Objective - This study aims to construct a model for the willingness to develop sports tourism, using the factors of place attachment, the impact of sports tourism, attitude and willingness to develop sports tourism.

Methodology/Technique - The study gathers data via questionnaires. Following this, purposive sampling is used to distribute the questionnaires and the collected data is analysed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model.

Findings - Once the aforementioned analysis is conducted, the following conclusions were drawn. First, the model construction fits well. Second, the factor of place attachment has a significant positive influence on the perceived impact of sports tourism. Both the positive perception of sports tourism and the attitude for developing sports tourism have a positive impact on willingness to develop sports tourism. Contrary to this, negative perceptions of sports tourism have a negative impact on the attitude to develop sports tourism, although it has no significant impact on the willingness to develop sports tourism.

Novelty - This study demonstrates that the higher the degree of place attachment associated with the inhabitants of Taiwan, the greater recognition there is of the impact of sports tourism. The most important finding of this study is that this positive impact enhances the attitude and willingness of inhabitants to develop sports tourism. The study also develops some practical strategies based on the study results.

Type of Paper: Empirical

Keywords: Place Attachment; Willingness; Sports Tourism; Tourism Impact.

JEL Classification: Z30, Z39.