The Impact of the Tour Down under on Different Stakeholders - Research Paper Example

?Running head: TOUR DOWN UNDER 23rd August Table of Contents 0 Introduction 3 2.0 Impacts on spectators (locals & visitors) 3 3.0 Impacts on participants 4 4.0 Teams that took place in 2012 and 2013 4 5.0 Impact on professional cyclists 6 6.0 Impacts on host communities (suppliers, local businesses, local community members) 7 7.0 Impacts on sponsors and partners (Government) 8 8.0 Impacts on media 9 9.0 Impacts on co-workers 10 10.0 Use of Tour Down Under to attract more tourists to South Australia 10 11.0 Conclusion 11 1.0 Introduction Tourism is one of the major drivers of global economy. In this regard, developed and developing countries have invested in sport tourism as a way of creating employment thus improving their economy. In Australia, sport tourism is a significant niche market that has positively impacted on the country’s development. Some of the notable events include AFL Grand Final, Clipsal and Tour Down Under. Based on its popularity among Australians and foreigners, Tour Down Under has been recognized as a major sport tourism event. Tour Down Under (TDU) is a cycling event held in South Australia. Based on its popularity in the country and across the globe, TDU attracts large numbers of tourists thus having a positive implication for the South Australia economy as well as social and cultural aspects of the region. Being held in January each year, the event has continued to attract a large number of participants thus making it act as a major source of tourism attraction. To the residents of Australia, TDU is not only seen as a sporting activity but also as a charity and international event that greatly benefit local people and the government (Hall, 1992). This paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the Tour Down Under on different stakeholders. In addition, the paper will discuss a strategy of using the event to attract more tourists to South Australia. 2.0 Impacts on spectators (locals & visitors) Having been established in 1999, Tour Down Under has continued to experience a steady growth making it the largest cycling race in the southern part of the globe (John, 2013). Based on its attractiveness and the ability to bring different cultures together, the event has continued to attract large number of spectators from all over the world. For instance in 2011 and 2013, 782,300 and 760,400 spectators respectively experienced the Tour Down Under. Due to the large number of spectators who come from various countries, the event was recognized by the Qantas Australia Tourism Awards in 2011 and 2012 as the best festival event. In order to attract more spectators, the Australia government in collaboration with Mike Turtur, the Tour Down Under directors, undertakes extensive promotion strategies. For example, in 2013 event the organizers held that when the Tour Down Under would hit the Adelaide Hills all the spectators would experience a European-style treat (John, 2013). In this way, the event has benefited from a strong loyalty from the spectators thus making it more popular. A notable aspect of the spectators is the creation of festival atmosphere by creating strong friendship with the visitors thus leading to visitor satisfaction. 3.0 Impacts on participants Tour Down Under participants include all 19 UCI WorldTour. Once the teams are ready, they join the Australian National UniSA team thus forming the Australian National UniSA team. Each team consists of seven riders (Gammon and Robinson, 2003). One of the major factors that enable the event to attract a large number of participants as well as spectators is the visual attributes of the landscape within which the event is held. The natural environment, the scenic vineyard and the sea, make the event provide a strong experience to the participants (Gibson and Heather, 1998). Some of the major regions that make up the tour include Barossa, Clare Valley, urban circuits, Saddleworth, Norwood and Hahndorf among other towns. Tour Down Under invites the winners of each year to join other riders. In this way, the competition becomes stiff thus making it a great experience for the local and foreign participants. The table below indicates the 19 teams that took place in 2012 and 2013. 4.0 Teams that took place in 2012 and 2013 2012 2013 Astana Astana Liquigas-Cannondale Team Sky Movistar Team Vacansoleil-DCM RadioShack-Nissan UniSA-Australia GreenEDGE Lampre-Merida Team Katusha Cannondale Ag2r-La Mondiale Movistar Team Garmin-Barracuda Team Saxo-Tinkoff Team Saxo Bank RadioShack-Leopard Vacansoleil-DCM FDJ BMC Racing Team Garmin-Sharp Team Sky Omega Pharma-Quick Step FDJ-BigMat Euskaltel-Euskadi Lampre-ISD Argos-Shimano UniSA-Australia Blanco Pro Cycling Omega Pharma-Quick Step Lotto-Belisol Lotto-Belisol BMC Racing Team Rabobank Orica-GreenEDGE Euskaltel-Euskadi Ag2r-La Mondiale 5.0 Impact on professional cyclists As mentioned earlier, TDU attracts professional cyclists from various countries. According to Green and Chalip (1998) local cyclists who have limited experience are then in a position to mingle with the professional cyclists thus benefiting from sharing cycling skills. As indicated by Smith and Stewart (2010) for an individual to be successful in sports, experience and practice are vital aspects. For its part, TDU provides ample sportscape and festivalscape not