Relationship Between Tourism and Events - Essay Example

Relationship between Tourism and Events Introduction Events act as important motivators of tourism (Getz, 2008). Theyare significant in the development plans that are put in place in various regions. With the role they play in the tourism and economic sector, events have been found to act as attractions, catalysts since people move to the designated regions due to a specific event, facilitate place marketing, e.g. the 2010 world cup which was a great success to the Republic of South Africa, creating a good image of the region and marketing the image as well as acting as animators. Planned events have been well documented in the recent past due to their importance in the highlighted fields. Event tourism has therefore become a significant part of tourism with regions taking advantage of the events happening around them to boost their tourist ambitions (Quinn, 2009). Such events include the Olympics, the World Cup in various games such as soccer, volleyball, cricket, IAAF marathon, regional meetings, among others. Tourism is defined as travelling or visiting a place for a specific duration of time for recreational, religious, leisure, or business purposes. This essay will therefore explore and evaluate the relationship of events and tourism by looking at the advantages and the drawbacks posed by adopting events as a booster to tourism. This will be done by making reference to various events and the roles they played both as a tourist attraction and to the economic growth of the region. The stakeholders that are affected mainly includes the government; in a case where there is a major event such as the soccer world cup, the host nation invests heavily in anticipation of the visitors who will come. The public also benefits, both positively and negatively. Private investors such as those who have hotels around gain positively. For instance, looking at the 20th FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014, around 3.7 million tourists were expected in to brace the event (O’Neill, 2014). The twelve cities which were bound to host the event had planned adequately with the government investing around US $11.7 billion in the preparation of stadia and the other infrastructure in the country. Despite the expected benefits due to the massive numbers of tourists expected, it was noted that one of the greatest losers was the general public. This is on the amount of money that is channelled into the event at the expense of other developmental goals such as health. This was the main reason why protests were witnessed before the event (O’Neill, 2014). Roles Played by Events in Tourism One of the major changes that has been noted in the tourism sector in the recent years is the changing trends in the preferences of tourists. In the past, tourists were interested in visiting various regions to see various landmarks or historical sites. However, in the recent years, they are becoming more interested in specific forms of tourism which are characterised by emphasized individuality in satisfying their needs and desires (Tezak, Saftic and Sergo, 2011). One of these specific forms and the most successful is event tourism. Events work as an important motivator of tourism. It therefore figures prominently in developments and marketing plans of most regions (Getz, 2008). In fact, according to Getz, festivals which are well publicized and various major events have been found to be the fastest growing forms of tourism-related phenomena. To understand the roles of an event in a given destination, it is important to address that in forms of its sustainability. An event will be termed as sustainable if it is sustainable in terms of economic sustainability, socio-cultural sustainability whereby it is owned by the local community, it does not erode the local traditions in a negative way, it does not disturb their structure and living, and environmental sustainability whereby issues of importance such as waste management and sustainable transport are evaluated (Mair, 2013). Events create attractions to various regions. It has been noted that regions that have held various events often tend to have an increased tourist numbers after the event than before it. On top of that events act as catalysts. People are often unaware of various regions that are cool tourist destinations around the world. After an event has been held at that region visitors realize that it in deed is a good place and so visitors will be streaming in even after the event is over. Another major role played by events is in terms of education since visitors and attendees have a chance to interact with the society and so socio-cultural issues in terms of sustainability can be evaluated (Mair, 2013). A good example of a very successful event is the Parkes Elvis festival that is held every January in the rural town of Parkes, South Wales. This festival is so successful that in 2012, the number of visitors was double the population of the town (Mair, 2013). The high number of tourists has played a significant role in the economic sustainability of the town. However, it’s important to note that not all events can bring positive impacts to the destination or the town/city they are in. Take an example of Triple Crown which is a small town in Colorado, United States. This town is well known for its ski slopes which can be a good tourist attraction hence positively impacting on the region’s economy. Various events were introduced in the town which included baseball tournaments, and others. This in response attracted a large number of athletes. However, the whole idea became a flop due to the overcrowding and the type of people who visited the event. These negative social impacts led to bad publicity of the event and therefore limiting the number of visitors. Therefore, organizers strategized on the way to make the event more sustainable in terms of socio-cultural issues. This idea which came about in 2007 helped the town to re-strategize and ensure that the event achieves the goals that it was supposed to achieve during its inception (Mair, 2013). Positive and Negative Impacts of Events on Tourism Positive Impacts Hosting a major event can be both advantageous and disadvantageous to the host destination. The advantages include; - raising profile of a region, long term investment, jobs, short term economic benefits mainly to the locals, and increasing the enthusiasm of a society to a given sport of activity (Trost, Klaric & Ruzic, 2012). Major events such as the Olympics have been used to raise the profiles of various countries and their cities. Take examples of cities