For a start, Austria is landlocked. It is why hordes of Austrians flock to other parts of Europe and further afield for their yearly dose of sun, sea and sand.

It is for this reason that eyebrows were raised when informing friends and family of my impending journey to Vienna to cover the Beach Volleyball World Championships.

"They don’t have any beaches, do they?" one said to me.

It was also the first response when chatting to an insidethegames colleague. "Ah, Austria, that well-known beach nation," they quipped.

Austria is also a country which is not exactly known for its prowess in beach volleyball. Athletes representing the nation have never won a medal of any colour at either the World Championships or the Olympic Games.

But judging by the fervour, passion and enthusiasm the locals have had for the event, you would not have known.

In fact, you would have been forgiven for thinking the total opposite; that this is a nation steeped in rich beach volleyball history and tradition.

An electric atmosphere flowed throughout the penultimate day of finals, with the fans in Vienna treating every point as if it was a party. Pumping, thumping dance music greeted every interval, however short in time, accompanied by persistent and incessant clapping from the packed-out crowd. 

This was especially the case in the final match of the day, where the unfancied Austrian pair of Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst – who had not expected to qualify let alone reach the quarter-finals - took to the court and beat Polish duo Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak to reach the last four.

The 10,000-seater temporary arena, built especially for the Championships with a backdrop of the famous River Danube, was positively bouncing all day with fans who had bravely ignored the scorching heat and come down to the venue in their droves.

The organisers, luckily, had a plan to address this as supporters in the stands were kept cool as they were intermittently doused with water from large cannons dotted around the arena. I can’t say I remember seeing that at a World Championships before.

Of course, many who graced the temporary seating with their raucous presence may have been oblivious to the sport and merely turned up for a party. By the time their home heroes came on court, they would have had more than enough time to sample one of the numerous alcohol stands across the stadium and were clearly loving every minute.

Credit must be given to the organisers and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) for setting the ticket prices at a reasonable level which proved to be attractive to the punters.

Those who wished to watch the entire closing weekend, from yesterday to tomorrow, could do so for as little as €40 (£36/$47). A pass for the whole tournament set fans back only €70 (£63/$82). Not bad for 10 days of sport.

As well as making for an entertaining spectacle, the packed stadia and booze-fuelled crowd ensured the event looked almost perfect for the FIVB from a television and broadcasting point of view. They simply could not have asked for a better showcase.

The athletes seemed to enjoy it, too. Germany’s Laura Ludwig, who had just clinched the women's world title with team-mate Kira Walkenhorst, described the atmosphere as "electric" and said it had given her "goosebumps".

"The crowd were like a third player for us," she said. "They were unbelievably loud.

"Everyone likes to be on a court where everyone is making noise and enjoying themselves."

This concept of "sportainment", where elements of sporting competition are blended with music in a bid to attract people who may be unfamiliar with the sport in question, is nothing new, particularly in FIVB circles. 

Their World Tour events are also held in similar format, while even beach volleyball at the Olympics offers something different to the more structured and more traditional sports such as archery, equestrian and table tennis.

"Sportainment" is evident among countless other sports these days as International Federations seek to broaden their appeal and reach. Even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) see the plus points, demonstrated by their addition of skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing to the Tokyo 2020 programme.

While it would appear, on the surface at least, to be difficult not to buy in to, I imagine it is not universally popular. The World Championships here, for example, was hardly an ideal event to bring children to. By organising the competition in such an exuberant manner, you run the risk of alienating markets you may wish to tap into in future. 

Such an extravagant, jamboree mash-up of sport and festival cannot come cheaply, either.

The FIVB certainly know how to market their event to the right people but at what point does the sport become secondary? Will those who came to the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Vienna remember the sport or the party? And does that even matter in today’s uber-competitive market?

It can be difficult to find the balance. Glasgow’s spectacular hosting of the 2015 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, with all its strobe lighting, fancy ceremonies and music, paved the way for future editions of the event to follow suit.

Initially, however, their grandiose plans and proposals had been met with scepticism from some officials within the International Gymnastics Federation.

They were concerned they would stray too far from the traditional method and format. In the end they needn’t have worried as the Scottish city staged perhaps the best-ever World Championships in the sport.

Traditionalism is, in a way, a threat to the evolution and innovation which International Federations are desperate to implement. But the benefits are there to see if the dissenting voices are ignored.

The format here lent itself perfectly to a beach event. It might not work in other sports but it found an ideal home on a temporary sand court in Vienna.

It would appear the way things have been done by the FIVB here and by others previously is the blueprint for future major events across the sporting spectrum. 

"Sportainment" at World Championships is loud, proud and, on the evidence presented here and at other similar competitions, is here to stay.