The Role of Events in the Seaside Destination: A Case Study of Sport Events in Eastbourne - Essay Example

?Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion 4 Introduction This chapter will focus on primary data that have been collected though the research process as mentioned in Chapter 3 to meet Objectives Two and Three. Most of the information from the respondents will be described in form of tables and charts. A total of 150 responses were received but only 105 of them were fully completed. Incomplete questionnaires were recorded as ‘non response’ questionnaires and marked with an asterisk (*). There were 45 questionnaires that were incomplete because respondents misunderstood the questions where they were required to give only one answer. Therefore, those questionnaires which contained this incorrect data are shown by an asterisk (*) in order to avoid causing bias within the analysis. The public view about Eastbourne was tested to measure the reliability of items by using Cronbach’s alpha. The Cronbach’s alpha of collected data in public view is 0.932 for standardised variables (Refer to Appendix E). In addition, this chapter will show critical analysis in so far as it relates the discussion and the of the research main findings from the questionnaires and interviews back to the literature review provided in chapter 2. 4.2 Survey Findings As shown in the table and chart below, there were 105 respondents in the entire survey process of which 56% were females, while 44% were male. This shows that the study population was female dominated. Table 1 and Chart 1 below elaborate the gender diversity of the respondents. Table 1- Gender and Response Rate Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative Percentage Valid Male 46 44 44 44 Female 59 56 56 100.0 Total 105 100 100.0 Missing System 0 Total Respondents 105 100.0 Chart 1: Gender The comparison of the age bracket versus the gender diversity revealed mixed dominance as shown in Chart 2 below. However, the 18-25 year old age bracket has the highest percentage of respondents at 36%. This shows that at least one third of the respondents were in the youngest age range surveyed. The later oldest age bracket of 56 – 65 years old has the lowest percentage of respondents at 3%, which could indicate that events may not be attractive to people in this age range. It is quite striking to note that there is a strong correlation between youth and willingness to participate in this study and this may be connected with the greater participation rates of young people in activities such as sports events and music festivals, and the “pull factor” of fun and entertainment. (Lee and Beeler, 2009) Chart 2: Age Bracket vs. Gender Correlation The respondents’ nationality alongside the age brackets revealed that 74 were British, while the remainder were 31 foreigners from places such as Belgium, Thailand, Spain, China, Liberia, Poland, Fiji, France and Croatia. Table 2 below shows the dominant nationality representations across the age brackets. Table 2: Nationality vs. Age Bracket Correlation Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid British 74 71 71 71 Other 31 29 29 100.00 Total 105 100.00 100.00 The mode for the highest education level was college, followed closely by the university graduates, secondary school and others, as shown in Chart 3 below. The most educated respondents were aged from 36 years to 45 years old and 46 years to 55 years with college qualifications. Chart 3: Highest Education vs. Age Bracket Even though Eastbourne has various attractions, the Event city failed to register a single interest in the respondents’ minds. The Seaside Town had the biggest attraction at 78% with the males just as interested in it as the it as the females, followed by the ‘old people’s town’ with the females (27%) more interested than the males(10%) and, finally, Eastbourne Pier which attracted males more than females at 6%. The following Chart 4 shows the mind attraction scales Chart 4: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking about Eastbourne? The female respondents notice the social demographics of the town much more than the male respondents and this is an interesting finding which may reflect some concerns that women may have about the potential that Eastbourne has to offer relaxation from normal pressures, and a possibility of satisfying social-psychological needs. (Getz, 1997). Men may not register this aspect of the town because they are less affected by caring for elderly people than women are, and so for men the ageing demographics of Eastbourne is not a very salient factor. In terms of the respondents’ points of origin, a majority of 88% came from the UK, 6% of females and 5% of males were from outside the UK and 1% of males were from Eastbourne. The males from the UK dominated the sample by a considerable margin as shown in Chart 5 below. Chart 5: Where do you come from? All visitors to Eastbourne have various stay duration options. However, more than half of respondents do not stay overnight; this was 61% combined, whereas 27% only stay between 1 - 4 days. This shows that most visitors spent a very short time there before relocating out of Eastbourne. Chart 6 below demonstrates the findings. Chart 6: How long are you staying in Eastbourne? The majority of the visitors to Eastbourne came with either family or friends for company. This is true of both male and female visitors, as shown in Chart 7 below. There were considerably more males than females who came alone, however. Chart 7: Who have you come to Eastbourne with? The study