Links between tourism and event
The New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department (1987, as citied in Getz 2008) says that ‘Event tourism is an important and rapidly growing segment of international tourism.’ According to Getz (2008), both the demand and supply aspects must be considered when combining events and tourism together. A certain determination of the type of tourists travelling as well as visiting the events is required for a clear understanding of whether event tourism is worth it or not. However, on the other hand Getz (2008) has mentioned that local and regional events could present as a problem from a tourism point of view. If tourism is linked with these local events where investment is required to develop and promote them, it might cause some discomfort to students to the local residents.
Typologies of the event (Getz 2005 as citied in Getz 2008)
According to Getz (2005) the typology of planned event makes an effort to categorise major categories, differentiating among those in the public area and those of primary interest to individuals and minor, private groups. ‘Depending on the purpose and circumstances, events can fall into more than one category’. (Getz 2005:19)
Getz (2008) highlighted that the important classes of the organised occasions are arranged on the basis of their structure which includes variations in their aim and functioning. Some variations are for public events whereas some other programmes are organised for contest, fun, entertainment and socializing reasons. A lot of times there is a need of specialized services which allows the managers of the services to contact particular types of events. The events can also be linked with highly qualified associations and occupational routes.
What makes event special
Getz (2005) suggests that some of the things that makes event Special are its uniqueness as all event offers an irreplaceable experience by the combination of management, setting of the event, and the visitors that attend the event. Many events depend on the “must see” or “once-in-a-lifetime” scenarios to increase its visitor numbers. Other things like the quality of the event, use of the tradition within the event, meeting the customer needs, affordability of the event things like these can also make an event special.
Comparison of the positive and negative impact of events (Page and Connell 2006)
The above table explains the variety of economic, sociocultural and environmental impacts related with events which highlights that there is a stability of effects which might arise depending upon a wide range of issues, containing the event, where and when it has been hosted, and the objectives of the event.
Definition of mega event with example of same mega-events
According to Law (1993, as cited in Weed and Bull 2009:225) the term mega-event describes ‘large events of world importance and high profile which have a major impact on the image of the host city’. On the other hand Marris (1987, as cited in Getz 2005) summarizing a conference of the International Association of Tourism Experts which was titled on the topic of mega events and mega attractions, “noted that mega-events can be defined by reference to their volume of visitors, their costs, or by psychological criteria. Their volume should exceed 1million visits, their capital costs should be at least $500 million, and their reputation should be that of a “must see” event” (page 18).
Mega-events are thus an enormously important section of place promotion as they might leave behind social, economic and physical inheritances which would have an influence on the host community for a very long period than that in which the event took place. For instance, “when asked as to the ‘most likely legacy’ of the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games in Canada a readers’ poll in Monday Magazine ranked debt, new pool, higher taxes, increased tourism, and higher real estate prices as being the Games’ legacies” (McCaw,
1994 as cited in Hall 2006).
“Mega sports events like the Olympic Games have been associated with large-scale public expenditure, the construction of facilities and infrastructure, and urban redevelopment and revitalization strategies which may have undesirable long-term consequences for public stakeholders although significant short-term gains for some corporate interests” (Hall, 1992; Essex & Chalkley, 1998; Eisinger, 2000 as cited in Hall 2006:2 ).
Conclusion:
It is highly essential to manage events appropriately in order to increase events tourism within a region. Efficient management, organisation and environmental factors play an important role in making events successful as well as popular. On one hand where there are events for entertainment reasons for families and individuals, on the other there are events purely for business reasons that include private companies where managers need to create, organise and manage all the aspects of events to make them successful. Although events help attract tourism and further promote event tourism, they also promote the region via media and increase the economy of the region as visitors and tourists are likely to spend more increasing the economy of the country. However, there are also various negative impacts of the events such as the funding not being distributed evenly to different sections or departments and income being put in other regional projects rather than the events itself. Despite the negative impacts, event tourism does help promote the region and raise its economy as well as attracting more sponsors for future events.
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