Santos Tour Down Under - Coursework Example

Heading: Santos Tour Down Under Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Section 1 Santos Tour Down Under This is the first event on the global cycling calendar, which starts in an exciting style. The Santos Tour Down Under’s first took place in 1999, and it has become at the largest cycling competition in the southern hemisphere. The event takes one week and attracts most of the top WorldTour professional cycling groups to compete on the Adelaide streets in Southern Australia every January. In 2008, the Santos Tour Down Under participated in the prominent UCI WorldTour, which is the initial event apart from cycling’s conventional Europe’s home to do so (Government of South Australia 2009). The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) WorldTour assembles the best riders and prominent teams in the globe to compete in the competitive races. The Santo Tour Down Under obtained a key coup when cycling cancer survivor and a legend, Lance Armstrong, made a return to expert road cycling in the race held in 2009. Some of the greatest road cycling competed in the event at the Santos Tour Down Under in history of eleven years. Tour de France winners, Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Oscar Pereiro, and Carlos Sastre took part in the race in Adelaide, alongside some Aussie legends like Robbie McEwen, Stuart O’Gcrady, Allan Davis, and Cadel Evans (Government of South Australia 2009). Santos Tour Down Under does not only involve bike race, but also festival comprising of a variety of related festivals and events, which form a huge party atmosphere all over South Australia. The event also allows amateur cyclists, with the SKODA Breakaway Series that provides people with an opportunity to ride WorldTour race route’s part (Government of South Australia 2009; Hurt 2012). Section 2 Event theory Since the event takes place annually, it grows gradually and consistently in recognition and attendance. Santos Tour Down Under meets the sponsors’ expectations and the public demand through the evolution of its capacity and design. This event needs to emphasize on three main areas including programming, designing, and sponsorship, to nurture, sustain, and continue with its development and prosperity. Therefore, the discussion and application of the three aspects’ theory will be useful determining whether Santos Tour Down Under is effective in attaining the set goals and objectives. Design Berridge (2009) says that design is a significant in the general event experience. Event design has connection to the event’s theme, setting, temporal, and spatial quality and dimensions of the provided services, and that all these influence the attendees’ impression of the event. Event design entails conceptual development, creation, and design of the event in order to maximize the meaningful and positive effect for audience and the participants of the event. Therefore, the event’s design is indispensable in the achievement of success and consistent enhancement, and attendees’ perception of event’s quality (Getz 2007). The four core values offer a starting platform for the design of the study. This involves the determination of rationale behind the occurrence of the event (why); who the occasion if for; wide outlines of the event (what); and the objectives of the event. These four values are beneficial, as they serve as an application essential in the designing of the shape, scale, timing, focus, and build of the occasion. During the designing of the event, there are numerous factors to consider, such as, aesthetic design, and appropriate atmosphere creation (Berridge 2009). Besides, Berridge (2009) demonstrates that it is crucial to ensure that the venue’s scale matches with the proposed event. In addition, the theme of the event identifies whatever the occasion ought to recognize, and the entire elements of the design should show this theme. The décor and layout o the venue setting, staging, technical requirements, and specifically programming and entertainment, as well as catering should all reflect the occasion’s theme; hence, helping to build the experience of the event. Therefore, the major design divisions arising from the aforementioned elements include program, setting, program design, consumable, and services. Event planners should focus on creating a relationship between the elements to the theme and objective of the occasion to make an effective event (Berridge (2009). Programming Here, a program entails an outline of activities that attendees of an event choose to perform. The event design guides the program, and represents the mission of the occasion. Thus, programming is an important event’s aspect planning process, since it determines whether individuals will attend, and whether the occasion will achieve its goals (Getz 2007). In every program, there are three distinct divisions of services, which need different audience participation levels. These involve activities where event participants actively participate like instructional classes and demonstrations. The second category entail services that are often particular to individual functions conducted for a fee, where participants usually passively involve