of the likelihood of the respondents attending events at Eastbourne next time showed that 4 respondents will not and 17 of respondents may attend. Furthermore, the females were more likely to attend the events in future, as in Table 3 below. Table 3: Do you think you will attend events in Eastbourne next time? Do you think you will attend events in Eastbourne next time Gender Total Male –1 Female – 2 Maybe 8% 9% 17% No - 4% 4% Total 8% 13% 21% The investigation of the respondents’ knowledge of Eastbourne showed that 44 females knew about Eastbourne before, and 38 males knew before, whereas only 2 of females knew about Eastbourne because of events, and no men did so, as shown in Table 4 below. Table 4: Knowledge about Eastbourne before events Did you know you about Eastbourne before or because of events Gender Total Male-1 Female-2 Before 38 44 82 Because of events - 2 2 Total 38 46 84 More females (31%) than males (20%) attended events at Eastbourne for the first time, whereas more males (14%) than females (13%) attended events at Eastbourne sometime and only 1% of males often attended events at Eastbourne. Of the respondents, 20% rarely attended events at Eastbourne and this was equal between the males and females, as shown in chart 8. Chart 8: Do you often attend events at Eastbourne? The most attended events were the sports events at the combined gender percentage of 99%, followed by a tie between the culture events at 18% and festivals at 38%, respectively. More females than males attended sports events, while more males than females attended the culture events and festivals, as shown in Chart 9 below. Chart 9: What type of event have you attended? The survey findings did not indicate whether the respondents would attend sports events next time. However, despite the availability of various sports, 29% of the respondents would like to attend Eastbourne Extreme sports, 38% would like to attend AEGON International Tennis, and 33% would like to attend Eastbourne Cycling. Chart 10 below elaborates the findings. Chart 10: What kind of sports events would you like to attend? Of the respondents, 36% agreed that staging a major event in the city affected the way in which they view the city as a whole, with more females than males affirming. A combined 38% of the respondents were not certain, while 26% of the respondents refuted the statement. The following Chart 11 elaborates the divergent views. Chart 11: Do you think staging major events in city affects the way in which you view the city as a whole? Of the respondents, 18% will attend the same sport again next year, with more females that males affirming; 15% of the respondents will not attend, while 67% may attend, with slightly more females supporting this view, as shown in Chart 12 below. Chart 12: Do you think you will attend the same sports events next year? Of the respondents, 28% will attend other types of sports next year with a slim margin in favour of females; 18% of respondents will not attend, with more males than females. Another 55% of the respondents may attend, as shown in Chart 13. Chart 13: Do you think you will attend other types of sports events next year? Of the respondents, 33% will suggest to their friends or other people that they should visit Eastbourne; 8% will not, while 49% may suggest this. Overall, the females had more or equal probability of suggesting this than the males, as shown in Chart 14 below. Chart 14: Will you suggest to your friends or other people to attend sports events in Eastbourne? In the public views about Eastbourne as an event or attraction location, different views were received in the survey. Focusing on the maximum survey feedback using the 5-point Likert scale in each question, 51% of the respondents responded neutrally to the suggestion that Eastbourne has become a more attractive place to visit after hosting sports. Of the respondents, 56% were neutral on the recommendation that Eastbourne should launch new sports next year; 45% of the respondents were neutral on the view that attending sports at Eastbourne provides a different view of the place; 57% of the respondents that have previously visited Eastbourne were neutral that they would soon take their friends or family to visit the place for a holiday; 35% of equal respondents were neutral and disagreed that Eastbourne has a variety of activities; 25% agreed that there are other things to see and explore other than sports; 58% were agreed on the experience that they had good time with family and friends whenever they attended sports at Eastbourne; 36% agreed that they enjoyed attending sports at Eastbourne; 61% were neutral that attending sports at Eastbourne provided good value for their money. Finally, 39% were agreed that attending sports at Eastbourne was a good experience. The collective feedback from the Likert reflections is elaborated in Chart 15 below. Chart 15: Public view of Eastbourne 4.3 Interview Findings In this part, in-depth interviews with local residents, hotels, restaurants, attractions and Tourist Information in Eastbourne were carried out to meet objective two and three. The interview transcripts are presented in Appendix E. Events contribute to the image of Eastbourne as a modern seaside destination Events are a common strategy for improving the image of destinations following the places as a tourist attraction. From the literature review, Jago et al. (2003) note that most destinations take advantage of events to widen public awareness or project their image. Places such as Eastbourne have followed suit by promoting the city as a modern