Report of the Portfolio
Committee on Tourism on Tourism, Sport and Mega-Events
The Portfolio Committee on Tourism, having been invited and
participated in the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)/South
Africa International Summit on Tourism, Sport and Mega-Events held in Sandton
Convention Centre, Johannesburg, from 24-26
February 2010, reports as follows:
1. BACKGROUND TO THE
With a New Year unfolding and economic recovery underway
across the globe, the UNWTO/South Africa International Summit on Tourism, Sport
and Mega Events, aimed to bring together leaders of global tourism communities
to explore the impact on Sport and Mega Events on tourism.
Conscious of the vital role of tourism in supporting
resilience, stimulus and transformation to a green economy, the UNWTO
introduced a ’Roadmap for Recovery’ which identifies the nexus between the travel
and tourism sectors, which can more effectively contribute to international and
national actions in interconnected areas.
Globally, sport and mega-events play a powerful role in
stimulating the tourism economy. The year 2010 will be no exception, seeing
major sport and cultural events hosted around the world. This will begin with
the 2010 Winter Olympics in February in
Moreover, it is increasingly apparent that these events will
not only have to respond to the changing global sustainability norms and
development imperatives, but can themselves be powerful communicators and
drivers of change.
The world’s leading experts, industry leaders and tourism
ministers who attended the inaugural International Summit on Tourism, Sport and
Mega-Events intensified the emphasis on the global need for tourism sector
success to boost global economies.
DELEGATION: A multi-party delegation was led by
the Committee Chairperson; Mr D.M Gumede (ANC)
included Ms X.C Makasi (ANC) and Mr
G.R Krumbock (DA). Support staff
included: Mr J. Boltina (Committee Secretary and Ms J. Ntuli Researcher).
The UNWTO/South Africa International Summit on Tourism,
Sport and Mega-events was officially opened by the President of the
1.1 Mr Jocob Zuma,
President of the
The President welcomed participants to
The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing
industries in
The importance of mega-events to the South African nation
extends far beyond the events alone, in that they offer the opportunity to work
together to strengthen the country’s tourism industry, economy, employment
capacity and skilled workforce, appeal to investors and of course, global image
and identity.
These events aid the country in its pursuit of excellence,
and its drive to become an ever stronger nation.
1.2 Mr Taleb Rifai,
Secretary-General of the UNWTO
The contribution of the
tourism sector is its ability to tackle two challenges facing the global
community, namely supporting the recovery of the world economy, and the
greening of tourism in order to pursue a more balanced, sustainable and fair
growth.
Noting that global
challenges, such as the economic crisis, climate change and poverty
alleviation, require global solutions, the Secretary General expressed his
conviction that tourism can play a much more important part in addressing these
challenges, as outlined in the UNWTO Roadmap for Recovery and its agenda for
boosting tourism’s contribution to global economic resilience, stimulus and
transformation to the green economy.
The UNWTO would continue to
remind the world that travel and tourism mean exports, infrastructure
development, investment, but particularly jobs. In this regard, the
international community must do everything possible to galvanise job creation
within the tourism sector. Tourism and the contribution of sports and
mega-events enhances economic development, which have benefits such as the
national image, new infrastructure, urban regeneration and development, a more
responsive trained skilled workforce, and tourism positioning.
One of the major challenges
is to ensure that mega-events have a legacy strategy, and are part of a
nation’s long-term development plan. The important social and human ’legacies’
that are being deliberately built into mega-events, which go beyond economic
benefits and challenges, are becoming critical components of any successful bid,
including regional integration, community building and sustainability.
1.3 Mr Mathinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism
New
opportunities were emerging in the arena of sports tourism and mega-events, and
such events are powerful vehicles for economic growth as well as the travel and
tourism sector development.
Among the
benefits, the Minister highlighted increased foreign arrivals and yield,
stimulated investment and trade, accelerated employment and skills development,
flattening of the seasonality curve, increased destination competitiveness, and
building of the destination brand.
Despite
all of the excitement attached to sports tourism and mega-events, these are
certainly not risk-free, and successfully securing and executing sports tourism
and mega-events does not guarantee a successful impact. Costs can
outweigh the benefits, and these costs can range from empty stadia and
displaced tourists, to angry locals questioning the rationale behind investing
in broadcasting centres instead of education or health care facilities, and
massive debt left behind after the crowds of spectators have returned home.
The
Minister challenged the leaders of the global travel and tourism community to
create a framework for sports tourism and mega-events that will empower and
encourage every nation, regardless of size, to rigorously, yet responsibly
harness the opportunities presented by these events.
The
Minister expressed the hope that delegates will leave the summit with a clear
vision of how to attract and utilise such events to build tourism and travel
sectors worldwide, and nurse the fragile global economy back to full strength.
2. SUMMARY OF
PROCEEDINGS
Mega-events
are critically positioned in marketing, decision-making and strategy development
of tourism destinations. The value of a mega-event id determined by the success
of the event in its own right, in terms of what the event does for the host
country or city and whether the host location is left better off after the event than before.
Looking back at past events, it is clear that
successful events and strategies varied according to the set of circumstances
that influence the host’s unique development goals. It becomes evident that the
local organising committee of a mega-event and its supporting network are
indeed challenged to realise a net benefit for the social, economic, natural
and cultural dimensions of the host country.
The colloquium on mega-events examined the dimensions
of hosting and managing mega-events. Participants benefited from the
experiences of international and South African organisers and researchers who
have lived the conceptual and practical realities of mega-events.
This
report thus outlines the main ideas, points and issues that surfaced during the
proceedings and is structured according to each session of the programme that
was followed. A detailed summary of each presentation will be presented and the
key issues/concerns will be summarised at the end of each session as well as in
the conclusions at the end of the report. The report was compiled through a
combination of abstracts, notes taken during the colloquium, author
presentations and recordings.
SESSION 1: IMPACT OF MEGA-EVENTS ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
2.1 Opening remarks by moderators
Ms Aneme
Malan and Professor Daneel van Lill outlined the theme of the colloquium by
highlighting the fact that mega-events require long-term planning in order to
achieve the grand vision’ for the event as well as ’grand picture’, that is,
legacy and beyond. They also acknowledged that mega-events of the calibre of
the FIFA World Cup, present substantial opportunity cost to any nation, city or
region wanting to host it. In light of this, Prof. van Lill proposed the key
question which the colloquium sought to answer:
What should
a developing country like
2.2 Tourism, Sport and Mega-Events
Sustainability: Contributing to the Roadmap for Recovery
Presenters highlighted that mega-events can provide
much needed benefits to local areas and especially to small business operations.
However, they don’t always necessarily deliver on the promises that are made in
the initial bidding and planning phases. These mega sporting events such as the
FIFA World Cup can essentially underpin tourism for a destination in three very
critical areas, namely sport, culture and business tourism. They may also
create links internationally that could initiate future opportunities.
Events of this nature have been around since 776 BC
since the first Olympic Games and are traditionally seen to be the domain of
developed countries. However, the role of developing nations has begun to
emerge. The range of associated impacts, whether it be positive or negative
needs to be properly managed so as to avoid the ’spaceship’ analysis, leaving
behind ‘burnt’ ground. Mega-events are often criticised for low level
employment, high levels of post-event debt, brand tarnishment, etc. Thus, it is
critical to plan for and manage these effects so as to yield the most positive
possible outcome. It is important to note that the impacts associated with such
events are beyond merely economic as social and environmental impacts are very
often overlooked.
