Impacts of Major/Mega Events PDF

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Analyse the impacts of major/mega events on the economy and communities of host areas. Use examples to illustrate your answer. Discuss both positive and negative impacts of large events. Provide a short summary conclusion. ...

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Impacts of Major/Mega Events 1500 words [Type the author name]

Analyse the impacts of major/mega events on the economy and communities of host areas. Use examples to illustrate your answer. Discuss both positive and negative impacts of large events. Provide a short summary conclusion.

Contents Introduction............................................................................................................................ 1 Impacts on the Economy........................................................................................................1 Impacts on the Community (social impacts)...........................................................................2 Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 2 Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction Jago and Shaw define a mega event as a ‘one-time major event that is generally of an international scale’ and a major event as ‘a large-scale special event that is high in status or prestige and attracts a large crowd and wide media attention. There are expensive to stage, attract fund to the region, lead to demand for associated services, and leave behind legacies’. [CITATION LKJ98 \l 2057 ] Roche, 2000 backs up Jago and Shaws mega event definition by similarly defining a mega event as a ‘large-scale cultural (including commercial and sporting) events, which have a dramatic character, mass popular appeal and international significance’. [ CITATION Roc00 \l 2057 ] Major/Hallmark events are ‘Major one-time or recurring events of limited duration, developed primarily to enhance the awareness, appeal and profitability of a tourism destination in the short and/or long term. Such events rely for their success on uniqueness, status, or timely significance to create interest and attract attention’ as defined by [ CITATION Don16 \l 2057 ]. When these events occur, they root a variety of impacts which will be further discussed below.

‘Events are emerging globally as major and growing sector and are seen as having important economic, socio-cultural and political impacts.’ – Raj et al (2009)

Impacts on the Economy As with everything there are both positive and negative effects when an event is run. Events encourage visitors to an area they may have not otherwise visited; this does not just include attendees, as many visit the area for atmosphere even without attending a ticketed event. This is often a short-term impact with people visiting just for the duration of the event however can be a long-term impact when repeat visitors are considered. Bringing more people to the area then encourages them to revisit triggering repeat visitors. When a new event is introduced to an area it provides jobs (wages) in industries such as construction. Throughout the event and if an event continues to return to an area jobs are also provided in other industries such as leisure, hospitality, retail, transport, entertainment, security etc Hosting an event brings money to the area via the visitors. For example, founded in 1968 the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, hosted in Kaustinen, Keski-Pohjanmaa, Finland, has taken place every year since. With a population of just 4308 the town plays host to 100,000+ people for nine days of July. The festival has become a cultural tourist destination with a specialist global audience. Tohmo 2005 used his input-output methodology to measure the 1

economic impact of this festival. It was calculated that the festival generated €1.67m. [ CITATION Toh05 \l 2057 ] A great outcome for the area. It is debateable whether local business’ benefit or lose out when an event is run. In some cases, pop up shops take all the revenue from tourists and can end up losing business if lots of commercial business’ move into the area. In other cases, however, local business’ can benefit from the increase of visitors and can increase prices and sell products for tourists. One good example of an event and local business’ is Glastonbury. Since starting in 2000 Glastonbury has, wherever possible, used local services and suppliers. The festival offers opportunities for local business’ as accommodation is needed by some visitors, and money is spent in the local shops, restaurants pubs etc. Each of which have experienced a significant increase in trade when the festival runs. Seasonality can be an issue as it can cause lack and peak times for the area’s economy. Seasonality is the systematic, although not necessarily regular, intra-year movement caused by changes in the weather, the calendar, and timing of decisions, directly or indirectly through the production and consumption decisions made by the agents of the economy [ CITATION Hyl92 \l 2057 ] With tourists only visiting an area at a certain time of year the economy can dramatically drop for the rest of the months. [CITATION Loc16 \l 2057 ] An Economic Impact survey carried out in 2007 indicated that the net value of the 2007 Festival to the Mendip economy was over £35m.[ CITATION Men07 \l 2057 ] Also, if an event has a bad reputation, or causes a stir of bad press, this could be detrimental for the area’s economy. It also may put off repeat visitors from visiting if this is a new event.

Impacts on the Community (social impacts) As reported by Allen et al (2008) events play a role in the lives of communities, they are seen to provide important activities and spending outlets for locals and visitors, they can also enhance the image of the local community. Events are considered as having an integrating effect when introduced into a social system. Events can improve social relationships in surroundings, for attaining relationships between people for strengthening people’s abilities to understand to one another and for people’s well-being. The social function of events and festivals is closely related to the values that a community regards as essential to its philosophy. Hosting an event of such scale can provide the area with a sense of identity, ‘put it on the map’ so to speak. This can be a long-lasting impact. For example, Stratford East London has benefited from increased tourism and infrastructure e.g. Westfield shopping centre since the Olympics after once being a derelict area. After a period of severe economic decline the area is now the second most significant business location in the east end. [ CITATION New16 \l 2057 ]This can then often lead to community pride. It can be argued that a new event to the area increases investment in resources such as new infrastructure and facilities, as well as a legacy for the area. Hosting an event can also increase land value due to its location. A mega event can be an opportunity for an area to regenerate itself, such as the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. The Barcelona Olympics changed the image of tourism in Spain, 2