engage in the experience (Getz 2007). Thirdly, Getz (2007) demonstrates that events include assortment of activities that revolve around a shared theme. The program’s planning event requires a consideration of the intended attendees and their thoughts span and reactions. Building the program is essential in maximizing the influence and the experience of the event on the audience. It is imperative to design the program’s different elements to satisfy attendees’ diverse needs, and thus, the identification of these needs is crucial in the designing and programming of the event towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives. Multiple mechanisms are essential in dictating the appropriate persons to participate in the arrangement and design process of the event. This implies that programming of an event can be prescriptive, community process, investigative, or interactive. Sponsorship This implies a mutual association between an entity and an outside organization, in which both parties get mutual advantage through the other’s resources. A sponsor often offers financial aid to the occasion and in exchange, it gets an allowance to use the entity to pursue objectives, which will enhance their corporate, or product image, boost sales volume, and enhance its market position (Masterman 2003). Other advantages include corporate hospitality and Very Important Person (VIP) packages at the occasion, and a chance to supply the occasion with the firm’s own services and products. Fundamentally, the sponsor is in search of a return on its investment. Notably, there are four strategic stages of crating effective sponsorship contracts, which include targeting sponsors, developing a relationship, using a firm’s supporting marketing operations, and assessment process (Masterman 2003). The event tries to get a right sponsor who has a similar target market, and achieves event’s objectives. Developing a relationship is crucial for a sustainable sponsorship deal. It is also imperative to select an appropriate organization as a sponsor. Lastly, evaluation is critical in the implementation of the strategic process (Masterman 2003).). Section 3 Event analysis of Santos Tour Down Under Design of Santos Tour Down Under According to Berridge (2009), four key values facilitate the initial stage of an event’s design. Firstly, it involves the determination of the rationale for the arrangement of the event. Secondly, this entails the establishment of the event’s attendees. Thirdly, there is a value concerning the wide plans of the product and the set goals and objectives of the event. Moreover, the values also require the determination of the theme of the event, and this is further evident in the four event categories including the program design, setting, services, and consumables (Getz 2007). According to Government of South Australia (2009), Santos Tour Down Under is an event that takes place every year, in Adelaide, Southern Australia. It involves a road cycling competition from different parts of the world. The event normally has diverse attendees that consist of cycling fans from different regions in Australia, as well as those from outside the country. Besides, the event involves a variety of competitors from all over the world, with famous participants including Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Oscar Pereiro, Carlos Sastre, Robbie McEwen, Stuart O’Gcrady, Allan Davis, and Cadel Evans (Royal Dutch Gazelle 2011). Every year, Santos Tour Down Under has different themes. For instance, the 2012 Santos Tour Down Under’s theme was “Take the Ride for your Life.” the ownership of the event is with the South Australian Tourism Commission and the Events South Australia (Hurt 2012; Government of South Australia 2009). The main objectives of the owners are to boost tourism capacity and promotional chances and enhance the event-specific visitor expenses from expressway areas (Events South Australia 2010). The Santos Tour Down Under intends to enhance boost local products and regions by attracting many tourists to the area in form of attendees. Moreover, the event also intends to improve the country’s economy through the promotion of the domestic products and tourists. What is more, the locals display the country’s culture, heritage, and shopping in Adelaide city on the last day of the event. Here, fans got a chance to watch cycling future superheroes as they ride the start and the finish straight line in kids’ Bupa mini tour that UniSA presented. This happened a few hours prior to the global elite cyclists raced the last stage of the event. In fact, during the 2012 competitions, Adelaide city promoted the events theme through its decorations. Programming of Santos Tour Down Under Here, the theme guides the event and symbolizes its mission, which is to give people time to enjoy themselves with their families and friends in the competition, as well as the young cyclists to witness the performance of the world renown champions. The event program comprises of various activities, for example, in the 2012 competition, there were Team presentation, Down Under Classic, Stage 1, Colesman Group Stage 2, Stage 3, Bupa Challenge Tour, Bupa Stage 4, Jayco Stage 5, Legends Night dinner, and