTM tournament. This article investigates the constructs found to manage sport tourists' safety-risk perceptions; and examines how the interrelationships amongst these constructs can positively influence sport tourists' repeat visitation intentions as a practice that drives tourism growth. First, a mediation model regarding the interrelationships between safety-risk perception, satisfaction, and repeat visitation was synthesised from sport tourism literature. Following this, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 187 domestic and international sport tourists attending the 2013 FIFA Confederations CupTM in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The results provided support for the mediation model, whereby tourists' decreased safety-risk perceptions directly and indirectly improved tourists' propensity to return to the host destination, with event satisfaction occupying a mediating role. Managerial implications propose that it is the responsibility of the event stakeholders to shift any short-term speculative investment in the safety and security improvements of the host destination, to investment that is more long term and sustainable in nature. In response, tourists are expected to demonstrate a greater propensity to return to the host destination, serving as a core stimulant of future tourism value.