AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT THAT EVENTS HAVE ON THE ECONOMY AND COMMUNITIES OF HOST AREAS
...'s Fair and Exposition in 2010, which will generate millions of dollars of investment. Officials predicted that more than 70 million people could visit the city for Expo. According to Wednesday's China Youth Daily, experts estimate that admission fees will bring in 7.3 billion and the sale of food and drink 1.3 million, without counting any other source of income. Shanghai is confident that it will make a profit of more than 9 billion yuan (US$110 million) for host the 2010 World Expo. Events have become an increasingly significant component of destination branding. Events are used as tools to aggressively market comparative advantages and support destination branding. Events can be used as a tool to build product, position a destination, and construct image. City around the world are beginning to understand the potential of using these events to draw attention to the host city, which is why the market for hallmark sporting events in becoming increasingly competitive. It was estimated that 1988 Seoul Olympic would increase tourists by 12% annually to South Korea. This has also resulted in a trend towards the establishment of special units or organisations whose mission has been to attract and promote events. Sydney and Australia as a whole both gained from hosting the Olympics as the games raised Australia’s profile as a place to do business, including meeting and convention travel. In addition, the Games had a positive and significant effect on the balance of trade generating $4.8 billion to Australia’s net export earnings over a ten-year period (1994-2004) (Events Management Guidance Document, 2003). Tourism events are often recognised for their ability to generate significant economic benefits for the host destination. Organisers of the Sydney Olympics expected that an additional 1.32 million international visitors and 174,000 domestic visitors would travel to Sydney between 1994 and 2004. Industry out put was estimated to earn more than US$4 billion. Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival is an annual event that brings a huge number of tourist to the city – more than 300 thousand outsiders, corresponding to almost 1/6 of the total number of tourist that visit each year. Occupancy rates of hotels increase enormously, reaching over 90 percent, positively affecting the city’s economy. It estimated that around 1600 temporary jobs are created connected with the Carnival party, and there is the movement of around $120 million in the whole state of Rio, with 50 percent being spent in the city. 2.2 Social and Cultural Impacts Hall (1997) and Getz (1997) summarized that all events have a direct social and cultural impact on their participants, and sometimes on their wider host communities. The social and cultural impacts of the events are not as simple as sharing entertainment experience at the time, the impacts can effect the communities in a longer period. Some events leave a legacy of greater awareness and participation in sporting and cultural activities (Bowdin 2001). The social impacts of events are often seen as ‘external’ to most forms of economic evaluation. They are less tangible than economic impacts and therefore more difficult to quantify and resolve. Research indicates that attitudes to the social benefits of events often relate to the ‘we’ aspects of events while social costs are ascribed more to the ‘I’ or individual of the community. ‘We’ have more social interaction, have a stronger community identity and pride, and have the opportunity to learn new things or are exposed to a variety of cultural experiences. All events in some way reflect the culture of the place in which they are held. However, some events are held primarily for their cultural significance. Carnivals, heritage festivals, food festivals, and independence celebrations are examples of these types of events. Annual carnival celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are well known examples of huge cultural celebrations. The nation’s beliefs and traditions of many cultures have come together and for a brief five days each year, the whole country forgets their differences to celebrate life. Carnival is such an important aspect of life in Trinidad that many schools believe that sponsoring a carnival band is a way to teach young people about their roots and culture. In this way, communities work together to develop stronger friendships and greater respect for the many cultures that make up Trinidad. Some events leave a legacy of greater awareness and participation in particular sporting and cultural activities. Others broaden people’s cultural horizons, exposing them to new and challenging people, customers, or ideas. The Grand Australian Sumo Tournament, held in Sydney and Melbourne in 1997, introduced the Japanese Sumo tradition, with its strong religious and cultural associations, to Australian audiences. It went beyond the bounds of a sporting event, and became a genuine Japanese-Australian cultural exchange, with strong awareness levels in both countries. Local culture s influenced through the hosting of international events, mainly through the exposure of local people to different lifestyles and cultures. This exposure can have both negative and positive spin offs and can affect language, sexual behaviour and attitudes, dress, etc. An event can positively affect local culture if it influences values and attitudes in a positive way. The decision to green an event can have a profound impact on the community in which the event is held. First, the community may benefit from any economic savings. Second, the effects of greening are directly felt within the community, through a reduction in environment for the sake of participants will also benefit the health of local residents. But the benefits go beyond these considerations, and into the realm of education, awareness, and the formation of new habits and attitudes. As was explored above, sports events, organisations and personalities, for example, can use their high profile to deliver important messages. When an event is held which has taken genuine steps to ‘green’ its components, organisers and sponsors can benefit from spreading the word that they are running a ‘green’ event. Generally, events can have varied social impacts, ranging from the health implications to issues of community awareness, local community improvement, urban renewal, and infrastructural legacy. 