Legacy of the Beijing Olympic Games: a non-host city perspective

Abstract

Research question: This paper examines the legacy of the Beijing Olympics perceived by non-host city residents almost five years after the Games and how that perception would affect attitude towards the hosting of the Games. Research methods: An empirical survey study was conducted in which data were collected from 468 residents of Shanghai through structured questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified seven factors underlying the perceived legacy of the Beijing Olympics: 'Psychic income and social capital', 'Infrastructure and skills development', 'Networks and cooperation', 'Environment', 'Tourism and economics', 'Sport and health' and 'Identity and culture'. Results and findings: The findings demonstrate that the level of perceived legacy was significantly above the mid-point on all of the dimensions. In contrast, existing literature in western context demonstrated that on many dimensions values were below the mid-point, suggesting that the economic and cultural backgrounds of residents would make a difference. The paper also confirmed that perceived legacy would positively affect residents' attitude towards the hosting of Olympic Games, further highlighting the importance of continuous legacy leverage of Olympics. Implications: Evidence from this study points to the danger of underestimating the effort required by event planners to harness legacy and shift perception of host city image. More needs to be done, post securing event rights, to communicate with national and international audiences particularly in the developing world.

Socio-Economic Impacts of Event Failure: The Case of a Cancelled International Cycling Race

“…Without the events, these opportunities decrease, that is, they do not happen. Negative consequences on socio-cultural exchange were slightly above the median value, challenging the previous findings on the high importance of this group of impacts [29,39,65]. Further, while local residents usually consider that community spirit and pride as well as sense of being a part of the community will be reinforced by sporting events (see [43,63,66]), the results of this study suggest that the opposite does not hold; cancelling the event does not reflect negatively on local residents' perception of community consolidation and pride.…”

“…Consequently, in the case of the 2019ToC, if missed opportunities are significant, it is reasonable to predict that support for the event to be reestablished would be high. On the other hand, the public sector should develop strategies to balance the negative impacts of event cancellation, above all the intangible impacts (such as diminished international visibility of a country or lost opportunities for residents to enjoy and learn about sports) that often outweigh the economic benefits, as claimed by Liu et al [65].…”

Event Leveraging in a Nonhost Region: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Mega events have unique qualities that pose special problems and opportunities which impact not only host communities, but also peripheral communities because of the size and scope of the phenomena (Deccio & Baloglu, 2002;Liu et al, 2014). This presents distinctive challenges for a host city seeking to benefit from the hosting of an event such as the Olympic Games.…”

“…Olympic and Paralympic Games research studies considering non-host regions have been rather limited in number, with some notable exceptions that have helped inform the current study. Deccio and Baloglu (2002); Liu, Broom and Wilson (2014); and Ritchie, Shipway and Cleeve (2009) are examples of studies that have focused on non-host legacies. These scholars focused primarily on community residents' perceptions of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2008 Beijing 2008 Olympic Paralympic Games, and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games respectively.…”

Research on the Development Path of Chinese Fitness Clubs

“…In 90s, a variety of choreography and various dances have entered the body of fitness. In the club, and set off a fitness fever [1] in the world.…”