ABSTRACT
The concept of carrying capacity suggests that there is a maximum capacity for a tourism destination or facility before negative impacts starts to appear. Cooper et al. (2007) define carrying capacity as central to the concept of sustainability, thereby being able to absorb tourism without any deterioration of the elements that constitute the tourism project. As more sport tourism destinations are entertaining the notion of holding sports events, perhaps the time has come to articulate a carrying capacity measurement for such events. This is not just from the physical infrastructure or the natural environment standpoint, but also from the triple bottom line equation (TBL) to encompass people, planet and profit (Dwyer 2005). The triple bottom line model has become paramount because of the recognition of considering the environment and sustainability within any future planning scenarios. This chapter aims to highlight how the resultant impacts from not considering specific sports events’ carrying capacities could result in the natural environment becoming irrecoverably damaged.
