Sport, Tourism and National Identities

Book excerpt: The role of both sport and tourism in the (re)creation and (re)presentation of national identities is well established, yet relatively little work has critically explored the inter-relationship between sport, tourism and the creation and maintenance of national identities. Despite the advances of globalization, the nation continues to be an important part of both sport and tourism discourse and offers fertile ground for the exploration of identities in postmodern society. The chapters in this collection consider the significance of important sports events and how this is understood in relation to the collective identities of some countries. Authors outline some of the ways in which the nation matters, and consider how and why national identities are important in contemporary sport tourism. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Sport & Tourism.