Sports Event Planning - Case Study Example

SPORTS EVENT PLANNING BUSINESS PROPOSAL Student Name: Student Number: Module Code: Submission Date: Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Mission Statement 4 Aims 4 Objectives 4 Organization profile 4 Events proposal 5 Project Partners And Stakeholders 6 Layout Of Events And Required Resources 6 Marketing And Promotion 7 Possible Sponsors 7 Budget And Schedules 8 Schedule 8 Risk Management Issues 9 Conclusion 9 Organization Of Planning Committee 10 References 11 Executive Summary Cyprus Football Events Alliance is an organization committed to organizing, planning and carrying out all football events in Cyprus. The aim of the company is to sell football as a favorite sport and through it attract tourists both regional and international to Cyprus. This is done through the organization of two major sports events: regional sports events and international sports events. The regional sports events target the local talent and the other European states teams. International sports events targets teams from all over the world to come compete with the best teams in the region. The company organizes friendlies and tournaments that facilitate this initiative. The events are made affordable through sourcing of sponsors such as the local and the national governments and the businesses. The sponsorship targets accommodation charges and air tickets funding. We research on accommodation facilities that are relatively affordable and have good service packages for maximum satisfaction of the visitors. The events are planned in two phases starting from the second week of the chosen months. The first event is the regional event on February of every year and lasts for 21 days. The event is advertised and publicized three months before the date to allow the participating teams to make the necessary arrangements. The second event is in the second week of August and lasts for 21 days while the friendlies run simultaneously. The teams may arrive a week early as the company organizes for training grounds for the participants. The company targets 10,000 participants including the spectators, media coverage and escorts and the participants. The company partners with several organizations and sponsors to meet the demands of the events. The company’s budget estimates is € 150.000 and the company is committed to professionalism and good service delivery to all the visitors. Mission Statement Our mission is to conduct planning, organizing and carrying out international football events, tournaments and any kind of competitive football in Cyprus. Aims Our aim is to be the leading organization in planning both international and national football events in Cyprus with the aim of attracting tourists and guests to Cyprus, all at affordable prices. Objectives To be the most preferred football events planner in Cyprus To organize competitive and friendly football events twice every year To appeal to Cyprus’ tourism partners to send their clubs and teams to take part in the events organized by our company To attract and bring over 10,000 visitors to football events organized in Cyprus To offer affordable accommodation and training facilities to participating teams and the other people like the media who will be covering the events and the spectators To offer quality and excellent service to the participating teams Organization profile Cyprus Football Events Alliance is an organization that plans, organizes and conducts football events at both national and international level with the aim of attracting visitors to Cyprus. The organization targets to attract at least 10,000 visitors from all over the world to attend the sporting events as participants, trainers, escorts, media personnel and even people visiting the country on other businesses can include the football events in their schedules. This will be done through aggressive campaigns and marketing strategies and taking advantage of the popularity of the sport. The good all-year round climate that Cyprus enjoys, modern sporting facilities, a range of quality accommodation facilities and good communication infrastructure is our selling point. We as a company intend to make the trips affordable to all and accommodative of those travelling with the teams and clubs as supporting staff, spectators and the media teams covering the events. Our company comprises of the director. His work is to oversee all those working in our company and lias with our service providers. The organizing committee will plan and organize the locations, dates of events and schedules of events. The communication and logistics department charged with the responsibility of communicating with the participating teams and making arrangements of the training grounds and accommodation facilities where the visitors will stay for the period of the events. They also coordinate with the immigration department in case of visa processing difficulties for participating and visiting teams. The finance and marketing department is responsible to come up with budgets for the events and prepare promotion strategies and advertisements to promote the events. Events proposal We plan to organize and plan two events. The first will take place during the first quarter of the year, in February and the second will take place in August. The first event will be consisting of local competition and tournaments whose aim is to attract local teams to compete with other local teams and the clubs in the European block. The second event targets the rest of the continents thus, international. The main aim of the first event is to select teams that will compete with the teams from the other continents in August. Our target sport tourist segment is the primary sport tourist segment. This group of tourists will appreciate the good climatic conditions of our country and good hospitality and the professionalism. Project Partners And Stakeholders We have partnered with service providers like the training grounds managers. They will provide locations where any teams intending to arrive in Cyprus earlier for the events can use as training grounds. We have a list of accommodation facilities that offer excellent services and that have good facilities that can accommodate the participants and other publics. We have partnered with tour operators that organize the travel logistics to the visiting teams. We have also partnered with the local government and now hope to partner with the Cyprus Tourism Organization for funding and promotion support. Layout Of Events And Required Resources The events will be taking place in the second week of the specified months (February and August). They will be organized in different venues in the country depending on the availability of training facilities and stadiums to host the events. This is to boost tourism and expose tourists’ sites in the different regions of the country. The duration of the events will be 21 days. During the days different teams will play both friendly and competitive events. There will be tournaments at general level then quarter finals, semi-finals and eventually the finalists. This applies for the competing teams. As for those playing friendly matches, the