which traditionally has only been associated with ‘sun and sea’ holidays. Travel Supermarket.com rated Barcelona as the second most popular city break destination, only losing out to Paris. [ CITATION Atk11 \l 2057 ] Depending on the nature of the event new cultures and ideas can be bought to an area. Robinson et al (2010) suggested that the Notting Hill Carnival in London began the introduction of the Afro-Caribbean culture to Britain. The carnival now attracts millions of visitors every year and has generated a huge economic impact for the host area across the last 10 years. Not all impacts however are positive as an event brings a large audience of people and many persons demonstrate behaviour that is deemed unacceptable often due to high alcohol intake. This impact only lasts within the duration of the event. With business’ aware of such many people visiting often prices go up; rise in costs as popularity increases. There is often an increase in crime due to large crowds, and being unable to recognise them as locals. The large crowd of people brings many impacts such as overcrowding, traffic, noise, litter and damage to the physical environment. Also, if Waste management if not implemented properly this can lead to a variety of other issues. [CITATION Suc04 \t \l 2057 ] names negative impacts that "include a range of anti-social behaviors, crime, congestion, crowding, prostitution, disruption of community life, community alienation and displacement". Mega sporting events draw attention of large crowds and there is a great possibility of antisocial behavior emergence, as for example In America's Cup defense there was noticed 36% increase in arrests for anti-social behavior [ CITATION Fau03 \l 2057 ] Hosting an event may not always benefit the host community if it is not managed properly. For example, The Dehli Commonwealth Games in 2010 had a mass of bad press leading to an unsuccessful event. The bad press rooted from lack of organisation with Indian press reports stating that up to 10,000 of the 22,000 volunteers quit just three days before the event was due to begin, down to the fact they had poor training, no motivation, unglamorous assignments and random allocation of responsibilities. [ CITATION ABC10 \l 2057 ] Infrastructure such as the Athletes Village was described as ‘filthy, unhygienic and unfit for human habitation’ by team delegates just two weeks before the games were due to start as reported by [ CITATION BBC10 \l 2057 ] Two days before the village was due to officially open New Zealand Chef de Mission Dave Currie suggested the Games may even be cancelled. [ CITATION BBC10 \l 2057 ] Safety concerns were also reported. At the end of the games Delhi benefited in some ways through tangible development of the city however the legacy left behind will never be a positive image for the city.

Conclusion In every event, as the examples above show, it is often that an event brings a variety of general impacts being both positive and negative. The most general include crowding, increase in spend, jobs provided, etc. Management is an important part of hosting an event; looking at the London 2012 Olympics compared to the Dehli 2010 Commonwealth Games it 3

is clear that the management and pre-planning of the London Olympics led to its success and legacy whereas Delhi’s Commonwealth Games bought bad press and mostly negative outcomes. It can be seen that hosting events is often a huge success for communities and whilst some negative impacts occur if managed correctly more good than bad can come of the event. Councils and local businesses should work with the event organisers in order to ensure the best outcome for the area.

Bibliography ABC News. (2010, Sep 30). Thousands of Games Volunteers Quit. ABC. Allen, J., O'Toole, W., Harris, R., & McDonnell, I. (2008). Festival and Special Event Management. Milton: Qld John Wiley & Sons. Atkinson, B. (2011). Top 10 Most Popular City Break Destinations. Retrieved from Travel Supermarket: http://www.travelsupermarket.com/blog/top-ten-most-populardestinations-for-city-breaks/ BBC. (2010, September 21). Dehli Games Village 'unfit for athletes' . Retrieved from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11379020 Donald Getz, S. J. (2016). Hallmark Events. In Event Studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events (p. 40). Routledge. Faulkner, B. e. (2003). Event Management. Glastonbury Festival. (2016). Local Benefits. Retrieved from Glastonbury Festival: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/worthy-causes/local-benefits/ Hylleberg, S. (1992). Modelling Seasonality. Oxford University Press. Jago, L. K., & Shaw, R. N. (1998). A conceptual and differential framwork. In Festival Management and Event Tourism (p. 29). Mendip District Council; Glastonbury Festival. (2007). Economic Impact Survey. Newham London. (2016). Regeneration Projects. Retrieved from Newham London: https://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/Services/Regeneration-projects.aspx

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Roche, M. (2000). perspetives and themes. In Mega Events and Modernity (p. 1). Routledge. Shone, A., & Parry, B. (2004). Successful Event Management: A Pratical Handbook. EMEA. Tohmo, T. (2005). Economic impacts of cultural events on local economies: An input-output analysis of the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival. The Business and Finance of Tourism and Recreation.

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