From the desert to the city: how is Dubai branding itself through sustainable sport events?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how the city of Dubai branded itself as a major event holder for sustainable sporting events in the Gulf Region. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses both academic and trade literature as well as key informant interviews to demonstrate how Dubai can sustain its position as a choice for sustainable sporting events. The study evaluates the use of a portfolio of major sport events for place event marketing of Dubai. Both primary and secondary data were used. The secondary data was collected from a range of event reports, media and journal articles. The primary data featured a qualitative design of key informant interviews with sport, tourism and event stakeholders in Dubai. Findings Dubai hosts a wide array of major international sport events, with many of them recurring annually. The key success factors that have positioned Dubai as a globally competitive sport destination are tourism attractiveness, good event management and the diversity of events hosted in the region. However, the sustainability aspects are considered to be a contemporary topic to promote these events and are sometimes neglected from the perspective of event organisation. Some of the challenges experienced in supporting such a wide portfolio of major sport events are examined. Research limitations/implications Insufficient key informant interviews were a major limitation for the data collection process. The key informant interviews were sent out to more than 30 key stakeholders however it was not possible to get their responses in time for our paper. A second limitation was the lack of first-hand observation on the sporting events’ sustainability practices. This study could be extended in future by incorporating a bigger set of primary data, event observations and a cross comparison between other Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Practical implications It is recommended that empirical insights on social and commercial aspects of sustainability are sought in future studies. It is also recommended that investigations be conducted with the residents of Dubai concerning their perceptions of sustainability practices of sport events. Social implications The paper also highlighted the importance of key success factors that have helped to position Dubai as a globally competitive sustainable sport destination as well as some of the challenges experienced in supporting such a wide portfolio of major sport events. Originality/value This study takes a closer look at the challenges of communication as well as the sustainability of sport events in branding of Dubai.

A New Paradigm of a Sustainability-Balanced Scorecard Model for Sport Tourism

“…The internet and social networks are widely used to distribute information [56] and increase access to customers [57]. In addition, TV and social media are platforms that event organizers, competitors, and teams use to engage with their fans [58]. As a result, online plaforms, for example, the advanced purchase of parking tickets [59], the digital promotion of sport tourism, automatic vending channels, chatbots, and other online vendors with videos, sounds, photos, and VR/AR technology [60] can increase touchpoints and customer experiences.…”

Resilience, Sport and Social Projects

“…Sport has as one of its main characteristics breaking barriers, building bridges, and transgressing spaces because, from the outset, everyone is equal Monteiro et al (2023) (Melo, 2004;Correia, 2008;Conceição & Palhares, 2014). Especially when using the social dimension Educational Sport, which, according to Tubino (2011), has as its premise training for citizenship with the inclusion and democratization of sports practice (Mazzei et al, 2023;Mesquita et al, 2022;Neto et al, 2022;Pagaduan et al, 2022;Perovano-Camargo et al, 2021Silva & Mataruno, 2022;Swart, 2021;Skibinska et al, 2020;Wanick et al, 2021;Washif et al, 2022;Zardoshtian, 2022).…”

City brand evolution research and future agenda: bibliometric and science mapping analysis

“…Finally, there are few studies that examine disruptive changes at the technological, social, political and economic levels in the evolution of future cities and their involvement with the city brand [ 47 ]. The new smart city trend [ 67 ] in which sustainable cities [ 69 , 70 ] are projected to be supported by all technological developments in clean energy. A high quality of life for citizens, automated management, green industry, sustainable habitats, optimal management of public resources and participatory management [ 71 , 72 ], pandemic crisis [ 73 ].…”