Impact of sport facility upgrade on patron utilisation rate

Abstract

The S$4 million upgraded Bukit Batok Sports Hub has been serving the Bukit Batok community since its opening in December 2011. The purpose of this study is to understand the sport consumer behaviour of the Bukit Batok community towards the upgrading of the Bukit Batok Sports Hub to find out the impact of sport facility upgrade on patron utilisation rate. The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities direct observation instrument (McKenzie, Cohen, Sehgal, Williamson, & Golinelli, 2006) was used to find out the physical activity patterns of users of the Bukit Batok Sports Hub. A total of 1,086 people were observed. The majority of users of the Bukit Batok Sports Hub were made up of 638 users (58.75%) that were seen in the evening, 524 adult users (48.25%), and 708 male users (65.19%). The basketball court which saw 234 users (21.55%) is the most utilised facility and the street soccer court with 58 users (5.34%) is the least utilised facility. Findings indicated that the Bukit Batok Sports Hub provides various facilities which allow the community to participate in sport and understanding of the sport consumer behavior is crucial to encourage and increase patron utilisation rate of upgraded sport facilities.