PhD, Associate Professor T.I. Okonnikova¹
Dr.Sc. Hist., Professor G.V. Merzlyakova¹
PhD, Associate Professor L.V. Batalova^1
1Udmurt State University, Izhevsk

Objective of the study was to analyze the potential benefits of the Izhevsk Rifle Biathlon for the sports event tourism sector and its modernization options to lure the flow of visitors.
Methods and structure of the study. The study was designed to include the following stages. Stage 1 included a questionnaire survey of supporters who visited the 49th Izhevsk Rifle Biathlon competitions in December 26-29, 2018. We surveyed 150 out of 800 supporters (18.75% of the total) to find 66.6% of Izhevsk residents and 33.4% visitors from other regions. Furthermore, 55.34% of the sample were reportedly newcomers to the event; 26% regular fans; and 18.66% occasional visitors. Stage 2 was designed to interview the leading biathletes and sport experts (n=11). One of the questions was on what should be done to promote the Izhevsk Rifle Biathlon event and make it an attraction for the sports event tourism sector. And Stage 3 offered a survey of the sports event tourism expert team from the Udmurt Republic (n=7) on what should be done to encourage a tourist flow to the Izhevsk Rifle Biathlon.
Results and conclusion. Our survey of three key stakeholder groups found that the Izhevsk Rifle Biathlon competitions may facilitate progress of the sports event tourism in the area conditional on the A.M. Demidov Republican Shooting Sports Complex rehabilitation project to make it compliant with the international standards and meet the needs of competitors, supporters, referees and journalists for modern services, including new international terminal at the Izhevsk airport.

Keywords: Izhevsk Rifle Biathlon, sports event tourism, Udmurt Republic, supporters, athletes, sports expert, tourism business expert.

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