Abstract

Given the increasing scarcity of public funds, measures to allocate public money efficiently are becoming more and more important. Since most public funds in the sports sector are spent on the construction and operation of sports facilities, strategies to reallocate public money more efficiently, particularly in the recreational sports facility sector, are auspicious for all public authorities. Efficiency could be improved by increasing the number of people practising sport, for example, via facilitating access to public sports facilities. In this regard, sports managers need to know about the degree of demand sensitivity to the distance or time involved in travelling to sports facilities. Therefore, this chapter is focused on the analysis of sport consumers' travel time sensitivity. Based on survey data from Cologne and Stuttgart in Germany the authors found significant differences in travel time sensitivity for different sports and between the cities. Their findings suggest that, with the objective of increasing efficiency, one could consider a more centralized sports facility allocation for sports with less travel time elastic consumers such as apparatus gymnastics, dancing and fitness. On the contrary, a more decentralized allocation of handball gyms and swimming pools might actually increase efficiency through an increased number of consumers. Verf.-Referat