The Impacts of Events - World Expo in China - Assignment Example

?World Expo Shanghai, China Introduction The World Expo was a grand event and through it, Shanghai wanted to promote itself as the new cosmopolitan city, it’s a major event being first since 1992 and signified great pride and togetherness. It was a splendid event at the socio-cultural level as well as over 73 million people visited which was a record attendance along with a participation of 250 countries and international organizations. It was also able to set up a record of having 1.03 million visitors in a single day. The World Expo has set new standards for encouraging tourism within a country. A good tourism package, in the past, only used to consider visitor attractions, entertainment, transportation, hospitality and good accommodation. Tourists’ focus then started to shift with the advancements in the event industry. As event planners came into the picture they realized that the tourism industry needed social events which lead to the event tourism industry (Lim & Lee, 2006). People usually travel to destinations for leisure and relaxation purposes but there are also people who travel to destinations for the purpose of business meetings, conferences, workshops and other similar social events. This movement of people has given rise to the event tourism industry (WTO, 1995). Events and tourism now go hand in hand, and so one without another seems incomplete. The perfect way to describe tourism would be to say that it takes a systematic planning process along with development and marketing of special events and festivals as tourist attractions (Kreag, 2001). These events are usually organized after looking at the behavior of tourists and the things which attract them towards a destination. Moreover, tourism management aims at event tourism at complete utilization of the capabilities of events so as to attain overall tourism development. Event tourism also includes the research on people’s travelling motives which can be characterized as cultural, prestigious, physical, social and interpersonal motives and are pleased by diverse and unusual events. The Worlds Expo 2010, organized in Shanghai, China, was a similar event which was organized to seek attention of the world and to increase tourism prospects in China. It was a 184 days event which was eyed by the whole World. There are many credits given to the World Expo (2010) and so it was able to positively engage the world to China. China as a country has a history of hosting such events, but the Expo 2010 proved to be the best one indeed and was referred to as an event having its class apart. The standards set by the World Expo 2010 are very difficult to break by any other World Event such as this one. Socio - Cultural impact of the World Expo 2010 A country which has a good image in terms of social events just is more likely to make itself the spot for tourist attraction. The expected impacts of the Worlds Expo 2010 were positively seen on the host country, as through holding social events like these, a host country or the destination is able to make its own standing and create its brand image (Emma H. Wood, 2005). Also, since the country becomes famous for its culture and infrastructure, its resorts also become famous and many companies start holding their annual meetings and other conferences in that country, magnetizing more and more people towards it (Allen, 2009). Similarly, China had many benefits because of the World Expo, as the event was remarkably successful and attracted many countries towards it and the more a country is able to attract tourists, the more it is able to raise its finances through tourism (Solberg & Preuss, 2007). China has now become one of the best host countries, because of the impression it created in front of the whole world, without the itinerary of such events, tourism is held incomplete (Henderson, 2006). Such events are not only created for revenue generation or for economic benefits but are also created to highlight the social culture of the country. These socio-cultural impacts go a long way to benefit the overall image of the country. The socio- cultural impacts of the World Expo 2010 are: Strengthening community identity and pride Grand cultural festivals like the World Expo from time to time can create some consequences which can negatively affect the agenda and conclude the way the public perceives the event if not handled and managed properly but if properly exhibited, the cultural festivals can impact the host country as a means of strengthening the regional norms, traditions and The World Expo was organized properly and so was able to strengthen the community pride of China. It was also able to spread the essence of the true identity of China and the impression created by this event will be remembered by the whole world always. The proper execution of the Expo played a very important role in this, the way they exhibited their culture and infrastructure was a remarkable part of the success of this Expo The once hidden culture of China was regarded as very old fashioned but since they created their good brand image through the World Expo, the same culture is now regarded as diverse, colorful and very audacious to explore. Therefore, a proper execution of events like Expo can lead a country towards