only to the local cyclists but also to the foreign professionals (Kathryn and Susan, 1996). Some of the major professional cyclists who participated in 2013 Tour Down Under are Mikel Astarloza, Simon Gerrans, Stuart O'Grady and Andre Greipel among others. Tom-Jelte Slagter, a renowned Dutch rider who was part of Blanco Pro Cycling squad won the 2013 Tour Down Under, while in 2012 tour, Simon Gerrans, an Australian and an experienced rider of the GreenEDGE team became the overall winner. There are seven eventscape factors that make TDU attract professional cyclists as well as local and foreign participants. First, the existence of physical properties of the eventscape is used to identify boundaries. Secondly, the natural environment and landscape provide a great experience for the riders (Brown et al., 2011). Thirdly, the spatial transformation of the environment provide viable atmosphere to the riders. Fourthly, the existence of visual features and symbols in the eventscape make the TDU an attractive sporting activity. Fifthly, there are different patterns of population at different eventscape thus creating spirit of togetherness. Sixthly, TDU offers experience that is vital for the participating riders in other international and local cycling competitions. Lastly, TDU offers long-term impacts and outcomes in various fields such as knowledge and skills transfer, riding experience and strong social ties among others. TDU also provides professional cyclists with opportunities that allow them to market themselves in the international market (Pettersson and Getz, 2009). For example, countries that are aimed at employing qualified and experienced cycling instructors are in a better position to obtain them by attending TDU event. 6.0 Impacts on host communities (suppliers, local businesses, local community members) Tour Down Under is a major source of income for the Australian government. Being the supplier of the service, the Australian government ensures that the event is sustainable by supporting it in terms of provision of security, capital, marketing and promotion strategies among other hospitality services. Based on the large number of participants and spectators, the event continues to boost the country’s economy by generating adequate finance. For instance, in 2010, $41million was generated by TDU. Another notable impact of TDU is increasing the number of foreign visitors to Australia even after the event. This is driven by the television coverage of the event that depicts the spectacular regions of the country, wildlife and towns among other tourist attracting sites. As a result of the increase in government revenue, investment in the country has expanded thus creating employment for the local people. In turn, household incomes have continued to increase thus creating a sustainable demand for local products thus making local businesses experience sustainable profits. Due to the increased number of visitors during TDU, hospitality industry in Australia experiences an increase in revenue based on the high demand for lodgings and food (Johnson, 1986). Similarly, the demand for transport services goes up thus benefiting taxi owners. One of the key aspects of Tour Down Under is that it leads to closure of major roads in the country. For example, in 2011 more than 735 roads were closed thus inconveniencing local communities. To offset this challenge, Fredline and Faulkner (2002) depict that the event organizers ensure that they provide the local communities with plenty of notice, thus ensuring that local communities attend to their transport needs before the event. In this way, owners of local businesses as well as local communities have continued to fully support the event. Benefits associated by the transformation of the natural environment during the event include improvement of infrastructure system and towns. As a result, local communities and business fraternity do not incur high costs of transporting their products after the event thus resulting in high profits. The geographical and cultural distinctiveness of the Southern Australia region is a key aspect that attracts foreign visitors (Lampert, 1979). As a result, there is intermingling of culture leading to transfer of knowledge, innovation and increased investment opportunities. Despite the hiring of workers to oversee TDU, local communities are involved in volunteering work. In this way, the volunteers feel as part and parcel of the Tour Down Under thus making them support the event and creating a sense of socialization. 7.0 Impacts on sponsors and partners (Government) Benefits that are generated by Tour Down Under are not only experienced by the government but also by the sponsoring partners. One of the major sponsors of Tour Down Under is Santos, a leading Australian oil producer. Under the leadership of David Knox, Santos expanded its sponsorship up to 2016. Being used as one of the avenues of corporate social responsibilities, the sponsorship has positive implication on the marketing strategies for Santos. Apart from improving the marketing strategies of the sponsoring partners, Tour Down Under offers unparalleled benefits and rewards among others (Parham, 2002). Similarly, TDU offers an opportunity through which sponsors have close contacts with spectators and fans which form part of their customers. In this way, the sponsors benefit from increased product