In making these events a reality through the planning
process, a community-based long term approach to planning should be used as
there is a need to plan beyond the actual event. The mega-event should be seen
as a milestone and not an end goal in themselves. However, realistic goals
should be set from the word go and it is important to ask the right contextual
questions, such as: ‘Is it right for us?’, ‘Is the time right?’ and ‘Are we
setting ourselves up for failure?’
There are various other considerations that host
countries need to ‘sleep on’ in weighing the pros and cons prior to bidding
with the intention of winning. These include the costs and funding of the event
itself, the potential to create expertise and build capacity (but will small
business suffer in the process?), how the community will be engaged in the
process in the long term, the extent of technological accessibility, sourcing
sponsorship, the enormous cost of ensuring safety and security, the role of the
media in portraying the intended/required image, sustainability and climate
change implications, and the creation of a legacy which often gets lost in the
process. Evaluation before, during and after the event is critical to tracking
developments towards a legacy that can sustain the associated benefits of
Mega-events. A knowledge portal of Mega-events is suggested as a key link to
accessing lessons learned from other nations and should be administered by a
mega organisation such as the UNWTO.
Many host
destinations are simply not sufficiently strategic in their approaches to
planning such an event, leaving the external event promoters/owners with
significant leverage and influence. If host countries are to maximise the
benefits, a shift away from a narrow and short term marketing vision to a more
long term vision, is essential.
2.3
Ms Gillian Saunders indicated that currently, the
hype around the FIFA 2010 World Cup is centred around focusing on a strategy
for post 2010. The event itself needs to form part of the ‘bigger picture’. In
contextualising the event itself, there are a number of impacts that can be
highlighted. Foreign tourism will expect to receive an estimated 487 000 visitors
to the event, equating to 5.2% more tourists in 2010 from a projected base of
10.7 million tourists. This volume would induce an estimated R8.5 billion in
foreign spending. It is important to note however, that
Despite these significant changes and opportunities,
the issue of a tourism legacy lingers and needs to be addressed. If properly
planned, such an event could leave the destination better known and understood
both internationally and domestically. The opportunity could also leave the
destination with larger and better transportation fleets, better tourism
information provision, improved destination management, improved support
services and supply chains, increased accommodation stock, and induce national
pride while creating a better service ethic. This mega-event also presents a
crucial marketing opportunity.
An expected 26 million cumulative TV viewers, 18 850
media representatives, and 350 000 to
480 000 visitors provide an enormous opportunity for
exposure to profile and reposition
In managing tourism beyond 2010, the South African National
Department of Tourism is currently revising its National Tourism Strategy that
aims to inspire and accelerate the responsible growth of tourism. Some of the
strategy highlights includes a new set of strategic thrusts such as the
development of new markets and specific attention to growing business tourism
and events. A bold action plan includes the revision of South African Tourism’s
mandate to include the development and attraction of new markets. Support for
future events is evident in the planning of a potential national convention and
events bureau responsible for the development and marketing of business tourism
and events through the coordination and support of bids. An investigation into
the establishment of a bidding fund to encourage and support future events of
national importance is also a planned bold move.
2.4
Mr Maloney Tichaawa and Professor Kamilla presented
research findings in the case of
In terms of the demographics of the sample
population, the majority of fans were aged between 21-30 (52.1%) and 31-40
(23.6%), made up of 77.6% male fans. A large percentage (40.5%) of which, earn
an average monthly income of less than R1000.00 monthly followed by 36.2%
earning between R1001.00 and R4000.00 monthly. Employment amongst the fans was
relatively positive in the sense that 38.2% and 32.7% were engaged in full-time
employment and some self-employed, respectively. Of those fans (n=273) that
indicated that they would attend the 2010 event, 80.6% were male, and were on
average 31 years old in full-time or self-employment, and earned an average
monthly income of R3201.75. Only 4.53% of the respondents indicated that they
had previously travelled to a FIFA World Cup tournament.
With five other African qualifying nations (excluding
An overwhelming majority (90%) of the respondents
indicated that they support
Almost 40% of fans said they would attend the event,
reflecting a significant increase in potential Cameroonian fan participation in
the event when compared to previous attendance. Although the media tends to
focus on factors such as xenophobia and crime, the cost and inaccessibility to
tickets as well as high travel costs seem to be more restricting factors. Accessibility
to ticketing processes, especially online applications and payments made it
very difficult for African fans to increase their representation. As a host country,
3. SESSION 2A: LEGACY OF MEGA-EVENTS
3.1 Small-scale sport
tourism as a sustainable legacy of mega-events: A key component of a successful
national sport tourism strategy
Professors Heather Gibson, Kiki Kaplanidou and
Brijesh Thapa reflected on the topic. The shortcomings of economic expectations
have raised a lot of questions around the notions of legacy, sustainability and
strategic leveraging. Researchers now suggest that mega events should be
leveraged over both the short and the long term. The focus thus needs to shift
beyond just mega events but towards a wider range of sport tourism
participation opportunities that can be found in smaller-scale events. This
study uses data collected from five youth sport events organised by a local US
sports commission over 18 months to show that such events have a significant
contribution to increasing tourist numbers to communities during low seasons,
create social capital from volunteer opportunities and the use of existing
infrastructure, and decreasing environmental impacts.
The accumulation of associated benefits from
small-scale sport events provides important leveraging opportunities for
tourism in local communities similar to those brought about by mega events.
However, there is a need for the efficient and effective utilisation of
existing infrastructure or those left behind by mega events, the passing of skills
and image of a community for the development of sport tourism. Youth sport
events have been identified as important ways to attract, maintain and engage a
sport tourist market. Youth sport events tend to attract larger travel parties
due to parents and other family members accompanying the participants. They
therefore have a greater impact with regards to overnight stay and spending.
The purpose of this study was to examine spectator behaviours
of five small youth sport events hosted by a local sports commission over a two
year period. The aim was to profile the average spectator at each of these
events, as well as collect data on the length of stay, room night, expenditure
patterns, overall direct spend for each event, any other activities that
spectators took part in, primary motivations for attending these events and to
determine the event evaluation related characteristics. Intercept surveys were
used between January 2008 and August 2009 and sampled five small-scale sport
events, namely: Soccer (n =476), Softball (n = 199), Swimming (n =230), Track
& Field (n = 125), and ESynchro Swimming (n=179). Questionnaires consisted
of fixed choice and open-ended items. A data analysis to determine frequencies
was done.
Participants of these events were mostly girls aged
between 6 and 19 years, with the exception of the swimming event that had a
participant of 22 years. The events ranged between 3 and 7 days long. The
spectators were also largely female and were mostly aged in the mid 40s. Their
income mostly ranged above US$80 000 a year and were relatively well educated,
with a majority white population representation with the exception of the
majority African American population at the Track and Field event.
The average length of stay ranged between 3 and 7
days and overnight stays far outnumbered day visits. Hotels and motels were the
popular choices for accommodation. Total expenditure ranged from approximately
US$110 to US$230 per day trip and between approximately US$450 and US$830.
Motivations mostly revolved around supporting their children who were competing.
Other activities included traditional activities of dining, shopping, VFR and
attending university sport events. The overall revisit intention was relatively
high. Other data provided by Gainesville Sport Commission shows more social
aspects that are associated with these events, particularly with volunteers who
could potentially be a selling point for attracting more events in the future.
Overall, the positive benefits are largely economic,
although many social benefits derived from sport events of this scale are also
evident. The events provide business for the local community. The support data
from the sports commission highlights the social opportunities for local
residents as volunteers. The use of existing infrastructure could lower the
environmental, social and economic costs of future events. Mega events could
thus pave the way for small-scale events, leaving behind a strong legacy of a
strong community image, increased capacity and improved infrastructure. Thus,
community resources could be a strong point in attracting future events and
making them more sustainable.
3.2 The potential contribution of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to climate change:
An exploratory study among tourism industry stakeholders in the Tshwane
Metropole of
Professor Ernie Heath and Ms Ilana Otto indicated
that climate change has become a global agenda and mega events are now looked
at to take cognisance of the reality of challenges of this phenomenon. As such,
extensive emphasis has been placed on the environmental sustainability of such
events with a call for the development and implementation of environmental
management guidelines. This study explores the potential impact of mega events
on climate change, with particular reference to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In-depth personal interviews were conducted with a number of stakeholders in
the Tshwane Metropole. Stakeholders included the public and private tourism
sector, tourism experts, environmental experts, and the
In terms of climate change, the study found that the main
contributing factors were CO² emissions within the tourism industry, ignorance
of the tourism industry and the production of goods and services. The 2010 World
Cup presented areas of concern regarding transportation (geographic layout of
the event, increased air travel, and the lack of safe public transportation
resulting in higher emissions), construction an infrastructure (concentrated
pockets of CO² emissions) and the escalating tourism activities (greater sphere
of tourism industry operators).
There seemed to be a higher level of consciousness
when daily operations were linked to a mega event such as the 2010 world cup.
Impacts need to be considered in a more holistic manner when looking for
solutions. There is therefore a need for an umbrella strategy for the
development, implementation and sustaining of environmental strategies, plans
and guidelines that need to be filtered through the tourism value chain.
Communication and understanding of the responsibilities of stakeholders as well
as a move toward more coordinated efforts, was also viewed as critically
important.
Since the study, a carbon footprint calculation of
the 2010 world cup was conducted but still excluded aspects such as
restaurants, activities and attractions, and retail shopping as was the case
with the calculations for the 2006 world cup. The umbrella strategy has been addressed
and covers six key areas but only addresses the areas that account for about 9%
of the possible carbon footprint of the 2010 world cup. According to this plan,
it is now the responsibility of each host city to develop and implement their
own green goal plan and ensure that it is communicated to all their
stakeholders. The Tshwane Metropole already has a 2010 environmental management
plan that was launched in 2007. Their Green Goal Plan was launched on 24
February 2010 and includes an awareness and marketing campaign for minimising
waste, promoting recycling and improving energy and waste efficiency.
The study only focused on the Tshwane Metropole as one of
the host cities. If the true environmental impacts are to be known, an
investigation within the broader context of
3.3 The contribution of cultural and heritage tourism within the context of
the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Ms Tania Steyn and Professor Ernie Heath said Culture and
Heritage form an eminent part of any mega event, especially a soccer world cup.
However, many organisers do not look at culture and heritage in a strategic and
systematic manner. Lack of information has limited destinations from leveraging
the culture and heritage tourism opportunities presented by such events. This
study set out to explore the potential contributions of cultural and heritage
tourism within the context of a mega event. It also examines best practice mega
event case studies.
Closing and opening ceremonies are possibly the
biggest opportunities to broaden and enhance the actual event offering. Culture
and heritage are important contributors to these ceremonies which can be highly
lucrative and symbolic. They provide an opportunity to showcase a country’s
identity and to celebrate other cultures too. The ceremonies at the 2000
Olympic Games in
Opportunities to project images about the host destination
can also add value to the marketing thrust of the destination. The role of
non-accredited media centres has also become more important. Whilst accredited
media usually focus on reporting on the games and the actual event,
non-accredited media provide the opportunity to showcase other aspects of the
destination’s culture and heritage. There is also the challenge of
strategically including the event into the overall destination mix, whereby
strict itineraries for instance, often inhibit visitors from exploring
different aspects of the destinations. This was the case with the 1999 Rugby
World Cup in
A host community that is excited about the event and
is positive about tourism could enhance the tourist experience and contribute
to the competitiveness of the destination. The 1995 Rugby World Cup is one of
the best examples of this and 2010 could present the same opportunity. Such
events could also contribute to the creation of cultural and heritage tourism
business and entrepreneurial opportunities. It is however important to manage
expectations and ensure that local businesses can provide what is needed. The
2007 Cricket World Cup for instance had a strong focus on community development
and on product development. In contributing to city regeneration,
There are also several critical success factors that need to
be taken into account by all stakeholders. The public sector needs to provide
support in creating a strong sense of leadership and a shared vision. An
enabling environment and access to information and funding is also important,
as well as the development of a legacy strategy. The private sector needs to
create appropriate and innovative tourist experiences, as well as create a
strong service culture through training. Communities also need to get involved
and reflect cultural expressions that are real and true. The youth have also
been identified as a critical part of the process. The media needs to be a key
strategic partner in sharing positive stories that link culture and heritage to
the sport event. In doing so, sustainable legacies can be created for the host destination.
3.4 Trampled by the gold rush: Managing the downside of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup
Ms Jacqueline Asheeke, Chairperson of the Federation of
Namibian Tourism Associations argued that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is going to
be a landmark event for the African continent, and above all is a chance for
In 2007, the
Namibian Cabinet approved a committee to work on getting ideas about what
One of the
biggest concerns about the world cup for
However, there is a silver lining. Marketing
campaigns are under way to attract tourists shortly after the peak season to
come to
3.5 Identifying and putting measures in place to improve tourism
from opportunities presented by hosting an international mega-event: A
provincial government approach
Ms Modjadji Seabi said provincial governments are key
role players to ensure that opportunities from mega events are leveraged. The
opportunities include: building a strong labour pool and to address the issue
of safety and security as critical to ensure a positive legacy. This paper looked
at the key measures that needed to be put in place in order to improve tourism
from the opportunities presented by hosting an international mega event. Mega
events have thus emerged as strong global drivers of human development.
The South
African National Tourism Strategy is currently being revised but the trouble
with such broad strategies is that they often do not accommodate the specific
needs of individual provinces. Thus, there is a need for a more focused
strategy at each provincial level. Safety and security, and human resource development
are key drivers of a destination’s sustainability. Safety and security, for
instance can in fact be a driver of a destination’s image creation and
perception. Skills within the tourism industry are usually focused on the
traditional mainstream tourism activity (i.e. hospitality and accommodation).
The issue of
safety and security during the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been addressed by
promises of an increased police force and the collaboration of the South
African military service. However, what is the long term plan once the event is
done? The 2008 unemployment rate figures indicated a 23% unemployment rate,
with
Competitive index figures show that
There are a few
cases where the issue of safety and security was addressed by the introduction
of a tourism police force. Perhaps this could address some of the job creation
issues as well as safety and security issues for
The overall impact is that there will be job creation
if provinces and countries plan and strategically manage the mega event as well
as beyond the event. An improvement on safety and security would improve the
competitiveness of the destination.
4. SESSION 2B: SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF MEGA-EVENTS
4.1 World
Cup 2010, branding, bonding and bridging: Internal and external perceptions of
Professor Norbert Kersting from the Department of
Political Science,
The Anholt National Brand Index revealed that 93% of
Germans believe that
National
identity is seen as a kind of ‘in group’ solidarity which is related to ‘out
group’ hostility. In building a national identity, the idea is to develop civic
pride as a kind of benign patriotism. National identity is also based on
interpersonal trust, where bonding in
Social
marketing campaigns proved to be beneficial for
National re-branding and social cohesion (bonding and
bridging) should thus be the main goals for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in
4.2
Resident’s perceptions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup: A case study of a suburb in
Professor Kamilla Swart and Mr Dion Chain also
presented case study results which indicated that sport tourism events are
increasingly being included in national development and tourism strategies.
However, the major focus has been on economic impacts and infrastructure while
little attention has been paid to the social and cultural impacts. Research on
the perceptions of residents has been very limited. The objective of this study
was to evaluate resident’s level of awareness and perceptions of, and attitudes
towards the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the Green Point Stadium (now referred to as
the Cape Town Stadium) location. The secondary objectives were to establish if
stakeholders are communicating regularly and effectively with residents and
explore resident’s levels of support for the event.
The study
targeted the population of residents living within 1km of the stadium. The
respondents totalled 344. The research was conducted by interviewers’ using
questionnaires based on a spatially stratified random sampling method between
June and July 2009. In terms of the respondent demographic profile, 54.7% were
male, 53.0% were white, 26.7% African and ages ranged between 19 and 85 years
with an average age of 40.7 years. The respondents were fairly educated, with
67.1% holding a post-school qualification, earning an average income of R10
092.00 and being self-employed (15.4%), retired (13.1%), or as
administrators/managers (12.8%).
An overwhelming
majority (99.4%) indicated knowledge of the forthcoming event. All the
respondents were aware of the local competition stadium. However, awareness of
the local training stadium was very low, with only 39.5% indicating awareness
of the stadium. Support for the event was relatively positive with 50.9%
indicating an intention to attend the event, 87.2% indicating that they would
follow the event on TV, and 60.8% indicating an intention to make use of the
public viewing areas and a willingness to pay an average of R67.00 for entry to
the facility.
There was a
59.9% agreement among residents that stakeholders were effectively
communicating with them and the need to use a multi-media approach to the
communication was also highlighted. Although there was initial opposition from
residents with regards to the stadium, 75% were in agreement with the location
of the
It was clear that there are high levels of awareness
around the event and the competition venue but very little towards the training
venue. There are high expectations for the economic benefits and social impacts
of the event, with the primary concerns of crime, safety and affordability.
There is a need for increased community participation and involvement in the
planning and management of the event and venue. Longitudinal research is also
recommended to evaluate any changes in the perceptions and attitudes of
residents in future.
4.3 The
FIFA World Cups potential to induce civic pride and integration
Professor Wolfgang Maening’s (Department of Business
and Economics at
Civic awareness
has been said to justify government subsidies as valuable civic returns. Recent
studies on civic awareness focus on voter turnout among other elements of
election procedures as a good proxy or variable to measure civic activity or
awareness. However, this is not necessarily a well suited measure as German
history indicates that voter turnout was already relatively high during the
1930s and was actually relatively higher than in the last recent years. Civic
awareness also requires some element of experience but there is concern as to
how this can be measured. Age and individual histories aren’t really good
proxies in this regard either. What really matters though is the value of
government services and the awareness around this. In this sense, the key
question is ‘can individuals effectively assess and correctly interpret this
value?’ If this is possible, then an increase in civic awareness could
intensify political competition.
Integration in
this paper refers to the integration of the two parts of
When asked about their willingness to pay for the
World Cup to remain in
Significant marginal effects also influenced
individual’s WTP such as ‘sheepskin’ effects of one additional year of school
and one additional year spent as an adult in the old communist system, for
instance. These marginal effects showed a positive change in WTP. Thus, mega
sport events are experience goods with associated civic returns and a positive
attitude towards the good, as well as age and other ‘sheepskin’ effects also
influence the support for such an event. The paper therefore found that civic
pride induced by such a collective experience can significantly accelerate the
convergence of East German preferences to those of the western counterparts.
4.4
Mainstreaming children’s rights and child protection within mega-event
discourse and practice
Ms Jennifer Seif and Ms Kate Finlay shared their
thoughts on the topic. Focus on the triple bottom line effects of mega events
have largely been swayed towards economic aspects with particular emphasis on
public and private sector investment, job creation and the growth of future
tourist arrivals. However, this uneven focus has been called into question,
especially by environmentalists. The social effects and risks, however,
especially with regards to vulnerable members of society, namely women and
children, have largely been ignored. This paper set out to explore these social
risks, using the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a case study.
The social
impacts of mega events as commonly known have both negative and positive
aspects. On the one hand, tourism and these mega events can result in a new
social infrastructure, the protection of cultural heritage, the development of
skills and capacity, improve cross-cultural understanding and increase the
self-esteem of hosts. However, on the other hand, they can also result in
increased inequality, the commoditisation of culture, sexual exploitation,
‘child sex tourism’, and child labour.
Children are
one of the most vulnerable sectors of society and their rights are both
protected and violated by tourism development. The opportunity for child
exploitation also presents itself in the tourism industry. The risks to
children are also aggravated by issues related to poverty and inequality and
HIV/AIDS. Studies in this sense have traditionally focused on commercial sexual
exploitation of children (CSEC). The tourism industry is not responsible itself
for child exploitation but does acknowledge that it could potentially provide an
enabling environment by its very nature (i.e. travel and the movement of
children, etc) and would like to be part of the solution. ECPAT has recognised
Given
this issue, the global tourism industry has responded by focusing on prevention
through industry training, raising awareness, and public campaigning. The UNWTO
has set up a task force on the protection of children. Voluntary instruments
have also been implemented such as the Code of Conduct (a.k.a ‘The Code’) which
has been signed by 1000 companies in the last ten years. There have also been
other actions in destinations such as campaigns and national call centres. The
trend in the last couple of years has been better cooperation between law
enforcement agencies globally.
In South
Africa, human trafficking is both a national and trans-national problem and
hotspots include Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Polokwane and Port
Elizabeth. The country has been placed on the ’Tier 2 Watch List’ by the US
Department of Trafficking in Persons. The reality is that in
International
attention can therefore boost local efforts and put a spotlight on social
issues. There is a strong need for the inclusion of the protection of children
in mega event legacies and can be done through better coordination, higher
awareness levels, improved institutional capacity and sustainable prevention
mechanisms, particularly in developing countries.
4.5 Mega-events sustainability: Youth Development
and social cohesion
Mr Mthobisi
Mkhize, Chief Executive Officer: Umvithi Youth Development Consultants posed
the question on the
accommodation of the youth in the process of planning? This is a key question
to answer as the development of the youth could potentially contribute to the
sustainable legacy of mega events. This is especially so in rural and
disadvantaged communities in
Umvithi Youth
Development consultants believe that a potential state of social cohesion in
Strategies and
approaches need to be designed in order to restore the lost values among the
youth and need to be common to all means of tourism development. This
commonality will unite all youth, despite their background or environment.
Arts, culture and humanity have been identified as three key aspects in
highlighting this commonality while embracing differences. These aspects need
to be introduced from infancy and be woven into our daily practices in order to
instil a sense of pride and guide a nation into the future.
5. SESSION 3A: MEGA-EVENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT
5.1 The comprehensive economic impact assessment of
mega-events
Professors Maening, Tilley and Baade argued in their
joint paper that when preparing to host a mega event such as the likes of the
Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, promoters ensure all parties involved are
aware of the numerous benefits that hosting such an event could bring to the
host nation. However, calculations that have been done to support these
benefits very often overstate the positive and often don’t accommodate for
undesired effects. New studies have emerged that take into account wider
socio-economic effects of these mega events so as to account for their impact
on a country’s whole economy. These studies go beyond traditional indicators,
tourist arrival figures, lengths of stay and expenditure to also look at the
impact of displacement and crowding-out effects. There is a need to combine
these studies into one useful methodology for policymakers. This paper looks
into key findings and methodologies of these studies as a unique framework for
tracking larger tangible and intangible impacts in light of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup.. The proposed goal is to ultimately develop a model to be used as a more
accurate tool for decision makers and planners of mega events.
Economists are
constantly trying to improve the methods they use to measure how such events
impact the economies of nations. Analyses are usually down through either a
prospective analysis or a retrospective analysis. Both analyses have their own
associated limitations. Prospective analysis is essentially a prediction of the
impact of an event. This is hazardous as there is no good model for predicting
or understanding how urban economies work. There is also no such model to
analyse mega events, which is probably due to their relatively small impact in
comparison to the large and diverse urban economies in which they take place.
The task for the economist then is to find the proverbial ‘needle in the
haystack’. Part of the problem of prospective analyses is that the models used
to calculate these impacts are somewhat primitive and lack depth. Gross
spending analysis thus limits this problem even further. Net spending analysis
is recommended in order to take into account not only the additional spending
that occurs but also the spending that is replaced. These first round errors
are then compounded when a multiplier is fixed to the first round impacts which
results in estimates that are far off the mark. Some of these first round
problems include spending of non-residents, spending of residents, opportunity
costs, infrastructure costs, financial inflows and outflows, and contingent valuation
(i.e. psychic changes such as quality of life).
Retrospective
analyses refer to ‘after-the-fact’ impact analyses. Once again, mega events are
small relative to the economy so teasing out what it really is that was
impacted by the event becomes complicated. Another problem is that statistical
significance or confidence intervals discussions aren’t effectively
communicated when deciding on how much government spends on such events. The
specification of dependent variables is a tough task and needs to be better
specified.
When
considering strategies for reasonable estimates of economic impact, one of the
most important initial steps is to reduce the size of the ‘haystack’. Tax data
on smaller areas in this regard is particularly useful in working with a
smaller ‘haystack’ and allowing the identification of some issues that would
otherwise not be possible. However, impacts may well be beyond the traditional
economic impact indicators that economists look for and the importance of
contingent valuation is growing.
A key challenge
for economic policymakers and planners is to translate the academic work of
economists into useful policy making to maximise the benefits of these events.
In South Africa, it would be important to probe and explore the impact on the
whole country and not just the immediate tourism sector as there is a big
question about ‘who gets what’ in terms of what these mega events are actually
doing for South Africans at large. Both direct and indirect country-wide
impacts are also important for these evaluations. The intangible and ‘feel
good’ aspects of such assessments are often not accounted for but form part of
a more holistic evaluation. All these aspects would then need to be combined toward
a holistic national strategy for mega events.
The proposed
study based on this body of theory would thus take a look at 2010 FIFA World
Cup™ data on five of the provinces that are directly involved in the events,
including host cities and non-host cities. The legacy of past events hosted in
·
Tourist arrivals, stays and expenditures.
·
Hotel occupancy (predicted vs. actual).
·
Aggregate consumer spending (taxable sales).
·
Changes in consumer spending (displacement).
·
Geographical spread of tourist.
·
GDP, GGP and income generated for host cities (legacy growth).
·
Employment (short and long term).
·
Costs of living and property prices.
·
Curio sector.
·
Public expenditures and opportunity costs.
·
The intangibles or ‘feel good’ aspects.
5.2 Impact of mega-events on visitor arrivals
Mr Johan Fourie
and Ms Maria Santana-Gallego explained that the literature around mega events points out the
growing appeal of hosting mega events due to their perception as a truly global
experience and their potential to provide lucrative opportunities for
countries. However, scholarly interest since the 1990s has been less
enthusiastic about the possible returns for countries where ex-ante and post
analyses indicate an overoptimistic prediction of these benefits. If countries don’t actually benefit
as predicted or expected, why do they still bid to host these events? There is
a growing body of literature that indicates countries bidding for the purpose
of the ‘feel good factors’ or accredibility for international trade. Many
countries have actually benefited significantly from merely bidding without
having to carry the immense financial costs of hosting the event. Mega events
nevertheless, present a very rare opportunity for many host cities and although
the associated benefits may seem lucrative, the fact that countries even decide
to bid for them indicates that the net benefits by far outweigh the costs.
This study uses
a standard gravity model of bilateral tourism flows between 134 countries from
1995 to 2006 in order to measure one of the most direct benefits derived from
such events, the increase in tourist arrivals to the host country. Predictions
and expectations that such an event will increase tourist arrivals are put into
question by a growing body of literature which points out the need for a
careful look into possibilities of tourist displacement. Such displacement
refers to ‘regular’ tourists that change their behaviour during a mega event by
changing their trips to either a different location or time, which may
effectively result in a net tourism gain or net loss. The results of the study
suggest that the net gain (size of displacement) is dependent on the type of
mega event (not necessarily size), the participating countries, the host
countries level of development, and a number of event specific factors.
Mega events
that were included in the analysis included the Summer Olympic Games (SOG -
1996, 2000, 2004), Winter Olympic Games (WOG - 1998, 2002, 2006), FIFA World
Cup (FWC - 1998, 2002, 2006), Rugby World Cup (RWC - 1995, 1999, 2003), Cricket
World Cup (CWC - 1996, 1999, 2003), and the British Lions Tour (Lions - 1997,
2001, 2005). The baseline estimates for the effect of mega events on tourist
arrivals showed an overall increase of 8% in tourism. However, there were many
variations both between the mega event categories and within them. The SOG
increased tourism by 15%, the FWC by 10%, the CWC by 14%, and the Lions tour by
15%. The WOG and the RWC however, indicated a decrease in tourism by 5% and 9%
respectively. The decrease caused by the RWC was due to data problems for the
1995 RWC. Even variations within the categories varied where the SOG for
instance, indicated a decrease in tourism for the 2004 games in Athens of 30%
in the same year of the event, which could be detrimental to a country’s
tourism earnings and the industry as a whole.
The effect of
participating and non-participating countries also showed significant
differences. Where participating countries increased tourism to the host
country by 24% on average, there was no significant difference by
non-participating countries. Thus, it is important to think about the nature of
the event and which countries it is likely to attract to the host nation prior
to bidding for the event. This could present an opportunity to grow existing
markets and be exposed to new potential future markets. The question of
significant impact as a mega event bid winner or loser showed strange results
where there was very little significant statistical variation and needs to be
looked at in greater detail. The difference between tourist arrival impacts
from mega sporting events and other mega events (i.e. trade fairs, international
summits and UNWTO meetings, etc) indicated that the 2002 WSSD (World Summit of
Sustainable Development) for instance showed a 10% increase and UNWTO meetings
showed a 28% increase.
Mega
events by and large increase tourism but there is still little evidence of the
effects of displacement or crowding out of ‘regular’ tourists. There are also
large differences between these mega events which depend on the country’s size,
the size of the event, timing, and the participating countries. There is also some
evidence that mega events act as a signal for some countries and that non-sport
mega events may actually have a similar impact to sport mega events.
5.3 Impact assessment as a critical
ingredient of sustainable tourism events: The case of KwaZulu-Natal
Mr James
Seymour and Mr Wayne Tifflin shared their research results in the case of
KwaZulu-Natal
Mega events form a key part of the whole concept of a
destination, as well as its management and competitiveness. Such events present
the opportunity for innovation in competitive strategies and can ultimately
contribute to the success and sustainability of a destination. The useful
insights and indicators provided by impact assessments are critical to the
management and sustainability of these events and their host destinations. The
destination management organisation of the province of KwaZulu Natal in South
Africa, Tourism KwaZulu Natal (TKZN), conducts regular annual impact
assessments for a variety of tourism-related mega events that are hosted by the
province. These impact assessments determine the return on investments and
provide input to guarantee continued investment and ensure the sustainability
of such events. This paper provided an overview of the adopted methodologies in
these assessments and how their results are interpreted and practically
applied, with particular focus on the example of the Comrades Marathon.
TKZN has a
dedicated tourism research unit where research is done in-house with a team of
part-time interviewers, trained by the TKZN researchers. A standardised
questionnaire is used to test for tourism behaviour before, during and after
the events. Aspects which are tested for include expenditure patterns and the
perceptions of such events. Sample sizes are carefully selected to ensure results
lie within the 95% confidence level and are spread as randomly as possible and
conducted systematically on an hourly basis across the entire event.
Appropriate statistical significance tests and other key statistical
calculations such as taking the standard error of the mean in the case of
expenditure data are applied to the captured data to ensure that it is
appropriately analysed. The core insights that result from these studies
provide the basis for recommendations which are put forward to the organisers
of the event that has been investigated. Such assessments can empower
organisers to make decisions to improve the nature of their events. The impact
assessments of each of the province’s major annual events are done on an annual
basis to ensure that the province has tracking data for the measurement of the
development of such events.
The
Comrades Marathon is one of the oldest and largest ultra marathons in South
Africa and the world. It covers a distance of approximately 90km began in 1921.
This year, the 85th running of the marathon will see a total of 20 000 runners
where only a mere 34 runners ran the first marathon in 1921. TKZN’s objectives
for the study were to ultimately improve the profile of the Comrade’s brand,
increase the number of domestic visitors from outside of KwaZulu-Natal,
increase the number of international visitors, increase visitor spend, and
increase their length of stay. The questionnaires therefore set out to
distinguish between visitors and locals, and to determine where the respondents
stayed while attending the event, how many people were in the respondent’s
immediate group, their primary reason for attendance, how they travelled to the
event, what influenced their decisions to attend, whether they had attended
previously and if they would attend again, to obtain their profile and spend
information, as well as to determine brand recognition.
A sustained
level of participation is a key factor in the sustainability of the event.
Sustained and even increasing levels of participation is also healthy from a
tourism perspective. The year 2000 saw 23961 runners and this gave an
indication of the potential number of domestic visitors that could be attracted
by the event. The domestic participant numbers in 2005, however, were far below
the 2000 figure and marketing campaigns were launched to encourage participants
to attend the event and to stay longer to see other parts of the province.
Central Gauteng has also emerged as an important source of participants, which
is important for future domestic tourism. All of the provinces, with the
exception of the North West Cape have shown a decrease in participation in 2009
when compared to 2005. All this data assists in planning strategies to increase
the number of participants in the race. Milestones in the event’s history can
also be used as part of the marketing strategy to attract more runners to the
event.
A need was
identified to internationalise the profile of the event. The event was then
marketed at international events such as the New York, São Paulo and Bombay
marathons. The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) also has ambassadors in 9
countries, namely USA, India, Australia, Canada, France, Brazil, Japan, Germany
and Scandinavia. Promotion of the event in Kenya also has to be done. The
results of these campaigns indicated an increase of international runners of
79% in 2008 and a further 11% in 2009. This drive to increase exposure
internationally to increase international participation has ultimately
benefited both the race and tourism.
The economic
impact of the Comrades Marathon is only one among other considerations such as
social, cultural, physical, psychological, tourism and commercial and political
impacts. However, economic impact forms an important part of informing DMO,
organiser and investor decisions with regards to supporting such events. The
average total spend by participants and spectators is one aspect that could be
useful in this regard whereby a fluctuation in average spend could indicate
some area of concern or possibly an opportunity for improvement. Direct and
indirect spend could also provide valuable insight, which was the case of the
Comrades Marathon.
It is clear
that event organisers and DMOs can mutually benefit from such assessments in
working towards more sustainable events. The Comrades Marathon is an example of
how these assessments can be done and applied successfully. These assessments
also need to be collaborated in order to feed into bigger, perhaps even
national studies.
5.4 Unpacking the benefits of mega-events to small
business
Ms Adrienne
Harris looked at the role and benefits of mega events on small businesses. Small
businesses do not currently benefit from such events. The 1995 Rugby World Cup,
the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the 2003 Cricket
World Cup, for instance had no real impact on small businesses. Accommodation
was snatched up by bigger suppliers, little to no tour packages were sold and
foreign visitors opted for international brands. Therefore, these small
establishments need an opportunity to play in the same arena as their larger
counterparts. This could be done by linking them to official websites of these
events so as to increase their share of visitor spend.
The 2010 FIFA
World Cup™ has created much buzz around opportunities for small business. These
include promotions and co-promotions with sponsors, product licensing for
merchandising and the provision of services, etc. However, this has not been
the case in reality. A tour operator for instance, has to pay US$35 000 up
front just to register with MATCH, which is often an impossible task for small
businesses. The Cape Minstrels who run their annual festival in Cape Town and
have done so for about 100 years, have been kicked out of their training
stadium at a loss of R200 000 because they might damage the pitch.
There has been
a half-hearted attempt to do something about the issue of accommodation from
small businesses. There was an agreement between MATCH and the Minister of
Tourism and the Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) was also involved in
signing up small accommodation businesses. Even sponsorship for the improvement
of grading has been implemented. However, many of these businesses required
substantial upgrades and are now left with enormous loans to pay. MATCH has
also already given back rooms and the small businesses were the first to go.
Even, Zakumi, the mascot is being produced in China. The production of the
mascot could have provided the opportunity to small enterprises and could have
also been part of government poverty alleviation initiatives.
Thus, there are
very limited benefits to small businesses. There is still the possibility of
sub-contracting from large operators for tour guides and transport providers
for instance. There are also opportunities for food and beverage outlets but
not within the exclusion zones around stadia. There will also be limited craft
and curio opportunities. Indirect benefits include improved infrastructure and
increased money flows into the economy.
The question
raised, why should we even care about small businesses? In South Africa, they
account for approximately half the formal jobs in the private sector where more
than 95% of all tourism businesses are SMMEs (Small Medium and Micro
Enterprises). They contribute about 37% to the GDP and are ideal for the
upliftment of the historically disadvantaged. And why do small businesses not
benefit? Essentially big events are big business. There is no capacity to
organise a number of small units to unite to benefit from such events. There is
also concern over the quantity, quality and reliability of the products and
services produced by small businesses. Research conducted by TEP indicates that
84% of SMMEs can in fact provide services for 2010 but approximately 50% of the
potentials need help to get there.
The ultimate
question is ‘should small businesses benefit from mega events or should they
rather concentrate on more suitable events such as festivals?’ And if so, who
should play the coordinating role? The creation of a small business support
unit to liaise between local organising committees and small businesses is
suggested here. Such a unit could collectively harness the offerings of small
businesses so as to benefit from such mega events, while meeting the
requirements of organisers. There is thus a need for focused strategy and
extensive research into the matter. Perhaps even a unified approach to bidding
where small businesses are included in the process would be beneficial to all.
6.
SESSION 3B: MEGA-EVENT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
6.1 International athletes as tourists: Consumer
behaviours by participants of the 2007 and 2009 World Universiade Games
Mr Serkan
Berber, Lecturer: Anadolu University in Turkey noted that few studies on mega
events have focused on the “second tier” international sport events in order to
understand participant consumption patterns and impacts. This study examines
the World Universiade Summer Games in two different countries, Belgrade, Serbia
and Bangkok, Thailand. The Universiade is one of the world’s largest
multi-sport events. In 2009, 8 600 athletes from 128 countries participated in
its 25th anniversary. A profile of the participants of the 2007 and
2009 games was generated to reveal and compare their consumer behaviours over
time and in the host cities. A total of 441 surveys were completed by
participants on-site at the 2007 games in Bangkok, and 227 in 2009 at the
Belgrade games.
The 2007 and
2009 participants were statistically similar in profile, whereby the average
age was 27.5 years in 2007 and 26.81 years in 2009, with approximately 60%
males and 40% females. The length of stay was 12 nights in 2007 and 13 nights
in 2009. The travel party included on average 3.75 other persons travelling in
the travel party at the Bangkok games, and 2.2 persons in the Belgrade games.
Approximately, 69% of respondents were athletes, with the rest being made up of
coaches (10%), officials (12%), medical personnel (4%), and others (5%). In
terms of race, the participants were made up of 68% Whites, followed by Asian
(12%), Black (11%), Latino (6%) and Indian (3%).
On average,
participants spent €801.33 in Bangkok and €815.60 in Belgrade during the
Universiades, primarily for event tickets, shopping, transportation, and other
goods and services. Most lodging costs were covered by the event organizstion,
national or sport federations and were not a major expenditure to participants.
In terms of perceptions, 51% of participants would visit Bangkok in the future,
39.8% were unsure, and 9% would not visit again. Approximately 87% of
participants would recommend visiting Bangkok to their friends, 13% would not.
In 2009, less than half the subjects (49.8%) indicated that they would return
to Belgrade as visitors, 5.9% would not return and 44.3% were unsure.
This
study offers a glimpse at Universiade participants and their consumer
behaviours. Most participants had positive perceptions of Bangkok as a host
city. It was also noted that university students are not high-value sport
tourists in terms of direct spend. It is suggested that researchers conduct
such studies of recurring events in order to determine similarities and
differences in sport participant characteristics across time and culture.
6.2 Host challenges in preparation
for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Dr Nerine Bresler and Mr Adre Mynhardt from the School
of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg shared their views on
the host challenges in preparation for the tournament. Research around mega events has largely been centred on economic
impacts, event benefactors, and themes around economic development, destination
images and building national pride. The visitor experience however has largely
been neglected. This study set out to identify challenges that South Africa
faces before the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The research was conducted at the 2009
FIFA Confederations Cup™ by structured interviews with a sample of spectators,
the integration of a variety of complementary studies and the contextualisation
of international literature.
One of the
biggest challenges facing South Africa is the task of delivering the desired
experience. This involves a balance between the interests of divergent
stakeholders. These interests include that of the event owner/promoter who
provides the event as entertainment for a profit. South Africa wants to
ultimately raise its profile to become a world class destination, the tourist
enterprises who provide products and services at a profit and create the image
for future visitation and investment, and lastly the visitor and/or spectator
who creates the excitement at the event as well as the experience and future
recommendations. There is also an associated risk of disappointing the visitor
and incurring costs that do not contribute to growth, as well as the
possibility of not reducing the legacy of Afro-pessimism.
Interest in the
event and the intention to attend are generally governed by three push factors,
two mediating factors and two desired outcomes. Push factors include demographics
(i.e. age, education, income, gender, etc), fan motives (aesthetics, vicarious
achievement, arousal and support for the national team as well as an interest
in players) and travel motives (escape, socialization, learning about the host
country, etc). Mediating factors include attraction to the event due to actual
interest in the event, and the constraints such as risk (e.g. safety and
security issues) and financial implications (price of tickets and travel, etc).
The two outcomes include the desire to attend (which may not result in actual
attendance due to novelty seeking), and the feasibility of attending.
Respondents
(n=205) were interviewed at the stadiums prior to the semi-finals. The
overwhelming majority of respondents were male (85%), and were on average aged
between 26 and 35 years (43.5%). South Africans made up 18.4% of the
respondents. Overall, 93.9% believed that South Africa could successfully host
the 2010 world cup and 90.1% believed the matches were well organised.
Perceptions were generally very positive, especially with regards to the
emotional and cognitive aspects of their experience.
Negative
perceptions did not indicate any new concerns but did echo the critical
concerns that have been floating in the media: crime rate, the quality and
efficiency of public transport, the nuisance caused by smoking in the stands
and the Vuvuzelas, inadequate support for the event (empty stand and lack of
volunteers), and value for money.
It is clear
that there is tremendous support and belief that South Africa can in fact host
this event successfully. However, it must get the basics right in order to
build a lasting legacy. Benefits need to be spread geographically and branding
needs to extend far beyond just the event. Enterprises should ensure that they
keep their base customers happy so as to ensure long term loyalty and not to
fall into the trap of a short term fix at the expense of the customer base. The
ultimate winners will be those with revenue management skills.
6.3 The sport tourism legacy of mega-events: From
Beijing 2008 to South Africa 2010
Mr Brendon
Knott, Prof Kamilla Swart, Prof Douglas Turco and Urmilla Bob were of the view
that the increased attraction
to the hosting of mega events has largely been due to their potential as valuable
promotion tools. Sports fans and consumers are the pivotal force behind the
leveraging of such events but little research has been done on them. In South
Africa, the government recognises the sport tourism’s potential to contribute
substantially to the economy. The notion of legacy is now no longer a desired
outcome but an absolutely essential priority. The key objective of this study
was to understand the mega event sport tourist, but more specifically to assess
tourist perceptions of China as host of the 2008 Olympic Games, and their
awareness, perceptions of and intent to travel to South Africa in 2010. Primary
data was collected at the Beijing Olympic Games with specific focus on football
fans. 291 surveys were collected over three days.
The findings indicate that the spectators were mainly
from the USA (16%), Germany (13%) and the UK (12%). Activities included
traditional tourist activities such as visiting Tiananmen Square and the Great
Wall, as well as general shopping. There was a relative balance in the
perceptions of China where 11% felt that there were many people and felt
crowded, 9% indicated that there were strict government controls visible in
place, 8% acknowledged that they had a strong cultural heritage and history,
and 6% considered it a developing nation. The perceptions on the event itself
were generally positive where security, accommodation, transport and service
were all seen in a good light. Although the environment received an above
average perception, it was relatively low when compared to other perceptions.
This echoed the climate change concerns that were raised leading up to the
event.
In terms of awareness of South Africa, 58% of
respondents knew that South Africa would be hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
The main perceptions of South Africa were balanced between perceptions of its
natural beauty, beaches and mountains, and more negative aspects such as crime,
violence and danger. There was a relatively high intention to travel to South
Africa at 30%, while 29% said they were unsure. This opens up opportunities to
turn those ‘not so sure’ responses into a clear 'yes' response. The length of
stay ranged from 7 to 14 days and the preferred base was Cape Town.
Overall, there is reasonable awareness of South
Africa as a host for the world cup and intention to travel to the country.
Similar nationalities of sport tourists could provide some insight to key
markets. However, there are negative perceptions such as crime that need to be
addressed. There is little that is known about South Africa and thus 2010
presents an opportunity for nation or city branding. Marketing activities thus
need to be improved to convert the ‘unsure’ tourist. The value of international
academic collaborations is also noted in the effort to coordinate and align
research efforts.
7. SESSION 4: SETTING THE TONE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT ON
TOURISM, SPORT AND MEGA-EVENTS
The role of
mega-events in city development: What have we learned?
Mr Greg Clark argued in his paper that global events
can accelerate the development of fast growing economies. They are an
investment catalyst, and provide the opportunity for repositioning a
destination. They can also present the opportunity to align a city or country’s
image, brand and identity with that of the event itself. Thus, competition
among world class cities and large emerging economies has become fierce.
However, not all bids are properly thought out. Such events should be a means
to accelerate the implementation of already existing strategies better and
should thus form part of the natural development cycle. Global events should
therefore be ‘picked’ carefully in order to fit into an already existing
strategy.
Every global
event focuses on two tasks simultaneously. Firstly, it is the precise purpose
of the event, i.e. hosting a number of sporting teams or athletes for a
competition, and secondly it has a secondary or parallel purpose or task which
is the benefit of the event itself that a host city or nation wants to get out
of it. These two ideas are occasionally in tension. On the one hand, it may be
so hard to get the transport, infrastructure, stadiums, and airports ready that
no time, resources and thinking space goes on the second task. It is clear from
the literature that those places that have benefited more than others have been
the ones that have managed the first task sufficiently well or sufficiently
discretely and so have been able to allocate sufficient attention, time,
resources, intuition and leadership into the second task as well. Thus, there
is a real tension about into which of these tasks resources will flow to.
Some places
have really understood that at least the portions of the benefits come from
just bidding. There are various places that are bidding with no intention of
winning. Instead they are bidding well enough to look good, to do some
infrastructure planning, do some land use assembly, re-branding, create media
presence, etc. It has become somewhat of a cheaper way to benefit from just
simply bidding for international events.
Time
scale and life cycle dynamics are very important. The time scale and lifecycle
at which certain benefits occur are completely different from the time scale
and the life cycle in which the event is hosted. Most of the economic benefits
of hosting an event of this kind happen in the latter part of the business
cycle or even in the next business cycle. Much of the infrastructure benefits,
the land use or investment benefits happen early for the public sector and very
often happen much later for the private sector. Social benefits happen through
the inter-generational dynamics and not immediately.
The role
of cities within public finance systems within nations is particularly
important. At its simplest, we are living in an age where cities find
themselves increasingly wanting to raise their rate of investment in their
schools, housing, infrastructure, business districts, roads, universities, etc
because they see cities as units of international competition. The best way to
be competitive is to invest more in the quality of their productive platform.
At the same time, national governments are trying to participate in all sorts
of agreed multi lateral fiscal restraints and there is a tension between what
cities sees as the path to success and what nations are agreeing to the path to
inter- governmental collaboration success. This has given rise to a permanent
investment gap. Cities try clever ways of breaching this gap where hosting mega
events is one of the ways to do this because in a brief moment of time in the
otherwise complex fiscal calculus, cities become a priority for national
investment. Another reason why cities want to host mega events is due to the
perceived failure of other policies such as urban regeneration initiatives, or
regional economic development initiatives, or labour market interventions, etc
where people are looking for a different kind of ‘medicine’.
So how can
cities maximise the positive benefits of hosting local events? The following
are crucial areas of consideration:
Global events
thus present an opportunity to boost city developments through increased
promotional efforts and the leveraging of national resources. However, the
tensions that provide different dimensions and complexities to the process need
to be carefully considered.
8.
Conclusion
The colloquium
featured some of the most distinguished scholars in the realm of mega events
and tourism who each provided insights into a range of critical dimensions of
hosting such events. The most recurring and strongest theme was that of legacy.
Below are some of the key points that
surfaced:
9. Closing remarks by Deputy
Minister of Sport and Recreation
The Deputy
Minister said that the summit was not an end in itself, but a milestone for
South Africa and for the international community. All the high quality inputs
that were received, the presentations, the papers submitted, and the
discussions on the floor will now inform a number of concrete outcomes. These
concrete ‘next steps’ include, amongst others, the following:
One: The National Department of Tourism will
compile a technical project report that collates all these source materials and
expert contributions into one volume, and by way of a summary, lifts out the
key themes and issues to be addressed.
Two: The valuable best practice and knowledge shared will feed directly into
the 5-Year Strategic Framework for the tourism sector that the Minister of
Tourism will be publishing in a few weeks.
Three: These proceedings will also underpin the
important sports tourism strategy currently being finalised by the National
Departments of Sport and Tourism, with the support of SA Tourism.
Four: The UNWTO will intensify its focus on sport,
tourism and mega-events as a tool for development, and would suggest that they
consider various proposals as part of a work stream that could include greening
guidelines for mega events, a knowledge repository on the management of
mega-sporting events, and a rethink on the ways of evaluating the costs and
benefits of these events.
Five: The team of academics led by Professors Leo
Jago and Daneel van Lill will complete a detailed report, sponsored by Visa and
commissioned by the South African Government and the UNWTO that will contribute
the basis of a framework towards maximising the benefits of mega-events.
Delegates also
had witnessed new networks and friendships forged between industry players,
academics, governments and international organisations. To South Africa – and
on behalf of the government, it can be safely said, the summit opened up new
networks between new friends. The wider perspective that this brings, combined
with the new access to this knowledge network, will assist South Africa to
do what was needed do in a smarter way.
In conclusion, Deputy
Minister conveyed his appreciation to the Secretary General of the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation, for co-hosting that prestigious inaugural
summit in partnership with the Government of South Africa. The impact of the
event would be experienced globally for many years to come.