Evaluating the Sustainability of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

The 2014 Sochi Olympics were held from February 7 to 23 at various venues in Russia. The event was marked by a boycott of the opening ceremony by leaders from several countries due to Russia's stance on Ukraine. Despite this, the games were successful and featured a range of winter sports. However, the location posed challenges due to its subtropical climate, which affected snowfall. Recommendations for future events include selecting locations with suitable climates and prioritizing security. The event also highlighted the need to ensure sustainability by converting sporting facilities into useable venues after the games.

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ATTRACTION AND EVENT MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
ATTRACTION AND EVENT MANAGEMENT..........................................................................3
Analysis of Event Life Cycle.......................................................................................................3
Formation Stage.......................................................................................................................3
Growth stage............................................................................................................................4
Staging.....................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations........................................................................................................................5
References....................................................................................................................................7

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ATTRACTION AND EVENT MANAGEMENT
Events can be described as public or social occasions which are planned within a venue
and are usually of importance. The Sochi Olympics staged in 2014 was an event that qualifies
within the parameters of an event. The organizers of the Olympic Games engaged in planning for
the event using the life cycle model that also factored in its location as a tourist destination. The
event was planned on three key stages or cycles of formation, growth and staging. The formal
structured approach was important in planning for successfully staging the Games. The event life
cycle is important in planning for events and reviewing in order to give recommendations for
improvements. Each cycle can be broadened into: formation (strategy and planning,), growth
(marketing and promotion, design and development) and staging (execution).
Analysis of Event Life Cycle
Formation Stage- The formation cycle of the Sochi Olympics started in 2005 when the
International Olympic committee invited bids for hosting the 2014 games, with the Russian
Federation submitting Sochi as the identified location for hosting the Olympics. Sochi is
approximately 145 km in length and is found along the Black Sea coastal area. It forms part of
the Krasno dar region and grew as a health-resort city (Vamling & Bo 2013). It has a unique
climate that offers visitors the opportunity to mountain ski and sun-bath at the same time. A.O
(2014) explains that the main reason why it was chosen because it is fitted in with the geo-
political aspirations of Vladimir Putin.
Putin was known to spend a lot of time in Sochi as his favorite vacation location. He
wanted to solidify his international legitimacy with Sochi as his showpiece. Another reason why
it was chosen is because it has traditionally been associated with corruption and this was seen in
the budget that was over- run by 150%.When Sochi received the official confirmation in 2007,

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the Russian Olympic Committee set out plans for the actual preparation of the games. The Sochi
Organizing Committee comprising of official drawn from the Federal Agency for Physical
Culture and Sports, the Administrators of the city of Sochi and the Russian Olympic body
(Muller 2011). This committee was tasked with providing planning, delivery and closure under a
Soviet-style that was grandiose and wasteful, and intended to assuage national pride.
Growth stage- The growth stage incorporated the design and development components
of construction. This also included marketing and promotion of the games. Funding was also
secured through public (4%) and private (96%) participation. The various costs associated with
the games totaled $ 55 billion (Ortung 2014). The event overstated its initial projection due to
corruption in different forms: sites were reworked in order to justify the extra charges and giving
work to friends with no qualifications as contractors (A.O 2014). The cost breakdown was in
operational and capital costs for constructing new venues. Other costs extended to sports related
as well as those not related to sports such as infrastructure improvement
The contractor’s work included moving the stadium used for the 1980 Olympics in
Moscow to Sochi. Other structures such as the bleachers and concession stands were also
relocated to Sochi. This was done to save construction costs and was part of the corruption
process. The marketing and promotion revolved around the official slogan “Hot. Cool.Yours.”
This was an improvement of the earlier suggestion: “Potentially the Most Terrifying Olympics of
All Time.” The change of campaign was to pre-empt the negative feedback that would arise with
claims of corruption after the games. This campaign included components such as broadcasting,
sponsorship, ticketing and licensing. The promotion and marketing was successful, generating
the highest revenues at $ 1.2 billion and surpassing previous Winter Olympics (Olympic.org
2014).

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Staging- The games which involved over 6000 athletes was hosted in different sites in
and near Sochi. The main Olympic Park was composed of the Bolshoy Ice Dome, Iceberg
Skating Palace, Adler Arena and the Shayba Arena. It also included the Fisht Stadium which
served as the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies (Fitzpatrick 2014). Various villages
were constructed for the athletes such as the Media Village found at the Rosa Khutor resort and
the Rosa village in Krasnaya Polyana (Olympic.org 2014). The games were officially opened on
the 7th February and closed after two weeks on the 23rd of the same month. The organizing
committee ensured that any security emergencies and unforeseen occurrences would be handled
quickly with other stakeholders and participants.
The staging was not attended by the leaders of the US, Germany, the UK and France.
This was due to the anti-stance that was adopted by Russia. The leaders of the above countries
boycotted the opening ceremonies as a way of showing their disapproval with the stance taken
by Russia (Campbell-Dollaghan 2013). Despite the growing tensions between Russia and the
Ukraine, the Ukrainian president attended the official opening in order to get a private audience
with Putin. Immediately following the closing of the winter Olympics, the Paralympics
commenced thereafter. The Paralympics had a total of 72 medal events and required more than
8000 volunteers to assist the athletes participating (Paralympic.org 2014). The sports which
featured included alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and ice sledge hockey..
Recommendations
The first recommendation is with regards to the formation stage of the event life cycle.
Sochi was not the best location to host a winter Olympic due to its climate which is sub-tropical.
During the games, it was not cold enough to snow which was a requirement for staging of some
games (Taylor 2014). For Sochi to have continued attracting tourists coming for “athleisure”,

