Cities and Major Events Hosting: Benefits and Risks - Coursework Example

 Cities and Major Events Hosting: Benefits and Risks Introduction The world has become a miniature village that is made of global communities. These many communities form the basis of the global community. In this case, socioeconomic and even sociopolitical competition among the many communities is very high. Each community wants to have a competitive advantage over the others in order to benefit its members. In this regard, these communities try to gain recognition in the global arena through various ways. Hosting world-class events is one of the ways in which these communities such as cities and nations are able to gain this recognition. For an event to be able to give a city the recognition it requires, it must be a big one that leaves a mark on the history of the world rather than just being a local event (Musgrave, 2009). As s result, many cities seek and strive to win the chance to host such big events. When a city wins the opportunity to host one of such big events, they stand a chance to benefit in the following ways; Increased recognition As Levy (1997) says, hosting a major event makes it possible for the city to increase its recognition in the global community of cities. Such events attract a lot of coverage by the international media not only during the time of the event but also during the preparation for the events. The preparation of the event can take years and during this time, the city gets coverage by international media such as CNN and this increases its visibility in the international arena. This visibility and recognition is important in many ways. For instance, it attracts a range of people from all over the world, both for short term stay and for long term stay. For short term visitors, this has short term economic benefits because these people have to bring in foreign exchange and also promote a number of businesses in the city. For long term visitors who end up going to stay in the city, the city will benefit from diversification of its population. In a global village, the need for a diversified community in a city has advantages that go beyond economic measures and therefore cannot be measured. Long Term Investment Sporting events, apart from increasing the profile of a city can also bring in long term economic benefits through increased foreign direct investments. Investors, if they think that the sporting event will be a good way to launch a business, may want to invest in the city (OECD, 2008). These investments may be such as hotels and other investments that the investors from outside the city may feel that the sporting event will crop up investments opportunities for. Apart from foreign investors, local investors are also likely to invest in an attempt to reap from the opportunities brought about by the international event. International events such as the Olympic Games bring in a lot of visitors and this is an economic opportunity for a city. Local investors who want to take advantage of this can invest in various businesses such as hotels. This has a twofold impact on the economy. First, the new businesses will act as a way to increase economic activity in the local economy and this is fundamental in the economic growth of the economy (Knight, 2008). Secondly, it will create more employment opportunities in the city and this also leads to positive economic outcomes both long term and short term. This is important in the modern day because a lot of cities and countries have to deal with high levels of unemployment. The high levels of employment in many cities remain to be a major problem and any city or country strives to do everything that they can do to deal with this issue. Major events provide a partial solution for this and thus many cities strive to host these events for the benefit of the city. Increased enthusiasm and city rejuvenation As already discussed, the benefits that a city can gain from hosting an even are not only economic ones (Gratton, 2012). Non-economic benefits are also accrued from hosting such event. Sometimes the city can benefit more from non-economic benefits than from economic benefits. Increased enthusiasm and rejuvenation of a city is one of the many benefits that cities hope to get by hosting an event. The preparation process as well as the time of event is likely to increase enthusiasm among the city dwellers. Hosting an event is expected to make the community of city dwellers to feel as part of the global society (Szymanski, 2012). The impact of hosting events can be likened to the impact that holiday seasons such as the Christmas holidays have on the people. During the Christmas holiday for instance, people feel a surge in the enthusiasm. This leads to many benefits, among them economic benefits that are indirectly derived from the enthusiasm. The same can be said of international events only that their impact in this regard is much more than what a Christmas holiday can do for a city. Those who are concerned with the running of a city hope that such an event will increase the vigor and enthusiasm among the citizens of the city and thus rejuvenate the city (Knight, 2008). This enthusiasm increases the people’s willingness to spend and also to invest. Short Term economic benefits There are also some short term economic benefits that are derived from hosting international events. International evens bring in many visitors. For instance, an Olympic Games event brings in tens of thousands of sportsmen in a city where the event is being held. These sportsmen do not come alone but they come with their coaches, managers and other people who are important in their career. In total, this amounts to so many people coming for the event. Additionally, there are many people who come to attend the event. Those who are not sportsmen but who come to the event come either to attend the event or just for the thrill of it. Regardless of the actual reason for going to a city where the mega event is being held, all these people have to spend money because they spend time in hotels, eat in restaurants and buy so many things. They are then able to inject a lot of money into the local economy, albeit in a temporary basis. The risks of hosting such events While cities seek to benefit in the above ways by hosting a major event, they also run the risk of having negative impacts for hosting such an event. These include the following; Poor image if event not well managed Although there are many advantages of hosting an event, the cities that take on themselves to host an event also face to come off badly after hosting an event. If for instance the event is managed poorly, the city will gain a negative image. There are many determinants that determine if an event was well managed. These are as follows; Security issues Security is an important matter with regard to the way an event is managed. Mega events attract all types of security threats that must be managed in all ways. For instance, terrorism is a major concern around the globe. Cities that hold and host such events must be able to protect from terrorist attacks both the locals as well as the foreign guests who arrive in the city for the event (Jordan, 2012). If a terrorism act happens at an event, this can highly harm the image of the city and this will undo any benefits accrued from hosting the event. Apart from terrorism, there are also other threats to security that can affect a city that wants to host an event. Crime committed by local criminals is also a major threat to the success of an event. If there are too many robberies and other