Event Management in Sport, Recreation, and Tourism - Essay Example

? Event Tourism Event Tourism Introduction Tourism has always been one of the most popular industries around the world. Traditionally, a tourist attraction would be the destination’s scenic beauty, cultural heritage and natural landscapes. However, with the emerging popularity of the tourism business, there are now different types of tourisms that have evolved in the business such as event tourism. Event tourism generally refers to an event which is organized for an audience from around the world. The event can be a public or corporate event which attracts people from around the globe and they visit the country to attend the event. Event tourism as a business includes the hotel reservations, transportation facilities, journey tours, and several other procedures that are organized for the tourists in order to make it easy for them. Event tourism brings huge revenues for the host country and adds value to the destination itself. This paper will discuss how event tourism has emerged as a popular type of tourism and what the main goals are. The event tourism has taken a considerable position in the tourism industry of today. Many tourism industries have given special attention to the event tourism and worked with event management companies to ensure an attractive event. The event can be a cultural festival, a sports event, a religious rally or a corporate conference. Such events can be organized by the private or public sector but the tourism business boosts immensely during these events. This is because most of the tourism agencies play their part by assisting the tourists, planning tours for them, arranging tickets for the event and reserving hotel rooms. It is the responsibility of the community and the tourist agencies to manage and supervise these major events which attract people from all over the world (Getz, 2008, p. 415). The major approach that a community shall adopt to host a successful event is the effective tourism planning. Even though the normal tourism industry faces much ups and downs regularly which are due to a variety of reasons such as changing weather conditions, acts of violence etc. But the event tourism industry manages to produce a large number of populations despite any of these factors. The major events that are planned have financial aspects which are arranged in advance so that the market fluctuations do not affect the arrangements. The host community for major events such as the cricket world cup or the Olympics is decided as a result of a tough competition. The wide range of events adds to the host community’s economic health and a community shall carry out certain roles to determine the development of their event tourism industry. There are many aspects that a community has to consider while deciding whether to host a major event or not. Before competing for the hosting of the special event, a community must do their homework. A community shall consider an event specialist and know about all the basics about the event. This includes the event demographics, the needs, the dates and the things that need to be avoided for example in a religious event, a community might consider which drinks to serve and which ones to avoid. It is important for a community to know its own strengths and weaknesses before hosting a major event. The major things to consider are the funds available for the event, the employees that are available and how skilled they are like are they multilingual, the facilities that can be offered and those which can’t be offered (Damster, 2005, p. 4). Advertising is another important action that has to be taken by the community and the tourism agencies to develop the event tourism and to host a major event. A community must know the potential basics before advertising the event and the facilities. The community must be sure of the party who is holding the event and the type of audience which is targeted. They should know the reason and motive behind the event, the reasons for choosing the location for the event and the expectations of the event managers from the community. Once a community is ready with the answers to all these aspects, they are suitable to host the event. Such major events are a chance for the community to rise and be valued, and the tourism industry to flourish. There are many people and groups that are involved in the development of the event tourism. The process starts with the planning of the event, managing it, preparing it and then the role of the tourism industry. However, the potential stakeholders involved in event tourism are the community, the event managers, the employees of the tourism agencies and the customers/audience. The community is the largest stakeholder as it arranges, allows and manages the major event to take place. The government of the country would be a major stakeholder as they provide the space and the funds to organize the event. The organization and management is an important factor to attract the audience and give way to the event tourism industry to develop (Adams, 2013, p. 66). The event managing companies and event planners are important stakeholders as they manage the event from the beginning till the end. The ones who are holding the event also have event planners that play the role of carrying out the event according to their standards. These event planners make sure that they have enough space and resources and according to them they plan the event framework. On the other hand the event managers of the host country ensure that the location is secure, the seats are organized, there are no mishaps, there are no external threats and other aspects related to the event. The tourism agencies and their employees hold immense importance as stakeholders in the development of the event tourism industry. A destination may host a major event but it would be impossible without the role of the tourism agencies and their employees. The huge number of audience that arrives in the country to attend the event is assisted by the tourism agency’s employees. These employees provide the tourists with the hotel reservations in advance, the transportation facilities, the tours and the program outline which tells them about the event. These employees are available online and through telephones for advance bookings. Different tourism agencies may have different packages and facilities which overall assist the tourists and provide them with the overview of the destination rather than only the event. Some tourists, thus, take tours around the destination when they