2.3 Physical and Environmental Impacts Hall (1989) points out that selling the image of a hallmark event includes the marketing of the intrinsic properties of the destination. With the increasing popularity of the events everywhere in the world, there is the growing realisation that events contribute significantly to impacts on the environment. These impacts can be minimised through careful planning. Event can also serve as a positive influence on the values and attitudes of all stakeholders, as well as leveraging for environmental regeneration. When staging large events, the expenditure of the provision of infrastructure usually results in an improved environment and facilities for the host community, and provides a strong incentive for it to act as host. Brisane profited from the transformation of the Expo 88 sit into the Southbank leisure and entertainment precinct, and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix has given Melbourne a first-class motor sport venue (Bowdin 2001). Events, especially some of the mega-events can have a great positive impact to the environment of the host area. Many In Beijing, a large-scale forestation program has carried out to make the city green and beautiful for the 2008 Olympic Games. Some 1,200,000 trees and 1,000,000 square meters of grass are to be planted to increase the afforested area to 770 hectares in the inner city and 17,700 hectares in suburban areas. From 2003 to 2007, the Beijing municipal government will invest 54 billion yuan (6.5 billion US dollars) to protect and improve the ecological environment. In addition to this amount of money, 46 billion yuan (5.5 billion US dollars) will be spent on environmental protection during 1998-2002. The total investment in environmental protection will reach 100 billion yuan (12 billion US dollars) in the next decade, accounting for more than 4 percent of the GDP of the city. By 2007, the quality of the environment will be greatly improved. 2.4 Political Impacts Politics and politicians are an important part of the equation that is contemporary event management (Bowdin, 2001). Governments around the world have realized the ability of events to raise the profile of politicians and the cities and areas that they govern. They have also realized the ability of events to attract visitors, and thus create economic benefits and jobs. This potent mixture has led to governments becoming major players in bidding for, hosting and staging major events. The winning bid of Beijing 2008 Olympic can help to open China's door further to the world. During the Olympic Games, thousands of news reporters and numerous tourists from every corner of the globe flood into China. The political reform or change will be inevitable, and such change can be achieved without such pain and chaos as in the present Russia. In this aspect, no other means (foreign political pressure etc) can do better than the Olympic which takes place inside China. As China is no longer similar to then closed Soviet Union in 1980 and it still seeks more economic reform, the Olympic event can timely help China to change. Besides, the Olympic event is one of the largest modern enterprises which requires modern technique in management. Beijing has to change the way of thinking and the style of management. Therefore, the Olympic can also help to reform business management as well as government in China. China Online (2004) pointed out that Chinese government will use this event to polish its face. 2.5 Negative Impacts Whenever many people come together, environmental resources are used, environmental damage occurs, social problems may arise, and economic costs are likely to be incurred. Without proper infrastructural support, this temporary increase in the population can place demands on carrying capacity of the area hosting the event. Increased volumes of traffic, sewage, and solid waste all have an associated economic, social, and environmental cost. Events can have negative social impacts. Arnold et al. (1989) showed that in the five weeks around the 1985 Australian Formula One grand Prix in Adelaide, there was a 34 per cent increase in the number of road accident casualties compared with the same period for the previous five years. The world was shocked by the bombing incident at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, and the tragic collapse of the bridge at the entrance to the stadium for the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 1997. Such events have far-reaching negative impacts, resulting in not only bad press but also damage or injury to participants, stakeholders and the host community. After Beijing was awarded the Games in 2001, Chinese and Olympic officials asserted that human rights in China would improve as a result of hosting the Olympics. Since Beijing was awarded the games in 2001, there has been negligible improvement in China's human rights record. The impending arrival of the Olympic flame has had little positive impact on human rights. Rather, the forced relocation of whole communities with little or no compensation to make way for Olympic venues in Beijing is an example of how human rights have actually deteriorated as a direct result of the Olympic preparations. Events can also have negative impacts to the environmental such as environmental damage, pollution, destruction of heritage, noise disturbance and traffic congestions. 3.0 CONCLUSION The decision of local authorities to use leisure and tourism events as a means of promoting economic development has been controversial. There is no logic to any prejudice towards policies of this type, as sport, leisure and tourism are amongst the few industries that display long-term growth patterns. The economic impact associated with staging a major sporting event can be extremely significant, especially if the event forms part of a diverse program of local economic regeneration. However, an event’s status as a World or European championship does not automatically guarantee that it will be an economic success, either for the host city or for the governing body staging the event. The scale and type of event, its funding levels and geographical location, are all key factors in determining whether it will be an economic success. Too often, the economic success or failure of a major event is judged solely on its ability to generate an operating surplus. However, it is frequently more important, especially for local economic regeneration strategies, to assess whether or not the investment in the event can be justified by the benefits returned. Events are increasingly important as tourism attractors. For a destination, events add value to existing fixed-site attractions; they encourage visits during of peak periods, contribute significantly to revenue generation and can enhance a destination...