awareness and product loyalty thus increasing the total sales for the companies. Other notable companies that are involved in the sponsoring of TDU includes The Advertiser, Hilton, Malaysia airlines, Skoda, University of South Australia, Leader Computers, People’s choice credit union and Avanti plus among others. In addition to the revenue generation, sponsoring partners are involved in environmental conservation. To ensure that visitors enjoy the event from the start up to the end, the government ensures adequate and well maintained parks where local and foreign visitors relax (Susan et al., 1996). Through being involved in charity work among other social activities, the sponsoring firms create a positive image in the eyes of the public thus creating a strong positive company-consumer relationship leading to high demand of their brands. 8.0 Impacts on media To ensure that spectators keenly follow the Tour Down Under, the government allows various media houses to provide coverage. This does not only provide revenue for the government but also it ensures close link between the spectators and the participants. In 2013 event, TDU was broadcasted on various international television networks. Some of the notable networks included Japanese JSPORTS, NBC Sport, Sport+, TDN and DirecTV, NOS and VTM and RTBF among others. Based on the employment of the various television channels, the government also benefited from increased revenue. For example, in 2013, $140 million was generated from the media coverage. To the sponsors and partners of TDU, media plays a vital role triggering many other firms to come on board and provide extensive sponsorship. For example, media create brand awareness and brand image for the sponsoring firms thus creating strong customer-product. Similarly, TDU plays a vital role in internal marketing, an aspect that has positively impacted on businesses performance in the Southern Australia. 9.0 Impacts on co-workers Under the leadership of Mike Turtur, Tour Down Under has been a successful event that has not only been as a result of adequate preparation by workers but also from spectators and the government support (Tim, 2009). One of the major responsibilities of the co-workers is to ensure an appropriate festivalscape that entails provision of tangible factors as well as festival atmosphere. In their studies Derek, et al. (2000) indicates that co-workers are involved in the establishment of physical properties of the ventscape and identification of boundaries. It is essential to note that for any sporting event to be successful, workers must ensure that physical boundaries that are easily identified by the participants are put in place. By initiating a strong team work, Turtur has ensured that TDU is undertaken through the spirit of togetherness and harmony. In this regard, Tour Down Under has created a spirit of team work among the organizers and the workers. Another positive implication of TDU among the co-workers is to provide them with planning and coordinating skills. For example, during the planning of the six race strategies, workers and the organizers are exposed to the various strategies that are involved in planning of activities and well as time management. 10.0 Use of Tour Down Under to attract more tourists to South Australia As a way of attracting more tourists to South Australia, TDU organizers should emulate social media as a promotion tool of the event. As the number of social sites users increases, more young people who are potential tourists will be aware of the event thus resulting in more visitors. Additionally, the government should initiate an extensive marketing campaign of TDU especially through local and foreign national television channels. In this way, more people will be aware of the date of the event, thus increasing the number of potential visitors. 11.0 Conclusion Based on the above discussion, it is clear that in the planning of any tourist sport such as the Tour Down Under, the aspect of eventscape cannot be overlooked. This entails provision of servicescapes that are aimed at achieving various experimental outcomes. Being one of the famous sporting events in Australia, Tour Down Under has generated various benefits to all the stakeholders who include participants, spectators, sponsors, co-workers, government, business communities and the public in general. As depicted in this paper, TDU creates ample opportunity for career development of the participants. To the sponsors such as The Advertiser, Santos, Hilton, Malaysia airlines and Skoda among others, the event has been used as a marketing tool in terms of improving brand image, enhancing brand awareness, as well as market interactivity. This has resulted in increased sales for sponsoring firms as well as government revenue. To the Australia government, TDU eventscape has led to long-term impacts and outcomes for example the economic multiplier effect (Tim and James, 2010). This has led to expansion of investment leading to more job opportunities. As the number of Tour Down Under spectators and participants continues to increase, so, too, has the demand for hospitality facilities. As a result, a high number of members of local communities have been employed in the hospitality industry thus ensuring that all the visitors are provided with excellent services (McCabe, 2005). 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