The Impact Of A Mega-Event On Host Region Awareness: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

A center or region which hosts a major event attracting global attention is affected in many positive and negative ways. From a tourism perspective, perhaps the major benefits sought by organizers are increased awareness and an enhanced imageforthe host region in the international marketplace. It is assumed that this increased awareness and enhanced image will, over the long term, provide a strongercompetitiveposition and greater benefits from tourism. The present research reports thefindings of a five year study to monitor and assess the extent to which one mega-event, the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games, did impact on the international levels of awareness and the image of the host city. Data were collected annually from 1986 through 1989 in some 20 centers in the United States and Europe. The results indicate that, in this particular case, the event dramatically increased levels of awareness and substantially modified the image of the city of Calgary. However, there is also strong evidence that cities considering the staging ofsuch a mega-event must anticipate a significant rate of awareness and image decay, and take steps to counter it, if they wish to remain visible and competitive in the international marketplace.

Tourists' Consumption and Interpretation of Sport Event Imagery

“…There is certainly evidence that staging sport events can provide image benefits (Smith, 2005a). Ritchie and Smith's (1991) research regarding the city of Calgary, the host of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, suggests that a sport event can influence people's awareness and image of a city destination. Nevertheless, the authors suggest that municipal/tourism managers in a city must anticipate a certain rate of image and awareness decay if steps are not taken to keep links between sport and the city visible (Ritchie and Smith 1991).…”

Media Management at Sport Events for Destination Promotion: Case Studies and Concepts

“…A pertinent study by Ritchie and Smith (1991) assessed the increase in awareness of Calgary as a result of its hosting the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. They found that the city gained substantially, relative to other Canadian cities, but international awareness levels decreased quickly after the event.…”

Planning and Leveraging Event Portfolios: Towards a Holistic Theory

“…Although there is a burgeoning literature on the use of events in tourism development, the predominant interest of event tourism research focuses on singular mega-events and their capacity to generate a flow of impacts/benefits to destinations (e.g., Dansero & Puttilli, 2010;Florek & Insch, 2011;Fourie & Santana-Gallego, 2011;Hall, 1992;Ritchie & Smith, 1991;Smith, 2012;Weed, 2008). This extensive interest is broadly framed within the notion of legacy, which has brought into the fore the positive and negative impacts or legacies of major events (Mangan & Dyreson, 2009;Preuss, 2007).…”