events will only be carried out in a week. The events requires volunteers especially from the local areas where the events will be organized, sports arenas that will be available in the specified period, security form the local security and trained security agencies, accommodation facilities that can be able to accommodate the number of visitors and offer additional benefits to the various groups of with interests in the events. The volunteers will be conducted to training thus training and conference facilities will be required. Due to the social costs that come with the presence of so many visitors in one area, like congestion and limited access to certain areas where the events will centralize the local government will come in handy to organize alternative routes and places to visit. Competition funds are really required to motivate the winners. Money and media for marketing is also important, city council recreation facilities and the cultural departments will be involved in the tourism side of the event. Some businesses will also be incorporated to offer services and some commodities that may be required by the visitors. We may use post-secondary sporting facilities for training and hosting some events. Sponsors, local, national and international, are very important for the success of the events. Marketing And Promotion The marketing department will start marketing the local events three months prior to the actual date and the international event six months prior. The timeline will give the participating teams time to prepare and tackle all the logistics of travelling and training associated with such events. Spaaij & Schulenkorf (2014) say that aggressive marketing strategies may include designing posters, fliers that will be issued to target clubs and teams in Cyprus, through the internet to reach to the neighboring European countries, at sports arenas belonging to known football clubs and at local events. They will also be communicated by the tourism department to other tourism departments in the country and in the internationally. We may include brand ambassadors who can market the events internationally. Our partners will also be included in marketing strategies. The tour operators will market the events as a way of luring more customers to and to tourists as part of the activities that they can participate in. Possible Sponsors The government of Cyprus through the Cyprus Tourism Organization will be one of our main sponsors, soft drinks companies, betting companies, international hotels organization and local governments where the events will be held. We also target participating countries as sponsors, individual sponsors and related businesses that benefit from the events like telecommunication operators and other service providers. Budget And Schedules We have a budget estimate of about €150.000 that will cater for booking sporting and training arenas, conduct training for volunteers and any other supporting staff, advertisement and promotion and logistics and travelling for the staff and organizing committee. The breakdown of the budget and the schedule is indicated below: Sporting and training facilities (€ 40.000) Training of volunteers and supporting staff (€35.000) Advertisement and promotion (€30.000) Transport and logistics (€20.000) Insurance, legal and security fees (€10.000) Emergency funds (€15.000) Schedule Teams are allowed to arrive for training in the country a week before the commencing of the events. A maximum of 32 teams will participate in both the international events and the national and regional competitions. Only 6 teams will take part in the friendlies during the international games hosting. Day 1- arrival and reporting of all participating teams to the various sporting grounds Day 2-registration and official opening of the event by the Minister of Tourism in Cyprus Day 3 to Day 10- the qualifiers Day 11 Break Day 12- Day 15-the quarter finals Day 16 and 17- semi finals Day 18 and 19 –finals Day 20 tour trip for all semi-finalists teams Day 21 resting and leaving Risk Management Issues According to Shang-Chun, et al, (2011), managing risks is the most important part of any event. The company has partners with security agencies both private and public to ensure maximum security of all the participants. We have also partnered with a reputable insurance company to provide insurance for the players, the supporting team and even the spectators. Emergency medical services will also be available on site and will be affordable. Operationally, there will be arranged secondary locations that have equal capacity to host the events in case of any unforeseen circumstances (Müller, 2015). All sites will be prepared simultaneously and will be able to host the event in equal capacity to mitigate any inconveniences brought by shifting venues. The company will also set aside emergency funds to cater for any unforeseen financial constraint (Schulenkorf & Edwards, 2012). We shall set up an emergency call center during the whole period that the events will last for any problems. It will be accessible during the day and at night. The organizing committee together with a section of volunteers will be on standby to deal with any problems that may arise out of the event and during the events (Jamieson, 2014). The fire brigade department will also be on site and any other support services to ensure maximum risk management (Brewer & Freeman, 2015). Conclusion Cyprus Football Events Alliance is committed to professionalism, accountability and inclusivity to sell football as a tool of tourism and strengthening sports tourism in the Cyprus. Organization Of Planning Committee References Spaaij, R, & Schulenkorf, N 2014, 'Cultivating Safe Space: Lessons for Sport-for-Development Projects and Events', Journal of Sport Management, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 633-645. Available from: 10.1123/jsm.2013-0304. [21 April 2016]. Shang-Chun, M, Egan, D, Rotherham, I, & Shang-Min, M 2011, 'A framework for monitoring during the planning stage for a sports mega-event', Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 19, no. 1,. 79-96. Available from: 10.1080/09669582.2010.502576. [21 April 2016]. Müller, M 2015, 'The Mega-Event Syndrome: Why So Much Goes Wrong in Mega-Event Planning and What to Do About It', Journal of the American Planning Association, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 6-17. Available from: 10.1080/01944363.2015.1038292. [21 April 2016]. Schulenkorf, N, & Edwards, D 2012, 'Maximizing Positive Social Impacts: Strategies for Sustaining and Leveraging the Benefits of Intercommunity Sport Events in Divided Societies', Journal of Sport Management, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 379-390. Brewer, RM, & Freeman, KM 2015, 'Inexpensively Estimating the Economic Impact of Sports Tourism Programs in Small American Cities', Indiana Business Review, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 1-6. Jamieson, N 2014, 'Sport Tourism Events as Community Builders—How Social Capital Helps the “Locals” Cope', Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 57-68. Available from: 10.1080/15470148.2013.863719. [21 April 2016]. Read More