prosperity (Chaudhary, 2000). The World Expo created mere simple experiences in the form of collective entertainment and was also able to deepen the already formed community pride, initiate new and diverse ideas which further help in the revitalization of the traditions of the host country, China. Developing social capital A host country initiates a series of cultural fests in order to attract more tourists into their country; however, this may affect the socio cultural environment of the host country itself (Roche, 1992). The development of social capital is also initiated by hosting such events in the country (Cohen, 1972). Through the World Expo, china was able to gather a lot of social capital, as the once formalized communication was able to dissect from its nature and enter a more casual conversation. This communication, which was no more restricted by the ethnic boundaries, was able to produce a social relationship of China with other countries that awarded the World Expo with their presence. This provided China with a better social standing and an improved social image as a host. Countries which are able to create their social standing usually achieve great economic benefits (Beckenbach, 1989). Social Environmental impacts The World Expo was able to create a very beneficial social environment of China as many Country heads were present for its ending. A proper environmental assessment is needed to be carried out before actually hosting a cultural fest, the venue of the cultural fest, being the most important, should be carefully picked and should be sufficient enough to house the guests coming in to attend it (Hiller, 1998). A mismanaged venue can be problematic for the host country as well as for the tourists and will have negative impacts on the environment of the host country. The World Expo was carefully organized and the preparations of it had been started for earlier than even a year before the event. This made it possible for China to create a good social networking environment and Expo was regarded as a successful event which was able to make guests comfortable and made their visit worth remembering. The whole panning team the World Expo did not even leave a one loose end as they knew that A bad impression can always leave bad branding image in the minds of the people and in this case any environment damage done by the tourists even in the course of the event can make news highlights and negatively impact the image of the host country. Such negative news was circulated before and after the Expo as well but was soon taken care of in order to save the World Expo’s image. Socio-economical impacts The main impact that a host country wants from cultural fests is that they should be able to improve its economic conditions (Zhou et al, 1997). The more a host country is able to attract tourism the more jobs are created, more income is generated and in return the economic conditions of the host country are improved. These economic improvements then are able to impact the country socially (Frechtling, 1994).Therefore, the social impacts associated with the economic ones for the World Expo were successfully achieved for China. They plan on marketing Shanghai at the corporate level to investors and business persons which the Expo was able to achieve throughout its 184 days or proper event execution. The impacts of social events summarized (adapted from Bodwin, 2006, 61.) Positive Impacts Achieved through Expo Social and Cultural Shared experience yes Revitalization of traditions yes Building of community pride yes Validation of community groups yes Increased community participation yes Introduction of new and challenging ideas yes Expansion of cultural perspective yes CRITERIA AND TECHNIQUES FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACTS The World Expo 2010 was a grand event and through it, Shanghai wanted to promote itself as the new cosmopolitan city, it’s a major event being first since 1992 and signified great pride and togetherness. It was a splendid event at the socio-cultural level as well as over 73 million people visited which was a record attendance along with a participation of 250 countries and international organizations. It was also able to set up a record of having 1.03 million visitors in a single day. This was not easy task and took a lot of effort from the government and the organizers to handle. The analysis of the socio-cultural impact of the World Expo was assessed using the following aspects. Social Cost benefit analysis The best way to assess is to do a cost benefit analysis which is to analyze the benefits which were provided by the event to the host country along with the tangible and/or intangible costs associated with it (Timothy, Tyrrel and Johnson, 2001). Post-event surveys The attitudes of people towards the Expo gave an overall good analysis. The media related survey showed the positive feedback of people towards the proper execution of the World Expo. STRATEGIES USED TO MAXIMISE THE POSITIVE IMPACTS AND TO MINIMIZE THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS Proper planning The World Expo 2010 was no doubt incredibly flaw less; the planning of an event is the essence of organizing a cultural fest (Jacob and David, 2004). Shanghai made sure that a plan should be made and assessed prior to the event in