sorts of crimes such as pick-pocketing especially on the guests, the event will be a failure and this will have a negative impact on the city. Other security issues that may make a host city to come off badly after hosting an event is hooliganism. This is especially with regard to sporting activities. Sporting activities come with a lot of emotional factors due to the fact that the fans want their favorite teams to win. Any city that hosts such sporting events runs the risks of hooliganism or disorderly crowds and has to be able to manage such a crowed if they happen (Robinson, 2013). If it fails to have the resources to manage such hooliganism, it will have a negative image and be branded as an unsafe city. Level of entertainment or engagement For a sporting event, the level of success will be judged based on how entertaining it was. Sporting events are supposed to be entertaining not only with regard to the sports but also to other activities that are carried out during the event (Jordan, 2012). A very good example is the recent World Cup event in Brazil where the opening ceremony was seen to fall short of the kind of glory it would be expected to have. This kind of failure to deliver entertainment can rob the host city the benefits it may have gained for being a host for a mega event. Non sporting events also need to have success in order for them to gain the expected benefits. Availability of hospitality amenities Such events attract big crowds of people from around the globe and can increase the population of a city by a significant percentage. This increase in the population can exert pressure on the city’s amenities starting from hospitality amenities to infrastructure (Knight, 2008). In some cases, the city may have all its hotel rooms booked and he guests may have to look for alternatives to have a place to board during such an event. This definitely affects the quality of service the guests are able to access. In such a situation, the image of the city will suffer and this may have a long term negative impact on the city. Accrued debts The other risk that a city faces is accrued debts that may not be recovered from the money collected from the event (Jordan, 2012). Hosting a major event requires a lot of investment by the government. For sporting events for instance, the government has to invest lots of dollars in renovating and sometimes building new infrastructure such as stadia. These investments cost millions of dollars and there may not be guarantee that the economic benefits accrued from hosting the event will cover these costs. In such a case, the city will be affected negatively as opposed to positively. Shifting priorities in issues such as infrastructure development As said above, one of the conditions that are required for a city to be given the chance to host a certain event is well developed. This then means that for the government to qualify, they have to invest a lot of tax payer dollars in the hope that the event will bring in economic benefits that will reimburse the costs of investing in the infrastructure. This means that the priorities of the government will shift. For instance, a government may have to prioritize building a stadium in order to qualify for hosting an event while holding back other important project such as developing road infrastructure. This shift in government development infrastructure priorities can be detrimental to the city and more so when the event does not bring in enough economic benefits to cover these costs and brings in a profit. How to deal with the risks For a city to benefit from a hosting event and to avoid the issues named above, they have to be very cautious. The following can be done to avoid a damaging effect from hosting an event; Managing security issues As identified, security issues can be a major threat that will not only affect the success of an event but can also make the host city to not be able to benefit from the costly affair of hosting an event. Terrorism is one such security threat that must be dealt with. Since terrorism is an international issue, a city intending to host an event can work with both local and international security authorities to deal with this issue. With regard to dealing with local common crimes, the city should plan for security in order to ensure that it will manage security during the event. The city may have to try to estimate the amount of guests who will arrive at the city and then be able to know how to plan for the security needs. The proper ratio of civilians to police must be maintained during the time the city has gained many visitors. As already identified, the number of visitors who visit a city during a major event increases the population of a city by a significant percentage. This means that if not increased, the security forces will be over numbered. The need to raise the number of police during a mega event in a city cones with a number of challenges. Number one, training of more officers may not be viable because these extra officers may not be needed after the event. The other option is to hire officers from other cities within the country. This can be a viable solution but still has a challenge because it will mean the other cities giving up their security forces so they can be used in the city that is hosting an event. With regard to avoiding security threats related to fan hooliganism in sporting events, it may be necessary for a city to make sure that it has trained enough professionals on crowd management. Crowd management can be tricky business sand requires that the use of force be as limited as possible. In this case, the general security officers are not equipped to handle such crowds. The city must be able to have the right resources for crowd management. The city must also have to be able to plan for other amenities in order to guarantee that the guests will not have to have a hard time when they visit. This can also be done through carrying out investigations and predicting the numbers of guests expected to visit in order to determine the amount of various amenities which will be needed for all the guests to be comfortable. Dealing with accrued debts The city must be careful to make sure the event will not cost more than it will bring in terms of financial gains. This can be guaranteed in two major ways. First, the city must come up with a promotion plan for the event. One of the mistakes that the managers of such big events are likely to make is the assumption that since the event is a big event it will not need to be promoted. This mistake should not be made at all and there is a need to promote the event and ensure that not only the event itself has been promoted but also the city where it will take place. Reference list: Gratton, M. (2012). The Global Economics of Sport. London, UK: Routledge. Jordan, S. (2012). Sports Event Management: The Caribbean Experience. London, UK: Ashgate Publishing. Knight, J. (2008). International Perspectives of Festivals and Events: Paradigms of Analysis. London, UK: Elsevier. Levy, R. (1997). Successful Special Events: Planning, Hosting, and Evaluating. London, UK: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Musgrave, J. (2009). Event Management and Sustainability. New York, NY: CAB. OECD. (2008). Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Local Development Benefits from Staging Global Events. London, UK: OECD Publishing. Robinson, L. (2013). Routledge Handbook of Sport Management. London, UK: Routledge. Szymanski, S. (2012). Handbook on the Economics of Sport. London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Read More