(Department of Physical Education,Beijing Education Institute,Beijing 100009,China) Abstract: The author investigated the current state of participation in sports tourism by different age groups in 6 cities and provinces in China, and revealed the following findings: the need, motive and consumption standard of different age groups for sport tourism are significantly different; the groups of people at the age of 16-20, 21-25 and over 70 prefer traveling without the arrangement of an travel agency; in terms of the selection of travel companies, the first choice of all other groups of people, except the groups of people at the age of 16-20, 21-25 and 26-30 (whose first choice is hoping to travel together with good friends), is hoping to travel together with family members; younger people like camping, swimming, skiing, drifting, forest exploring, diving, rock climbing and gliding, while elder people prefer sports tourism activities such as fishing, national sports and hiking; as for main motive, it is having fun for children, seeking thrills for youngsters, having leisure relaxation for the meddle aged, and keeping fit for the elderly; the knowledge about sports tourism of the groups of people at the age of 16-20, 21-25 and 26-30 is significantly sharper than that of other groups of people; all groups of people mostly spend over 200 Yuan or 5-100 Yuan on sports tourism. Key words: sports tourism;different age groups;sports consumption |