Should countries worldwide be more interested in hosting sports mega-events?

Tourism is nowadays recognized as an important sector that has an impact on the development of country economy. Tourism activities have a real impact on economic and social development as they contribute to the GDP and because of its role that it plays on the labor market. The ability of the national economy to benefit from tourism depends on the availability of investment to develop the necessary infrastructure and on its ability to supply the needs of tourists. Hosting sports megaevents is a theme with important impacts on the national economy. The scope of the paper is to present the impact of sports mega-events tourism on the hosting city/country. The paper also treats why sport mega-events are an attractive opportunity for countries but also what some possible loses may appear if choosing to host them.

Keywords

tourism, event tourism, sports events, mega-events

JEL Classification

L83, M2

References

Academia Română. (2012). Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române. Editura Univers Enciclopedic Gold.

Baade, R., & Matheson, V. A. (2003). Bidding for the Olympics: Fool’s gold? Edward Elgar Publishing.

Baade, R., & Matheson, V. A. (2004). The quest for the cup: Assessing the economic impact of the World Cup. Regional Studies, 343–354.

Cox, G. (1996). Showing off or showing up the city? Social Impact Assessment Newsletter, 5–11.

Davidson, R., & Cope, B. (2003). Business travel conference, incentive travel, exhibitions, corporate hospitality and corporate travel. Pearson Education.

Essex, S., & Chalkley, B. (1998). Olympic Games: Catalyst of urban change. Leisure Studies, 187–206.

Finer, J. (2002). The grand illusion. Far Eastern Economic Review, 32–36.

Goeldner, C., & Ritchie, J. (2006). Tourism: Principles, practices, philosophies. John Wiley & Sons.

Hiller, H. (2000). Mega-events, urban boosterism and growth strategies: An analysis of the objectives and legitimations of the Cape Town 2004 Olympic bid. International Journal of Urban and Regional Affairs, 439–458.

Kidd, B. (1992). The Toronto Olympic commitment: Towards a social contract for the Olympic Games. Olympika, 154–167.

Kurtzman, J., & Zauhar, J. (2003). A wave in time – The sports tourism phenomena. Journal of Sport and Tourism, 35–47.

Law, C. (2002). Urban tourism: The visitor economy and the growth of large cities. Continuum.

Lee, C. K., & Taylor, T. (2005). Criticial reflections on the economic impact assessment mega-event: The case of 2002 FIFA World Cup. Tourism Management, 595–603.

Maenning, W., & du Plessis, S. (2007). World Cup 2010: South African economic perspectives and policy challenges informed by the experience of Germany 2006. Contemporary Economic Policy, 25(4), 578–590.

Matheson, V. A. (2002). Upon further review: An examination of sporting event economic impact studies. The Sport Journal, 1–4.

Matheson, V., & Baade, R. (2004). Mega-sporting events in developing nations: Playing the way to prosperity? South African Journal of Economics, 1084–1095.

Porter, P. (1999). Mega-sports events as municipal investments: A critique of impact analysis. Praeger Press.

Preuss, H. (2007). FIFA World Cup 2006 and its legacy on tourism. In Trends and issues in global tourism.

Ritchie, B. W., & Adair, D. (2004). Sport tourism: Interrelationships, impacts and issues. Channel View Publications.

Smith, M. (2003). Issues in cultural tourism. Routledge.

Solberg, H., & Preuss, H. (2006). Major sport events and long-term tourism impacts. Journal of Sport Management, 215–236.

Szymanski, S. (2002). The economic impact of the World Cup. World Economics, 169–177.

Vigor, A., Mean, M., & Tims, C. (2004). After the gold rush: A sustainable Olympics for London. IPPR/DEMOS.

Waitt, G. (1999). Playing games with Sidney: Marketing Sidney for the 2000 Olympics for London. Urban Studies, 1055–1077.