Global Sporting Events
Pangaea Network Research
October 2010
Country who has hosted a sporting event
... Well
... Poorly
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
South Africa
China
Spain (Barcelona 1992)
Australia
Italy (Turin Winter Olympics 2006)
Canada
Germany
Switzerland
...
Greece
Italy
Spain
Germany
USA
India
Canada
France
Russia
Respondents from a country that has hosted a global sporting event were most likely to mention it, however,
some were critical of their country’s past performance.
Most countries appear on both lists, except for Australia, China, South Africa and Switzerland, which only
appear as countries that did well.
Change in the perception of a country is believed to be
the main benefit of hosting a sporting event
Whilst a country’s economy, tourism and employment will also benefit, its perception is
believed to be the main beneficiary; this benefit is also thought to be long lasting, particularly
compared to Jobs, where employment is only thought to benefit during the event.
Which of the following do you think the host country would benefit from the most by
staging a global sporting event? How long do you think the benefit of staging a global
sporting event would last?:
Football is thought to have the biggest impact on a
host country
Other sports are not seen to have any where near the same effect on the host
country; all sports were consistently ranked much lower, even rugby (5th) which
is supposedly less elitist than sports such as sailing or golf
NB Football did not receive 100% of votes; it
was ranked the highest, and therefore has
been scored 100%, whilst all other scores are
relative to this
Other includes:
•Olympics
•Cycling
•Cricket
•Winter sports
Please rank the top 3 sports which have the most impact on a host country:
Countries whose perception changed after hosting
a sporting event
Improved
Worsened
•
•
Spain
They feared for the safety, but Spain has
proven the opposite. Also, because of the
improved infrastructure and new tourism
facilities, the country did get an amazing
impulse.
•
South Africa
South Africa has grown economically, and also in
terms of infrastructure and tourism. In my opinion
it is the “Great Unknown”.
•
•
•
•
New Zealand
China
Germany
Canada
India
Why wouldn’t a sporting event change the perception
of the host country?
It depends on the country. If it is in Europe it’s
Iteasier
depends
on the
country. IfIfititisisin
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to attract
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farther,
likeit’s
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If
it
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South Africa… it is a waste of time, Money like
and
South Africa… it is a waste of time, Money and
energy. In this case it won’t have any effect.
energy. In this case it won’t have any effect.
Once you have a picture of a country it
Once
you have but
a picture
of a country
it canfall
can change,
eventually
you will
change, but eventually you will fall back in the
back
in the old picture.
old
picture.
Most innovative marketing for a global sporting event
Barcelona and Sydney.
Both were well run
economically, politically
and in terms of tourism
China, with its huge and
high-tech sport facilities!
South-Africa had a bad image before the World Cup.
The people thought South-Africa was unsafe and
expensive. After the World Cup everybody is
remembering South-Africa as a warm country with
fantastic people.
Although it was a case of necessity, the idea of Beijing
to get rid of the smog with rockets was very innovative.
Although it was not a marketing activity, it positions the
country as innovative.
Instead of an specific country, I think the best
marketing campaigns have been created by sport
Brands, like, Nike, Adidas or large companies that
support the host country.
It is difficult to give an example, because countries
frequently do not have enough resources to promote
their sporting events. The real sporting event
promotion is the national and international exposure
governed by TV channels holding broadcasting rights.
South Africa received the most mentions, followed by
Australia and China
Respondents have not picked up on any particular
marketing activities from a country but have noted
that sports brands and the TV stations that hold the
broadcasting rights to the event carry out much of the
marketing within their markets
Sporting events are seen to encourage visitors to new
destinations and provide long term benefits to the host country
Few respondents feel that hosting a sporting event is a waste of money as it is a long term
investment. Whilst attending a sporting event, it is felt that people will pay a premium.
Definitely disagree
Please rate the following statements on a scale of 1-5, where 1 is definitely disagree
and 5 is definitely agree.: :
Definitely agree
Majority believe other regions of the host country benefit from a
global sporting event
Global events often have various locations around the country, encouraging visitors to move around; marketing is thought
to be key, particularly for those for whom the host country is a long haul destination
People who travel to
attend a global
sporting event often
want post-event tours
to see more of the
destination.
Because travellers can
experience also nearby towns, not only the
one staging the
sporting event.
Good marketing will afford wider
regional benefit with pre and post
event options
Affinity, because of the country,
besides the host city, there should
be an advertising campaign of the
whole country. It would be a big
mistake to lose the opportunity of
putting the country in everyone’s
mind.
Impact is not limited to the local
market but to the region/country or
even continental (Europe)
Many sports fans are on limited budgets and only travel to see their
team/sport and are not interested in cultural tourism
People often remember
only the name of the
place.