Stage 6. Each of the activities has specific venues, for instance, team presentation took place on January 15, 2012 at five o’clock, at Presentation Podium in Rymill Park. Down Under Classic occurred on January 15, 2012 as from 7 to 8 O’clock in the morning at Adelaide East End. Colemans Group stage 2 took place on January 18, 2012 between 11 and 2.45 o’clock from Lobethal to Stirling. In the event, winners get various awards in form of jerseys including Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey, SKODA King of the Mountain Jersey, Jayco Sprint Jersey, Cycle Instead Young Rider Jersey, Hindmarsh Most Aggressive Rider Jersey, and South Australia Brilliant Blend Winning Team Jersey. Sponsorship of Santos Tour Down Under The event is a beneficiary of numerous sponsors in South Australia. One of the sponsors is the Woodhead, which is proud to be the event’s sponsor for the past 11 consecutive years since its inception. This sponsor is proud to support an event that in turn helps the Cancer Council of Southern Australia (Woodhead 2012). In 2012, Skoda, which is the event’s major vehicle supplier, signed a new 3-years partnership with Santos Tour Down Under (Royal Dutch Gazelle 2011). This partnership began in 2008 and it now extends to 2014. Furthermore, IG Group (2011) says that another sponsor is the IG markets that supported three stages of the event, especially in 2011. IG Group (2011) demonstrates that the 6-stage event is the greatest cycling competition in the region, and IG Markets took the privilege of sponsoring the first, second, and the sixth stages of the event. Since these are the starting and the last stages of the event, the sponsor had an opportunity to send elite cyclists, as well as celebrating as victors at the finishing point. This firm felt that cycling was a particular for its target audience and sponsoring sport would offer it an idea, exposure, and a great chance to advance its market share in Australia, and across the globe. Moreover, the city council of Adelaide has also become a sponsor of the event for over a decade now (Adelaide City Council 2012). What is more, Santos’ deal to sponsor Tour Down Under until 2016 led to the naming of the event as Santos Tour Down Under. Therefore, the success of the event in almost a decade now since its inception has been possible through the joint efforts and support of the aforementioned among many other sponsors. Conclusion Santos Tour Down Under is an effective event that takes place every year since 1999. This aim of the event is to allow fans to enjoy thrilling races with their families in the region, as well as boosting the country’s heritage, culture, and local products. This also enhances the country’s economy through tourism, as many visitors from within and without the country, manage to attend the country. The event has a gradual growth every year, and it presently attracts thousands of participants and spectators. In fact, the world-renowned superheroes in cycling take part in the Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Oscar Pereiro, Carlos Sastre, Robbie McEwen, Stuart O’Gcrady, Allan Davis, and Cadel Evans. It is a weeklong event in January, with a program of six stages. In terms of sponsors, the event gets a lot of financial support by various organizations including IG Markets, City Council of Adelaide, and Woodhead. References Adelaide City Council 2012, Adelaide City Council Tour Down Under Village & Bike Expo. Retrieved on June 2, 2012, from http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/council/media-centre/media-releases/adelaide-city-council-tour-down-under-village-bike-expo Berridge, G 2009, ‘Event pitching: The role of design and creativity’, International journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 208-215. Events South Australia 2010, 2010/2011 Regional Events & Festivals Program, retrieved June 2, 2012 . Getz, D 2007, Event Studies: Theory, Research and Policy for Planned Events, Elsevier, Oxford. Government of South Australia 2009, South Australia. A Brilliant Blend. 2011 Santos Tour Down Under. Event Overview. Retrieved on June 2, 2012, from http://www.tourism.sa.com/marketing/campaigns1011/tourdownunder2011.asp Hurt, J 2012, Santos Tour Down Under; Adelaide-South Australia. Pp. 1-37. http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/documents/gallery-and-media/2012-media-kit.pdf IG Group 2011, IG Markets Sponsors Santos Tour Down Under. Retrieved on June 2, 2012, from http://www.iggroup.com/corporate/tour-down-under.html Masterman, G R 2003, ‘A strategic approach for the use of sponsorship in the events industry: in search of a return on investment’, in Festival and events management: an international arts and culture perspective, ed I Yeoman, Butterworth-Heinmann, Oxford, pp. 260-272. Royal Dutch Gazelle 2011, Santos Tour Down Under Sets New Records. http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/news/show/177-2011-santos-tour-down-under-sets- new-records Woodhead 2012, Woodhead Sponsors the 2012 Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Architecture Interiors Planning. Retrieved on June 2, 2012, from http://www.woodhead.com.au/news/woodhead-sponsors-the-2012- tour-down-under-in-Adelaide/ Read More