seaside destination. Various interview respondents concurred on the positive image, while others disagreed with the same factor. Two out of the five interviewees who concurred set the publicizing of Eastbourne town as a prerequisite for the image uplift in comparison with established event destinations such as Brighton. Geir et al. (2010) are among the researchers who established that hosting events could indeed improve the image of destination towns. The image of Eastbourne has changed since hosting events such as sport events It is common for various destinations to use events as an image promotional strategy, especially those that have historically been unknown. The literature findings from Manzenreiter (2010) show sport as the most common event applied by nations and destinations to bolster their image. Eastbourne town operates in accordance with this tourist attraction strategy since there is a current drive to change the public perceptions of Eastbourne from that of an old people’s town to that of a younger generation’s town. The interviewees had varied responses citing specific events that contributed to a positive image of the seaside destination. Among the events cited as contributing to this positive image is the AGEON International Tennis where some of the public were attending for the very first time. One interviewee thought that hosting events had portrayed Eastbourne as a generation Y town, which differentiates it from the previous generation X perceptions. Whereas some interviewees agreed with the image shift of Eastbourne after hosting the events, one was still skeptical. The interesting issue about generational perceptions is whether or not they signal behavior change. Indeed, Kaplanidou and Vogt (2007) established that there are various relationships between sport events and public behavior such as tourism, and that not every attitudinal factor results in actual behavioral change. Moreover, there can be synergy between the motivations to see a sporting event and to visit a certain place but that this is not a balanced relationship. The image of an event tends to influence perception of a destination, but there is much less likelihood of the image of a destination influencing perceptions of an event. The present study supports Kapkanidou and Vogt’s findings in this respect, and this suggests in turn that a focus on high status events is a good strategy to improve Eastbourne’s image. Sports events bring benefit to Eastbourne as a seaside destination From experience, various benefits are because of hosting sports events in towns. The foregoing literature review revealed that sports events are a leading factor in the events industry since numerous tourists visit the hosting town and there are obvious economic gains (Bowdin et al., 2011). Additionally, media involvement in the events creates awareness about the town (Liu and Gratton, 2010). From the interviews, one respondent asserted that the town was famous even before the active sports events were hosted. Another respondent claimed a demographic shift of young people frequenting Eastbourne town. In this case of behaviour change, the Kaplanidou and Vogt (2007) study is still relevant in support of it because it is positive behavior change which can project the benefits of such events. Nevertheless, Getz (1997) claims good management of events can assure the people of the benefits that they bring to the destination. Some interviewees were in denial that sports events have benefits for a town such as Eastbourne. However, Mallen and Adams (2008) hold different views that sports are recreational events at which the public can revitalise their lives. It appears that not everyone is convinced of the benefits of sporting events, and that Eastbourne still has a long way to go in gaining public understanding and approval of its strategy to use events for reputation enhancements. Sports events bring problems to Eastbourne as a seaside destination There are counter-productive consequences of hosting events in destination towns. Many of these affect the local community to their displeasure. In the literature review, Twyname and Johnson (2004) agree that sport events have both desirable and undesirable effects for the host destination with the negative ones being an upsurge in crime levels, congestion in traffic and human crowding. According to all the interviewees, it is apparent that major sports events cause a lot of traffic congestion for both automobiles and people. This outcome also seems to agree with Getz (1997) in that proper planning must precede such events. On the same point, Mallen and Adams (2008) note that with such events planners must be able to theorise such problems and come up with mitigation strategies. It is not so much the events themselves that are the problem, but the way in which they are run, and the lack of careful infrastructure planning to deal with sudden increases in transport use and transient population. Hosting sports events helps Eastbourne in attracting more tourists This experience has been replicated in other destination towns which seek to use sport as a key tourist attraction event. In the literature review, Alves et al. (2010) support the position that sports attract tourists, holidaymakers and business investors while stimulating internal and external spending. Using the example of a rural cherry festival in Portugal which attracts much needed currency to an area of low employment, Alves argues that a proper impact assessment needs to be carried out, long before any visitors arrive. Local community involvement is actively