such as Sydney and Beijing which though known were not visited as they were during the Olympics. Another good example is the Republic of South Africa which hosted the Rugby World Cup and the Football World Cup in close proximity of time (Pettinger, 2012). Raising the profile of a given region acts as a breakthrough to tourism and to business investments. It’s in such times that the visitors as well as the locals realize the need to have various business that in return boost the region’s economic and socio-cultural status. However, this often works for cities that are less known. These are likely to have long term benefits of hosting a major event. However, for cities that are already known such as London, hosting a major event such as the Olympic may only serve a short term benefit (Jago, Chalip, and Brown, et al, 2002). This can be in terms of business and economic boost. Tourism may be boosted for that specific time but the number of visitors after the event maybe closely similar to that before the event. Another benefit of hosting a major event is in terms of long term investments that comes with it. Taking an example of Brazil which hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup. With the expected 3.7 million visitors, roughly US $3.03 billion was to be added to the Brazilian economy (Heitner, 2014). With such figures that were produced by the Ministry of Tourism, ad which did not cover other financial benefits to the locals, the government had to ensure that the right infrastructure is put in place to make the event a success. This is beneficial in terms of long terms investments. Stadia which were built in anticipation of the event will be a big boost to the soccer sector in the country of soccer enthusiasts. On top of that, the government used a lot of money to erect major infrastructure that would make such an event successful. This puts the country in a good position to hold an event of similar magnitude in the future since the levels of infrastructure are high. Another benefit is in the number of jobs that are created to the locals during the event and during its preparation. Due to the intense preparation that is required in terms of the structures to be built, many people get employment therefore boosting the standards of living of the locals. Another major benefit is seen on the short term economic benefits. Such major events see an increase in the number of people who visit a given region. These people provide an increase in spending and money is ploughed into the local economy (Heitner, 2014). Though this effect is short term it can have a great impact considering the magnitude of the event and the number of visitors that are involved. The higher the number of visitors the greater the impact. It’s important to note that such events also expose the local cultural values therefore marketing them (Picard & Robinson, 2006). Negative Impacts The costs of holding a major event regardless of the tourist benefits that will accrue is so high. Taking an example of the world cup of the Olympics, an average US $10 billion would be needed to make such an event successful. In case the event does not recover the amount, this can have a significant negative effect to the economy. In the advantages, one of the benefits was publicity. If the event is successful, the city or country will be publicized positively and this can lead to more visitors in the future. However, if the publicity is negative, the event can be less successful in the future. Taking an example of the World Cup scheduled to be held in Qatar. Qatar is known to experience very high temperatures posing the question on the success of the event. If it fails, then the event can receive criticism and negative publicity. Most events disrupt the peace of the locals in terms of their social life. This can lead to migration and hence the effect will not be felt. Conclusion Special events have become a key component of tourism development strategy in many regions (Van der Wagen, 2007; Smith, M. 2003). However, through the studies made to establish the benefits of such events to the regions, it’s sad to note that the importance of such events has been seen to be little (Jago, 1997). In the recent years, major stakeholders in the field have made various steps to ensure that the events are successful and of great value to the host regions. As indicated in the essay, such events expose the regions to the outer world, act as catalysts hence increasing the number of visitors after the event and boost the economy of the region. The main disadvantage of the events comes in terms of sustainability where most events are not sustainable in terms of their economic value, the socio-culture structure of the locals and the environment. With these drawbacks addressed, such events can be major boosts to the tourism sector and be a benefit to the local towns and the countries hosting them as a whole. Bibliography Getz, D. (2008). Event tourism: definition, evolution and research. Tourism Management 29(3). Heitner, D. (2014). 2014 FIFA World Cup Expected to add $3.03 Billion to Brazil’s economy. Forbes. Jago, K. L. (1997). Special events and tourism behaviour: a Conceptualization and an empirical analysis from a values perspective. Wellington: Victoria University Press. Jago, L, Chalip, L and Brown et al (2002). The role of events in helping to brand a destination. Conference proceedings of the Australia Centre for Events Management conference, 15-16 July 2002. Mair, J. (2013). The Role of Events in Creating Sustainable Tourism Destinations. Business and Economics. Monash University. O’Neill, S. (29 May 2014). Brazil World Cup Tourism-Negative or Positive Impact? The Green Hotelier. Available at. Pettinger, T. (24 January 2012). Advantages of Hosting a Major Event. Available at. Picard, D, and Robinson, M. (2006). Festivals, tourism and social change. Clevedon: Channel View Publications. Quinn, B. (2009). Festivals, Events and Tourism in Jamal, T. and Robinson, M. (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Tourism Studies, London, Sage, pp.483-503. Smith, M. (2003). Issues in Cultural tourism studies. London: Routledge Publications. Tezak, A., Saftic, D. & Sergo, Z. (2011). Relationship between Cultural/Artistic Events Visitation and Other Activity-Based Tourism Segments. pp. 121-135. Trost, K., Klaric, S. & Ruzic, M. D. (2012). Events as a Framework for Tourist Destination Branding-Case Studies of Two Cultural Events in Croatia. Turizam, 16(2), pp. 65-77. Van der Wagen, L. (2007). Event management for tourism, cultural, business and sporting events. 3rd edition NSW: Pearson Hospitality. Read More