Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons that mega-events rarely realise their potential for host destinations and to suggest issues that need to be addressed in rectifying this issue. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on a synthesis of the literature as well as the substantial event-related experience of the authors. Findings -The key reason that mega-events do not generate the expected benefits for the host destination is that event organisers and destination managers adopt a short-term perspective rather than seeing mega-events as part of a long-term strategy for the destination. Even the planned legacies are often not realised as resource constraints in the lead up to the staging of the event often results in resources being shifted away from planning for legacies and being allocated to helping cover the more immediate needs of the event.Research limitations/implications -If the mega-event knowledge portal that is proposed in this paper to help improve the overall contribution that mega-events make to host destinations is developed, it will prove to be a fertile source of data for longitudinal research in the field of mega-events. Originality/value -As so many mega-events fail to deliver the expected benefits for the host destination, this paper provides some useful insights into the key issues that need to be addressed in order to help overcome this problem.
For design, development, implementation and use of an information system (IS) to constitute a valid research activity, the system should support the solution of a non-trivial and important problem and it should be original, drawing on existing theories and knowledge. The design of one such system is described in this paper: specifically, a decision support system (DSS) designed to support the development of 'Green Growth' (GG) strategies for Travelism (Travel & Tourism) destinations. A sound GG strategy is important: first, because tourism is a major contributor to the global economy -particularly for developing and island states; second because it represents some 5% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and these are increasing faster than the global norm; and third because the environment is an essential element of destination attractiveness. Thus, the problem domain is certainly non-trivial and important. It is further argued that the design of the DSS artefact described is original and novel in the sense that: i) it supports the entire GG strategy development process (which is actually cyclical); ii) it allows for the sharing of data, functionality and knowledge between different DSS applications and different strategy development exercises in a seamless, integrated manner; and iii) it will be deployed in a global community based program in 2016. System design draws heavily on previous IS, information management and software engineering research; particularly with regard to use of abstraction and interfaces in support of component sharing and reuse.
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