sought, and adjustments are made by the local population to ensure that visitors are well looked after, and at the same time, local businesses can draw maximum profit from the event. These outcomes do not happen by accident, and the research underlines the absolute necessity of a carefully worked out project plan and clear frameworks for anticipating and dealing with disruptive or stressful influences which emerge when large numbers of people descend on a destination. The same view is upheld by Richard and Palmer (2010) who note that sports has emerged as a strong and famous way to enhance the tourist potenntial of a destination. In the interviews, there was significant agreement with the AEGON International Tennis tournament emerging as one of the major tourism attractants. Other respondents felt that sports appeal more to the younger people, while others felt that there are coincidental tourists who will come to Eastbourne whether there are sports events or not. Pennington-Gray and Holdnak (2002) are categorical that sports can bring more tourists to any town irrespective of the demographic divide. Clearly there are variations in the literature, largely caused by specific contexts and events which have their own particular dynamics. In general, however, there is good support for the hypothesis that sports events do benefit destinations. The community gets benefit from the hosting sports events in Eastbourne Apart from the promotion of tourism, sports events support the economies of the host destinations, albeit for only shortt periods or seasons. Literature by Bowdin et al. (2011) confirms that when tourists attend these sporting events, they spend money as well as uplift the economy of shops and the hospitality business such as cafeterias and hotels. From the interviews, the greatest benefit was income and infrastructure developments such as roads. Some respondents disagreed with this analysis, and this shows a lack of commitment across all segments of society to the expansion of sporting events. Local business owners stand to gain a lot more from such events than, for example, pensioners or unemployed people who may have little interest in sports and/or insufficient income to participate as spectators. There needs to be more research into ways of ensuring that the benefits are spread across wider sections of society. According to Moscardo (2007), there are various developmental effects for a town hosting sports events on regular or infrequent occasions. The primary benefit has been infrastructural expansion and maintenance, as seen in the case of Eastbourne but there is no reason why more benefits should not be found. 4.4 Discussion of Findings Under a triangulation approach of findings, each of these hypotheses was tested. The following four central hypotheses were evaluated from the literature review and survey findings: H1. The sports events have motivated visitors to come to Eastbourne. H2. People know about Eastbourne because of sports events. H3. Sports events could help to attract more tourists to Eastbourne. H4. Attendants are satisfied from attending sports events in Eastbourne. Under a triangulation approach of findings, each of these hypotheses were tested. H1. The sports events have motivated visitors to come to Eastbourne From the literature review, various researchers support the above hypothesis. First Bowdin et al. (2011) cited a stressed working class that seek avenues for relaxation resorting to destinations such as Eastbourne to revitalise their minds and productivity. Second, Getz (1997) cites a more elaborate conceptual framework to explain the people’s motivation to visit Eastbourne as prompted by sports events. Coming from needs analysis, people advance their motives, generate expectations of the sports events and the benefits, evaluate the substitutes, outline constraints and make the final decision to attend. Hallmann and Breuer (2009) in support of this hypothesis, underscored the importance of sports events to pass a message to the public about a destination. Finally, Kaplanidou and Vogt (2007) support this hypothesis by stating that sport projects the image of destinations as a motivational dimension for visitors. Indeed, the survey to verify the most attended event at Eastbourne showed a combined gender percentage of 99% going to sports events (Chart 9). This shows that nearly half of the people have a good motivation to attend sports at that location compared to other events, further supporting the hypothesis. Nevertheless, this study assumed a positivist philosophy; hence, at least 50% survey support was required to support the hypothesis which is not the case here. Thus, the survey outcome nullifies the hypothesis. This hypothetical nullification is further supported by the subsequent findings in Chart 13, where only 28% of the respondents are motivated and think they will attend other types of sports next year, while 55% may attend. Additionally, in Chart 14, only 33% of the people are motivated to recommend friends or other people to attend sports events at Eastbourne. Furthermore, Chart 12 shows that only 18% are motivated to attend the same sport event next year. In the interview segment, the motivation factor attests from the tourist attraction. Three respondents refuted outright the hypothesis about sports events motivating visitors to Eastbourne. Another two respondents, even though affirmative, were not solid in supporting this hypothesis. Since the surveys and interviews are the most current positions in this study, the hypothesis is not supported. However, there