Humans are lazy and will not
travel great distances let alone
pay money for it.
just the actual region/ city,
where the event is taking
place, can benefit. Unless
the media reports about
the whole country
Because people only visit the
town(s) hosting the event. They
are only attracted by the event
and don’t take the time to
discover the destination.
Can other regions of the host country benefit from hosting a global sporting event?(For
example, could Perth benefit from the Sydney Olympics, or will Manchester benefit from
London hosting the 2012 Olympics?)
When planning to attend a sporting event, tickets are the first
element to be purchased
Tickets are the most likely to be purchased over a year ahead, likely to be driven by
availability. Travel arrangements are made further in advance, availability and early purchase
price benefits may factor here. Accommodation appears to be the last part of the trip booked,
however, over ¾ have booked their accommodation over 3 months in advance.
How far in advance do people book the following to attend global sporting events?:
Travel arrangements (e.g. flights); Accommodation (e.g. hotels); Tickets to the event
Hotels and airlines are believed to benefit most from a global
sporting event
The gap between hotels and airlines, and the other sectors of the travel industry possibly
reflect those travellers booking independently of tour operators and travel agents. The
business types mentioned under ‘Other’ cover local businesses and services available at
the destination.
Not at all benefit
Please rate how much the following sectors of the travel industry would benefit from
staging a global sporting event on a scale of 1-5, where 1 is ‘not at all benefit’ and 5 is
‘benefit a lot’.:
Benefit a lot
Largely believed that only around a ¼ of travelers would avoid
visiting a host country whilst a sporting event took place
Just 29% of respondents feel that more travelers would shun a destination due to a global
sporting event. However, it is certain that a proportion of a country’s visitors, who do not
want to attend a sporting event, would avoid going there, but these would be the minority.
Approximately what proportion of travelers do you think would avoid going to the host
country / change their original travel plan because of a global sporting event?
9 in 10 feel that Travel industry prices are too expensive during a
global sporting event
Just 5% of respondents feel that travelers are charged the right amount of money. When
asked on a scale of ‘Strongly disagree’ to ‘Strongly agree’, just 26% agreed that the travel
industry offers the right products at the right prices.
What do you think of the prices of hotels, airlines and other industry partners during
global sporting events?
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement "the travel industry reacts
well to sporting events by offering the right products at the right prices"?
What could the travel industry do better to improve the customer
experience during the staging of a global sporting event?
Monitor prices
Not over inflate hotel and air rates. Hotel rates
in Cape Town quadrupled leaving people angry
and bemused
Differentiation between visitors of the event
and other visitors; avoidance of excessively
expensive prices during the event
To offer a wider range of services without
increasing too much the final price, in order to
stimulate an holiday extension, in addition to
the sporting event.
Sporting events are often exploited. The
recent World Cup is a good example of how
not to. High prices meant that the hotel and
stadiums were barely or not full. A tour
operator can also build a lot of credit by
offering affordable
Event organisation &
advice
To work all together and avoid the
event organizers’ influence.
To organise the event and the related
promotion in due time
To give precise and exact
information about where the sport
events take place, facilities,
parking, public transport so the
attendants don’t miss anything
about these or people who want to
visit the city but not the sport
events can easily avoid them.
To give service providers more
prominence, offer additional services/
aid, better advisory service
Further travel
Offer the event more
previously before departure in
combination with a travel
throughout the country. They
are now often short trips for a
few days exclusively for the
event. People who wants to
make this combinations have
to book everything separately.
Exposure of the culture,
heritage and customs of the
host country. Organised tours
and disseminate the
information in advance.
Promote night activities rather
than pubs and discos. Avoid the
event as a once in a life time to
grab the dollar.
England are thought to be the most likely to host
the 2018 Football World Cup
Who do you think will win the bid for hosting the 2018 Football World Cup?
In your own words, are there any other effects or changes
that occur when a country hosts a major sporting event?
Country’s image
Cleaning, cleanliness of cities
for Photo productions
Country is forced to be clear
on what image they want to
present
People’s attitudes
As a rule people’s attitude
improves when it comes to
visitor and also infrastructure is
improved.
Reduction of racism, support of
open-mindedness and tolerance
Infrastructure
The host country must invest a
lot of money in improving the
tourism infrastructure. It allows
improving the facilities for the
local people. Projects who could
take years are pushing forward
by the organization. It will
probably bring a sense of
togetherness within the hosting
country.
Prices increases
Domestic problems reach the
public sphere – the world has
an insight in political and
economical problems
[Inflation of] hotel and air
rates. Hotel rates in Cape Town
quadrupled leaving people
angry and bemused
Tourism hospitality improvement,
growing know-how in transport /
logistics / crisis / security
management. These events
enhance all aspects of tourism
hospitality as any other
promotions can do.