are free. The tourists are also stakeholders who help in the development of the event tourism industry by utilizing the facilities (Smith, 2006, p. 85). The main reason why destinations develop their event tourism industry is because of the value that it brings to the destination. As discussed earlier, many tourists come for attending the major events but also visit the natural attractions of the destination. This increases the value of the destination. Some tourism agencies offer it as a part of their package which may include the assistance to the event and the tours to such scenic beauties and tourist attractions. In the time when these tourists are free from their events, they visit these places and it increases the value as well as the economic health. Tourism industry is a great source of revenue to the countries and hosting a major event would mean a massive population of tourists entering the country. Tourism industries offer employment opportunities to many and thus they ensure that their customer service is such that it leaves a memorable impact on the tourists. While the community advertises about the major event, they also include the significance of their country and attract the tourists towards their natural and scenic beauty (Rashid, 2008, p. 77). A destination thus attracts the tourists through event tourism and gets the opportunity to present the strengths and beauties of the country to the large number of tourists. These tourists would definitely share their pictures, talk about their experience and give their reviews online which would be visible to other people. Event tourism is a way in which a great vibe of positivity hits the tourist industry even after the event is over. The event planners also give their reviews and experience publicly about their experience in the specific country which leaves an impact on the tourists for a lifetime, and a great percentage of tourists are likely to visit the destination again at least once more in their life. Olympics are one of the best examples which show the significance of event tourism. Olympics took place in London in 2012 and the official figures show that the event boosted the UK economy and got it out of recession. The tourism industry gained immense profit for their services and facilities. The hotels received more than estimated revenue collection and so did the tourism agencies. The event was a major success and it also increased the value of the destination. Even though London is already a major tourist attraction, the Olympics greatly boosted the tourism industry and benefited it (Cooper, 2003, p. 143). Another major example for the event tourism is the annual pilgrimage of the Muslims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The pilgrimage takes place every year and Muslims from around the world attend it as part of their religious practices. The pilgrimage boosts the tourism industry of Saudi Arabia immensely. There are tourists available online several months prior to the event. The tourists book hotels, hire assistant guides and visit other cities of Saudi Arabia too during their stay. Most of the tourists also visit Medina to the destinations holding religious significance. The community has to prepare and manage for the pilgrimage needs and facilities. The tourism agencies have to prepare for their services prior to the event. For this, these agencies have to contact the event managers and create sophisticated checklists which analyze the event beyond its basics. These checklists should include the aspects such as the basic needs of the tourists, the event date, time, nature and targeted audience. Then the agency shall consider the services that they would prepare for the tourists such as hotels, transportation, reaching to the events, preparing ambulance services and keeping the tourists secure of the political, religious or medical sensitivities. The tourism agency should also know the threats which are potentially involved with the event. It can either be a political threat, religious, or terrorist threat. The agency has to ensure that they plan their packages in a way that they do not disturb the local businesses or citizens (Butler, 2005, p. 257). A timeline shall be prepared which highlights the dates of the events and the needs as per the event’s necessities. This is important to make the event special for the client. This way there will be a less risk of doing a mistake and the client will be satisfied and happy with the service. A tourist agency shall provide the clients with the best services using as much as technological support as it is possible. Another major thing is the customer service through good conduct and behavior. Furthermore, there are tools that are used by the tourism agencies to keep the client updated and satisfied. These tools include the event portfolios, event calendars, maps and directories which are handed to the tourists to ensure that they are not unknown to the places around them. The event portfolio will give the tourist a clear picture of the events taking place on which date, time and place. The event calendars mark the schedules of the program and guide the tourists to plan their time in the way they want (Sharma, 2005, p. 51). Thus, many destinations compete in the major events to get the opportunity to host some of the major events that have varying locations such as the Olympics. The communities work hard to develop the industry of event tourism because of the positives it brings to the country. The event tourism may attract a large number of tourists unlike the leisure tourism industry. The event tourism increases the value of the destination greatly and unbelievably. The main goals remain to satisfy the customer, promote the local culture and natural beauty along with giving the tourists facilities to enjoy the event to the fullest so that they remember it for the rest of their lives. References Adams L. 2013. Event Management in Sport, Recreation and Tourism: Theoretical and Practical Dimensions. NY: Routledge Butler R. 2005. Tourism Development: Issues for a Vulnerable Industry. UK: Channel View Publications Cooper C. 2003. Classic reviews in Tourism. UK: Channel View Publications Damster G. 2005. Event Management: A Professional and Developmental Approach. SA: Juta and Company Ltd. Getz D. 2008. “Tourism Management” Elsevier. 29 (3), pp. 403-428 Rashid T. 2008. Events Management: An Integrated and Practical Approach. India: SAGE 77 Sharma K. 2005. Tourism and Development. India: Sarup & Sons Smith M. 2006. Tourism, Culture and Regeneration. UK: SABI Read More