is room for improvement as will be recommended in the next study chapter. H2. People know about Eastbourne because of sports events Various literature findings support this hypothesis that people know Eastbourne due to sports events. According to Eastbourne Borough Council (2011) Eastbourne Extreme alone brings in over 30,000 visitors every year. This is a huge publicity gain since most of these are first time visitors as established in the survey Chart 8, while others attend sometimes due to the same sports events knowledge. From the same chart, Eastbourne Cycling is also a popular sport knowledge and attraction. Moreover, in Chart 15, most people support the hypothesis that sports events makes destinations such as Eastbourne known. Indeed, the interviewed responses also support the hypothesis that sports events makes destinations such as Eastbourne known, with the benefit of changing its image and perceptions about it being an old people’s town. H3. Sports events could help to attract more tourists to Eastbourne Bowdin et al. (2011), in supporting this hypothesis, state that sports events attract tourist through calendar schedules. These are mega events, calendar events, one-off events and showcases. Each of these events comes with various tourist benefits such as media publicity, economic activities, trade, and other multiple advantages. Weeds and Bull (2004) also concur and support this hypothesis, by focusing on the entertainment-seeking tourist. Even though some respondents were in denial that sports bring tourism to destinations such as Eastbourne, the majority agree and support the hypothesis. Similarly, the surveys in Chart 15 mainly agree with the hypothesis. Furthermore, Chart 11 shows that at least 36% of the people feel that sport promotes tourist attraction to Eastbourne. Therefore, largely, the hypothesis is supported. H4. Attendants are satisfied from attending sports events in Eastbourne According to the survey feedback, in the attendance of sports events in Eastbourne in Chart 15, at least 39% agree that sports events give them a good experience; only 18% thought that they do not get value for their money spent and only 1% disagrees that they have a good time with their friends and family. According to the interview findings, there were respondents citing satisfaction with the economy and business opportunities brought by sports, while others cited problems such as congestion and traffic jams caused by the masses. Overall, the attendants were satisfied from attending sports at Eastbourne, and they are assured that the government is working to alleviate the negative effects. 4.6 Summary This chapter has presented the survey findings, interview feedback, and critical analysis alongside the related literature review. This chapter has concluded by testing the four hypotheses that arose from the literature review. Hypothesis H1 is the only one that was not supported by the evidence; however, H2, H3, H4 were overwhelmingly supported. The next chapter will present the conclusion of the studies alongside the study objectives and provide recommendations for all gaps. Appendix D I am a student at University of Brighton in MSc International Event Management. The reason for this questionnaire is for my final project to find out how sports events could help to attract tourists to Eastbourne. This questionnaire will take about 10 minutes. All of your information will be kept completely confidential and no third person will have access to it. Part1 1. Gender 2. Age 3. Nationality 4. Highest Education ? Secondary/High School ? College ? University ? Others 5. What the first thing comes to your mind when thinking about Eastbourne? ? Seaside Town ? Eastbourne Pier ? Old people Town ? Event City 6. Where are you from? ? From Eastbourne (Please go to no.12) ? Outside the UK (Specify) ? Inside the UK (outside Eastbourne-Specify) 7. How long are you staying in Eastbourne? ? Not staying overnight ? 1-4 days ? 5-7 days ? More than one week 8. Who have you come to Eastbourne with? ? Alone ? Family ? Friends ? Others 9. The reason why you came to Eastbourne is? (You can answer more than one answer) ? Visit Friends/Family ? Shopping ? Sightseeing ? Attend Events in Eastbourne (Please go to no.11) 10. Do you think you will attend some events while in Eastbourne next time? ? Yes ? No ? Maybe 10a. If yes, which events (You do not need to fill in next question, Thank you very much) 11. Did you know about Eastbourne before or because of events? ? Know from before ? Because of events 12. Do you often attend events in Eastbourne? ? First time ? Often (Specify how many) ? Sometimes (Specify how many) ? Rarely (Specify how many) 13. What type of events have you attended? (You can answer more than one answer) ? Culture Event (Music event) ? Festivals (Beer Festival) ? Sports Event (Please go to no.15) ? Others 14. Do you think you will attend a sports event next time? (You do not need to fill in next question, Thank you very much) ? Yes ? No ? Maybe Part 2 15. What sports events would you like to attend? ? AEGON International Tennis ? Eastbourne Extreme ? Eastbourne Cycling ? Others 16. Do you think staging major sport events in a city affects the way in which you view that city as a whole? ? Yes ? No ? Maybe 17. Do you think you will attend the same sports events again next year? ? Yes ? No ? Maybe 18. Do you think you will attend other types of sports events next year? ? Yes ? No ? Maybe 19. Will you suggest to your friends or other people to attend sports in Eastbourne? ? Yes ? No ? Maybe When thinking about sports events in