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ensuring that it has natural climatic condition is important. For the residents who are the
stakeholders, generating artificial snow after the event would not have been commercially viable
and sustainable. The recommendation in the future is to use a location that has the ideal climatic
to ensure its sustainability in terms of weather conditions.
The second recommendation would be to choose a location that is more secure in order to
reduce costs related to security. Sochi lies in the southern area of Russia that is prone to concerns
over security (Sochi 2014). The US had two warships on standby in case of any terrorist attack.
Sochi could not attract and maintain visitors as a tourist destination in the future due to security
concerns. Sochi city could not provide security on the scale seen during the event and this makes
its sustainability as a future events avenue to be greatly compromised. The recommendation is to
allow the stakeholders be the primary providers of security in order to build confidence of the
local stakeholders long after the games have ended.
The third recommendation is to convert some of the sporting facilities for use in sports
that are normally played in warmer weather. Some of the facilities which had to use artificial
snow could be used for regional or national games within the Russian Federation. This would
ensure that the residents of Sochi are not left with a “white elephant” project that does not add
economic value. The new use of the facilities would ensure that the economy that was stimulated
and boosted by staging the Olympics is sustainable and adds value to Sochi as a sports tourism
destination. This would make the residents own up the facilities and continue marketing itself as
a sports and athleisure tourist destination.
The Sochi Olympic Games was held in 2014 and was the venue for both the winter and
Paralympics games. The sets of actions that culminated in the successful staging involved
planning using the event life cycle. The formation, growth and staging were holistically

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incorporated and executed independently. The formation stage involved strategy and planning,
while the growth factored in designing, marketing and promotion. The staging was across
multiple sites and the same venue was used for both events. While the event was successful,
several recommendations could have resulted in lowering the costs associated with the games.
During the formation stage, identifying a location that is secure and appropriate is important in
controlling the costs attendant with staging an event.

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References
A.O, 2014, Why Sochi is ironically, the perfect place for winter Olympics, viewed 14
September, https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/02/economist-explains-
2>
Campbell-Dollaghan, K, 2013, A guide to the Sochi Olympics opening ceremony insanity,
viewed 14 September, <http://gizmodo.com/a-guide-to-the-sochi-olympics-opening-ceremony-
insanit-1516536624>
CNN, 2017, Sochi Winter Olympics Fast Facts, viewed 12 September 2017, <
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/14/world/2014-sochi-winter-olympics-fast-facts/index.html>
Fitzpatrick, A 2014, 'Everything You Need to Know About The Sochi Olympics Opening
Ceremony', Time.com, p. 1.
McCarthy, M, 2013, Winter Olympics in the subtropics: just snow, viewed 12 September 2017,
< https://www.cnbc.com/2013/12/12/sochi-2014-russian-plans-to-bring-snow-to-subtropical-
winter-olympics.html>
Müller, M 2011, 'State dirigisme in megaprojects: governing the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi', Environment & Planning A, vol. 43, no. 9, pp. 2091-2108. Available from:
10.1068/a43284.
Muller, M, 2015, “After Sochi 2014: costs and impacts of Russia’s Olympic Games.” Eurasian
Geography and Economics, volume 55, (issue 6),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2015.1040432
Olympic.org, 2014, Marketing report: Sochi 2014, viewed 12 September, <
https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/IOC_Marketing/Sochi_2014/LR_MktReport2014_all_S
preads.pdf>

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Orttung, RW 2014, 'Olimpstroy: Building the Sochi Olympics from Scratch', Russian Analytical
Digest, no. 143, p. 5.
Paralympic.org, 2014, Sochi 2014, viewed 12 September, < https://www.paralympic.org/sochi-
2014>
'Sochi 2014: A Security Challenge', 2013, Stratfor Analysis, p. 11.
Taylor, A, 2014, Sochi 2014: Seven Years of Preparation, viewed 12 September, <
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/02/sochi-2014-seven-years-of-preparation/100675/>
Taylor, A, 2014, Why Sochi is by far the most expensive Olympics ever, viewed 12 September,
< http://www.businessinsider.com/why-sochi-is-by-far-the-most-expensive-olympics-ever-2014-
1?IR=T>
Vamling, K, & Bo, P 2013, The Sochi Predicament : Contexts, Characteristics and Challenges
of the Olympic Winter Games in 2014, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne.