Contribution of Special Events to the Tourism Community - Essay Example

Contribution of special events to the tourism community Travel for leisure and recreation is known as tourism. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited"( Global importance of Tourism, Background paper 1, 1999). Tourism has acquired a special position in the brand building attempts that have become a staple for most countries post the cold war. Besides this one cannot undermine the economic importance of tourism and the potential contributions to a nation’s GDP. If one, for example looks at the numbers the picture becomes very clear about the need for a proper tourism related strategy that most countries around the world need to adopt. In the US alone, it is the nation’s third largest retail sales industry and one of America’s largest employers. It is in fact the first, second or third largest employer in 28 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, creating 7.8 million jobs nationally. The industry has evolved as one of the greatest growing assets and job providers of the US economy. In 1999, direct travel spending in the United States by domestic and international travelers reached nearly $519 billion dollars, 5.6 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product (CSO Tourism and travel figures, 1999). The story and numbers as quoted about the US are infact true the world over. Travel & Tourism is the world’s largest industry and creator of jobs across national and local economies. WTTC/WEFA research are proof that in 2000, Travel and Tourism generated directly and indirectly, 11.7% of GDP and nearly 200 million jobs in the world-wide economy. These figures are forecasted to total 11.7% and 255 million respectively in 2010 (Global importance of Tourism, Background paper 1, 1999). The facts apply to both developed and developing economies. Modern world tourism has its roots in the post world war II tourism behavior and growth in the industry since then has been fast, with mass tourism being the major driving force behind the growth. The growth and success story of mass tourism however has found many challenges in the past decade and half specifically by a section that advocates a move away from mass tourism towards newer form that will be more sustainable and with greater economic prospects. Frequently, this newer advocated form of tourism has been christened ‘special interest tourism’ (Mckercher, 2005), its main attractions being claimed as it being low volume and high value. Special interest tourism can take many forms like ecotourism, heritage tourism, cultural tourism, adventure tourism, rural tourism, industrial tourism and special event tourism. The final form final form in this list has experienced substantial growth in recent years and special events are now widely understood to be one of the fastest growing types of tourism attractions. One has to understand the reasons behind the growth of special events before actually probing the intricacies of whether or not they actually work in the longer run, their pros and cons. The primary factor that is easily identifiable is the response and coverage that special events like the Grand Prix, the Olympics or the Grand Slams (Tourism News, boost for SA tourism, 2006), get in the media. There is often a big splash, special coverages, and tour diaries among other things that go on display which naturally help boosting up the event along with the locale in question. But a point to be noted here is that coverage provided to the bigger events is often greater than the coverage given to a host of these smaller events. The basic reason behind the success of these events and the enthusiasm that host nations exhibit while hosting them can be understood in the following ways. They bring money into the region, They help in enhancing awareness and building brand value of the country in question Within the area itself they help in building up a feeling of community and kinship along with a being a catalyst towards improving the infrastructural facilities in a region. Some scholars like Janiskee have labeled this age as being the ‘age of special events’. It has been said and in fact each one of us when travelling has experienced it in some form or other, that stepping into any major city would mean bein confronted by an entire gamut of events and occasions begging for attention (O'Sullivan Pickernell & Senyard, 2009). These events are cultural or related to sport and often add tones to a city’s range of tourist attractions. Most of these events and their promoters actively court media attention as a promotional gimmick, seeking to encourage further tourist arrivals in the future. The relationship between special events and tourism has become progressively interlinked. A major feature of this symbiotic relationship is the fact that the images of the event can and have been often spilled over to the place of the event thereby contributing to the change in the destination brand, often enhancing and strengthening it. If one was to make a record of the number of special tourist oriented events that have taken place over the years, one could easily identify the fact that the number of such events has been on the rise in the past few years. The novelty of such events arises from the scale of these events and of event tourism with many cities now looking to specialize in the creation and hosting of these events because of the economic benefits that they can bring in. a special event of this nature is defined by many scholars as ‘A one time or infrequently occurring event of limited duration that provides the consumer with a leisure and social opportunity beyond everyday experience. Such events that attract, or have the potential to attract, tourists, are often held to raise the profile, image or awareness of a region”, (Jago and Shaw, 1998). The term event tourism has been defined as being the systematic planning, development and marketing of festivals and special events as tourist attractions, catalysts and image builders. The term as defined was coined in the mid 1980s (Getz, 1986). A huge part of the attention that has been given to the importance of these special events has been tourism based i.e. places have come to understand the power of these events to attract an influx of tourists from outside the region. The numbers in fact speak for themselves. The Formula One Grand Prix that was held in Australia in 2000 had 14 per cent of its viewers from overseas and 19 per cent from outside the state. One has to understand and accept in this regards the fact that the success of these events is highly dependent on the patronage and acceptance from local markets (Goldblatt &. Supovitz,1999). Another reason why tourist attendance in such events is seen as a major objective is because of the fact that the event tourists have a higher average daily expenditure although the kind of expenditure varies from event to event. The success of these events in their ability to get a hold on market appeal lies in the fact that they match the evolution and changes in the market demands for leisure activities. They are, in other words, temporary, easily accessible come with a quick time commitment and offer an option for all ages. There are other factors that can be attributed to the success of event tourism (Jago, 1997). These include factors such as: There has been a rise in the growth of average disposable income-hence people are willing to append more. Lifestyle changes have prompted a movement towards shorter holiday breaks. There has been a growth in experimental traveling; the urge to see newer things; stay away from the beaten path discover new ones There has also been a growing interest in authenticity and culture What is important with regards to special events is the fact that they require infrastructure that many a times the host nation might just not be able to provide. In such cases these events act as a stimulus to infrastructure growth. A lot of these events therefore require government assistance in order to be successfully staged. There has to be, therefore some kind of economic justification for them i.e. they have to be economically viable and in the ultimate analysis have to prove as a boon to the economy in purely financial terms. There is therefore a certain short term pre occupation with regards to staging these events. If one has to analyze the exact contribution of these events to the tourism community as a whole there are a number of areas of areas that come for scrutiny. First and foremost the point of contention is the use of these events in destination brand building. What happens when a place hosts an event is that the image of the event gets linked to the image of the destination in question. The 2008 Olympics for example are now etched in memory for the images that Beijing presented. What happens is that brands are typically built in order to enhance or change brand image thereby increasing consumer recognition of the destination in question. The concept of linking destination to event brand is a concept less understood and lesser accepted. This happens because the affects of the event’s image on the destination brand is not very clear. However there is the evidence from the sponsorship literature that has to be taken into consideration and expanded upon. This suggests that the strongest benefits to brand image from an event will accumulate when the consumers perceive a meaningful match between the event’s image and the destination in question. The only problem with the theory is that by mandating a strong harmony at the very outset the focus is placed directly on the enhancement of an existing image rather a change in the same. In such cases there is a mismatch at the very outset between the image of the event and that of the destination (Morgan, Pritchard & Pride, 2002). There has to be an effort to ensure that when the two brands are merged the image of one brand can be strengthened when it shares elements common to those of the brand with which it has been merged. If staged properly, each event can be used beyond the time in which it takes place. It has been suggested by many in fact that the event’s role in destination branding need not necessarily be limited to whatever media or visitor experiences are obtained during the time when the event is happening. Practical experiences have demonstrated that visuals and mentions of the events can in fact be incorporated into marketing communications such as postcards, advertisements, brochures and media releases among other things. In simple terms, placing event images or mentions of the event alongside other mentions of the key elements of the destination’s characteristics highlight comparable aspects of the brand and the overall impact of the campaign is heightened. Sporting special events are probable the most common kinds of events that are organized in order to boost tourism. In the contemporary world sporting events and hosting these sporting events has become a matter of pride. There is in fact active competition between countries in order to win a bid for hosting such an event because of the vast influx of money that they mean for any given host nation. This when combined with customer service orientation that seems to have been acquired by many nations today’s translates into better satisfying the region’s customers, and to attracting more customers to the region. This marketing strategy has evolved into the region’s urban management plan (Gotham K, 2002). In this plan, the place’s resources are commodified and shaped into products demanded by the user. Roughly translated this means “place war”. Strategies therefore are planned in order to attract and to please. Regions must also communicate their special qualities to tourists, businesses, residents, and investors, becoming entrepreneurial. What this might entail in the longer run is the survival of those cultural aspects and traditions which are pleasing and elimination of a host of others. Making no mistake about the repercussions on the economy and tourism these will no doubt bolster it further. The existing literature has however raised doubts regarding the exploitation of events in order to pursue a region’s economic development policies and create a local identity which is of profits a small group of the intellectual elitist class rather than the community as a whole. There have been suggestions that the adoption of this strategy is motivated by civic boosterism (Boyle 1997), defined as: "a collective action on the part of the local leaders … to ‘sell’ prospective businesses and residents the advantage of locating in their town rather than somewhere else". To maximize the impact of the event, regions should aim to enhance visitor spending while in the region, and to foster longer stays. Within the events context, there can be a number of reasons leading to a failure to realise the potential impact of events on the host region. Regions fail to effectively utilise the attractiveness of events in product development, marketing, and image making. Second, a mass marketing approach is adopted in preference to niche marketing. Third, regions have incomplete portfolios of events with each event being an individual activity or commodity, rather than an integrated into a complementary portfolio of events that reflects the image of the region. Finally, media attracted to the region by the event are not always effectively utilised. Regions have to seek to correct negative images through the creation and publicity of positive events and develop a strategically planned event portfolio, managing events maximise their impact. Overall, the event can affect how the local economy develops in the future by catalysing the re-development of the region, stimulating investment in new facilities and amenities, and providing a platform to show case the region and its products. If one has to conclude identifying the positive vis-à-vis the negative in case of such special events, what comes across clearly are the positive impacts and that they easily outweigh the negatives in terms of numbers. What starts out as being an afterthought i.e. social and community value often gets the greatest push. Hosting an event can create employment opportunities, increase community support for sport and tourism, increase local organisational capabilities, and motivate participation in volunteering and sport (Sustainable tourism, 2002). Studies have suggested that the community’s support of and enthusiasm for hosting the Olympic Games are symbols of pride in their city, presenting evidence of a social legacy, as cities and their people define themselves and enhance their national and international visibility and position through hosting an event. They also have enormous impact on local economies as tourist spends reach pinnacles during such events. The greatest threat that such events have probably are intangible. There are documented proofs that there are definite environmental hazards where such mass based events are concerned. A lot of these events have cultural implications related to alcohol, and lifestyle choices that put their organization in a negative light. In conclusion therefore it may be reiterated that it is now the age of special events s far as tourism is concerned and as n ever growing industry it is set to see bigger and better displays of strength by host nations in the near future. The field of special events now plays an important role in the economic wellbeing of many regions and often helps determine, or at least influences, the image hat is projected for the various regions. An in-depth understanding of special events and consumer behaviour in relation to these events is critical if regions are to maximise the net benefits that are derived from these events. It is in this context that the essay as has been researched can be a source for further work. 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