Eastbourne how strongly do you agree with the following statements? Please mark answer. Statement 1=Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3=In Different 4=Agree 5=Strongly Agree Attending sports events in Eastbourne give you good experience You think attending sports events in Eastbourne are good value for your money. You were enjoying from attending sports events in Eastbourne. You have good time with your friends/family from attending sports events in Eastbourne. Apart from sports events, there are varieties of things to see and to explore. You think there are varieties of activities in Eastbourne. After you attended sports events in Eastbourne, you think Eastbourne is a good place to take family and friends for holiday. You think attending sports events give you different views of Eastbourne You think Eastbourne should launch new sports events next year. You think Eastbourne has become a more attractive place to visit after hosting sports events. Thank you for giving your time Appendix E Scale: ALL VARIABLES Case Processing Summary N % Cases Valid 84 80.0 Excludeda 21 20.0 Total 105 100.0 a. Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure. Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .932 10 Appendix F Interviews The following are the interview findings from 5 respondents. Q1: How do you think events contribute to the image of Eastbourne as a modern seaside destination? Respondent 1 agreed that events can help to promote Eastbourne as a seaside destination but she did not think it could help to make Eastbourne have image of modern seaside destination when compared to Brighton. Respondent 2 agreed that events can help to contribute to the image of Eastbourne as a modern seaside town but it has improved slowly and now people know Eastbourne better than before. Respondent 3 did not agree that events can help to make the image of Eastbourne as a modern seaside town. Respondent 4 did not think events can help to contribute to the image of Eastbourne as a modern seaside destination. Respondent 5 did not think that events can help to contribute the image of Eastbourne as a modern seaside destination. Q2: Do you think the image of Eastbourne has changed since hosting events such as sports events? Respondent 1 thought the image of Eastbourne has changed a little bit after hosting some of sports events such as AEGON International Tennis and people recognise Eastbourne more than before. Respondent 2 thought the image of Eastbourne has changed from an elderly or retired people’s town to be a younger generation town after it hosted some sports events such as Eastbourne Extreme which can attract more young people to Eastbourne. Respondent 3 thought the image of Eastbourne is still the same. It has not changed from before hosting sports events. Respondent 4 did not think the image of Eastbourne changed after hosting some sports events. Respondent 5 thought sports events do not help to improve the image of Eastbourne. Q3: Which benefits do you think do sports events bring to Eastbourne as a seaside destination? Respondent 1 thought that Eastbourne become more well known as a seaside town than before because there are more tourists visiting Eastbourne thoughout the year. Respondent 2 thought that sports events can help to attract more young people to come to Eastbourne and it makes them have a positive attitude about Eastbourne after they attend sports events. It also helps to bring more income to hotels, restaurants and local shops. Respondent 3 did not think sports events can help to bring any benefit to Eastbourne. Respondent 4 thought that sports events bring some benefits to Eastbourne but it does not bring much to the local community such as income. Respondent 5 did not think sports events can help to bring any benefit to Eastbourne but she thought festivals such as Airborne help to promote Eastbourne more because they can bring more tourists in. Q4: Which problems do you think do sports events bring to Eastbourne as a seaside destination? Respondent 1: Traffic jams and crowds. Respondent 2: Traffic jams and parking not enough. Respondent 3: Traffic jams and parking spaces. Respondent 4: Traffic jams and not enough public transport. Respondent 5: Traffic jams and crowds. Q5: Do you think hosting sports events helps Eastbourne in attracting more tourists? Respondent 1 thought that only some sports events such as AEGON International Tennis can bring more tourists to Eastbourne rather than other sports events. Respondent 2 thought that sports events can attract more tourists to Eastbourne, especially young people. Respondent 3 did not think sports events can help to bring more tourists to Eastbourne because tourists normally come to Eastbourne for day trips or short breaks. Respondent 4 did not think sports events can help to bring more tourists to Eastbourne but people come to Eastbourne for their holiday or a day trip and they have a chance to attend sports events. Respondent 5 thought that sports events can attract tourists to Eastbourne but not much. Q6: Which benefit does the community get from the hosting sports events in Eastbourne? Respondent 1 said it helps to bring an income but it does not help much because the number of jobs is still limited. Respondent 2 said it helps to bring an income to local businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and shops. The road has improved. Respondent 3 said it does not bring any benefit to the local community. Respondent 4 said some roads have had improvement. Respondent 5 said it does not bring any benefit to the local community Read More