order to avoid any risks involved with its successful execution (Jacob and David, 2004). The planning phase should include the number of expected guests, the proper infrastructure and venue for the event, a good entertainment package, security, parking and setting up boundaries for the people to remain consolidated in one particular area (Jacob and David, 2004). This was so with World Expo as well. Possible risk factors No matter how smoothly planning is carried out, there are always certain risks involved when planning a grand event like the World Expo 2010 (guidelines, 2007). Thus, the possible risks should also be documented and strategies to avoid them in a state of their occurrence should also be formulated prior to the occurrence of the event (Jacob and David, 2004). The World Expo also incorporated the risk factors involved before the occurrence of this grand event which eliminated the possible risks associated to it. Marketing Marketing is very important when hosting a grand event like the World Expo 2010, for tourists, a strong marketing budget and campaign will help in bringing people from all over the world to attend the event (Frechtling, 1994). Such as in the case of the World Expo a proper marketing created a good image of the event which attracted many countries and businesses from all over the world to attend it. Tourists are the basic aim of organizing such events, and so without their presence the event might not be able to attain the perceived economic benefits totally. REFERENCES Top of Form Allen, J. (2009). Event planning: the ultimate guide to successful meetings, corporate events, fundraising galas, conferences, conventions, incentives and other special events. Wiley. Archer, B., Cooper, C., & Ruhanen, L. (2012). 5 The positive and negative impacts of tourism. Global tourism, 79. Beckenbach, F. (1989). Social costs in modern capitalism?. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 1(3), 72-91. Bowdin, G. A. J. (2006). Events management. Amsterdam [u.a.: Elsevier. Chaudhary, M. (2000). India's image as a tourist destination—a perspective of foreign tourists. Tourism Management, 21(3), 293-297. Cohen, E. (1972). Toward a sociology of international tourism. Social research, 164-182. Frechtling, D. C. (1994). Assessing the economic impacts of travel and tourism–Introduction to travel economic impact estimation. Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Second Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 359-366. Gnoth, J. (1997). Tourism motivation and expectation formation. Annals of Tourism research, 24(2), 283-304. Greenwood, D. J., & Smith, V. L. (1989). Culture by the pound: an anthropological perspective on tourism as cultural commoditization. Hosts and guests. The anthropology of tourism., (Ed. 2), 171-185. Hawkins, D. E., & Holtz, C. (2001). 12 Environmental policies and management systems related to the global tourism industry. Tourism in the Age of Globalisation, 10, 261. Henderson, J. C. (2006). Tourism in Dubai: overcoming barriers to destination development. International Journal of Tourism Research, 8(2), 87-99. Hiller, H. H. (1998). Assessing the impact of mega-events: a linkage model.Current Issues in Tourism, 1(1), 47-57. Hodur, N. M., & Leistritz, F. L. (2007, October). Estimating the economic impact of event tourism. In Journal of convention & event tourism (Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 63-79). Taylor & Francis Group. Ivanov, S., & Webster, C. (2007). Measuring the impact of tourism on economic growth. Tourism Economics, 13(3), 379-388. Janeczko, B., Mules, T., & Ritchie, B. (2002). Estimating the Economic Impacts of Festivals and Events: a research guide. CRC for Sustainable Tourism. Kreag, G. (2001). The impacts of tourism. Lim, S. T., & Lee, J. S. (2006). Host population perceptions of the impact of mega-events. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 11(4), 407-421 Matthews, H. G., & Richter, L. K. (1991). Political science and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 18(1), 120-135. Mules, T., & Faulkner, B. (1996). An economic perspective on special events.Tourism Economics, 2(2), 107-117. Richter, L. K. (1983). Tourism politics and political science: A case of not so benign neglect. Annals of Tourism Research, 10(3), 313-335. Roche, M. (1992). Mega-events and micro-modernization: on the sociology of the new urban tourism. British Journal of Sociology, 563-600. Solberg, H. A., & Preuss, H. (2007). Major sport events and long-term tourism impacts. Journal of Sport Management, 21(2), 213-234. Tyrrell, T. J., & Johnston, R. J. (2001). A framework for assessing direct economic impacts of tourist events: Distinguishing origins, destinations, and causes of expenditures. Journal of travel Research, 40(1), 94-100. Wood, E. H. (2005). Measuring the economic and social impacts of local authority events. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 18(1), 37-53. World Tourism Organization (WTO). (1995). What Tourism Managers Need to Know: A Practical Guide to the Development and Use of Indicators of Sustainable Tourism. Ottawa: Consulting and Audit Canada. Zhou, D., Yanagida, J. F., Chakravorty, U., & Leung, P. (1997). Estimating economic impacts from tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(1), 76-89. Bottom of Form Read More