Event Tourism Impacts: Positive and Negative

This assignment delves into the multifaceted effects of event tourism. It examines both the beneficial outcomes, such as increased economic activity and global exposure for destinations, and the potential drawbacks, including strain on infrastructure, disruption of local communities, and environmental degradation. The analysis emphasizes the importance of sustainable event management to mitigate negative impacts and maximize positive contributions.

Running head: EVENT MANAGEMENT
Event Management
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Introduction
Events held in any place largely affect the place both positively and negatively. Events
always do not play a constructive role in the regional development of any particular place. Event
industry has also been affecting the regional development adversely. The essay will discuss
range of events that takes place in Melbourne, the capital of Northern Territory, Australia.
Events are planned public and social occasion. Event industry consists of companies that manage
and organize events. Events have become a very significant part of any city or region. Whether
the city is big or small, events are organized. These events can be festivals, conferences,
weddings, parties, conventions, sports and concerts. Wherever events are organized, a number of
resources are required. Support of local people is needed to make the events successful. Local
people and communities have a lot to contribute towards event. Events also contribute towards
the development of the region. Events can be classified into, Hallmark, mega, sports, social and
cultural events. The essay will focus on the range of events taking place in Melbourne city.
Discussion
Melbourne is situated on Timor Sea. The total population of Melbourne is 4,725,316.
Melbourne has a huge cultural and ethnic diversity. The scenic beauty of the place makes it a
good location for the organizers of various events (Ruhanen and Whitford 2014). Tourism is one
of the two economic sectors of the city the other being mining. Tourism employs 8 percent of the
population of the city.
Range of events in Melbourne
Mega event- Mega events include expos, political summits, conventions and festivals. It
includes sports events like, Rugby World Cup, Football Super bowl, Tennis Grand slam and

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Netball World championships. It is not always the number of the audience or public gathering
that determines whether an event is mega or not (Kim, Boo and Kim 2013). The significance of
the events also determines whether it is a mega or regular event. Some of the examples of Mega
festivals of Melbourne are given below
Alexandra event- An upcoming mega event that is to be held in Melbourne is Alexandra
event 2017. It is the third time the event has been held in Melbourne. Lot of adventure activities
are available for the visitors. Geocaching Melbourne provides customers with exciting
experiences that ranges from 4WD geocaches to kayaking on the Eildon, tree climbs and walks.
Significance of this event is it provides employment opportunities destination appreciation.
Melbourne music week is another mega event that will be held in the city for nine days. It
will be held in Melbourne town hall, the steps of the parliament house, the state library,
federation square and MP pavilion. It will be organized at almost every places of the city
(Hamilton, Tee and Prideaux 2015). It makes the people aware of the wide range of music genres
of regional and global music and hence this event is significant.
Social events- Melbourne cup carnival- This is another mega event of Melbourne. It is
one of the best events held in Melbourne as it provides experiences like, racing, entertainment,
fashion, culture, food.
Melbourne festival- It is a social event that is organized in Melbourne every year. It is an
international arts festival which includes theatre, arts, circus, music and visual arts. It also consist
some of the outdoor and free events (Visit Victoria home. 2017). It promotes social interaction
and inclusion helps in cultural development

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Hallmark events- Hallmark events are big fairs, expos, cultural and sporting events that
are of international significance. The idea behind hallmark events is to enhance the significance
of the place in terms of international tourism. In order to promote the place the tourism board,
local and national Government hosts international events so that the place is gets global attention
(Li and Jago 2013).
Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show- This international event is held every
year in Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens. Carlton Gardens is also a
world heritage site. People from all around the world visit Melbourne be a witness of largest
horticulture event in the entire Southern Hemisphere (Getz and Page 2016). This event helps in
destination appreciation and recognition of the place as tourist destination. Another Hallmark
event that grabbed the attention of international audience is 2017 Australian Grand Prix,
officially known as 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix. This event is important
infrastructure of the destination is improved.
Social events- Social events encourage cultural inclusion.
Midsumma Festival- Midsumma festival is one of the social festivals that bring a mix of
artists and performers under one roof for celebration of arts and culture. A number of programs
are conducted in this event.
Sports events- International sports event and grabs the attention of international media. So they
are very important.
Australian Open- It is one of the sports event of international significant that is held every year.
The event is held in the Melbourne Park in the last 15 Days of January. This event gets huge

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media coverage and the number of visitors is also very high. In the year 2017 the number of
visitors was 728, 763.
Impact of events
Positive Impact- Events that take place in any place helps in development of the place.
Hall mark events helps in boosting tourism of that place. Events generate a need for labor to
provide basic services to the visitors. The local people fulfill the human resource requirement
mostly. Events are source of employment to the people living in that area. Therefore, it can be
said that it boosts the economy of the place. Another positive impact of the events is that it
provides entertainment to the people of that place. Income of the people is increased and as a
result, the standard of living of people is improved. Interaction with people of different culture
helps the local people get exposure and awareness about the other cultures. It is also a source of
learning new things (Ruhanen and Whitford 2014).
Social events like Melbourne festival show the vivid culture of Melbourne. It boosts the
tourism of the city as it promotes the cultural diversity of the city. It causes preservation of
culture of that place. Cultural inclusion is one of the aspects of event that affects the lives of
aboriginal people living in Australia as they get an opportunity to mix with the people from
diverse cultural backgrounds (Andersson and Lundberg 2013).
International events like Melbourne international Garden show create awareness among
the international visitors that Melbourne has a World Heritage site. Sports events like Grand Prix
requires infrastructure development. Infrastructure development eases the lives of the people in
that region.

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Negative Impact- Another aspect of economic impact of event tourism is it provides
seasonal employment to the people of the place. Too much dependency on event tourism related
jobs is not beneficial. Events are not organized frequently. The gap between two events is
generally too much. People dependent on yearly events will have to wait for one year. Until then,
they will have to be either unemployed or engage into other jobs. Introduction of visitors in
cultural sensitive areas where is aborigines might be harmful because it causes loss of culture.
One of the concerning negative impacts of events is that it disrupts the ecological balance. When
the number of visitors beyond the carrying capacity of the place many challenges are faced.
Issues like littering and pollution can be seen. Land, air, water contamination are other major
issues that are very harmful for the sustainability of that place.
Conclusion
The impacts of events sometimes adversely affect the region. Too much public gathering
often disrupts the ecological balance of the place. It both restores and disturbs the culture of any
destination. The positive impact of event is it makes the place known to the other part of the
world. This happens in case of mega events. Sports events like international cricket are often
organized in TIO stadium, Northline Oval and Tracy village Oval. These kinds of events have
television and radio broadcastings. Media involve provides a lot of publicity which benefits the
city as it encourages in that place. Thus, it can be concluded that events are have both positive
and negative impacts. Events should be organized but its management is very important so that
negative impact can be reduced.

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References
Andersson, T.D. and Lundberg, E., 2013. Commensurability and sustainability: Triple impact
assessments of a tourism event. Tourism Management, 37, pp.99-109.
Getz, D. and Page, S.J., 2016. Event studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events.
Routledge.
Hamilton, J.R., Tee, S. and Prideaux, M.C., 2015. Inbound event tourism attendees: a group
qualities-values approach at destination. The TQM Journal, 27(2), pp.197-212.
Kim, J., Boo, S. and Kim, Y., 2013. Patterns and trends in event tourism study topics over 30
years. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 4(1), pp.66-83.
Li, S. and Jago, L., 2013. Evaluating economic impacts of major sports events–a meta analysis of
the key trends. Current Issues in Tourism, 16(6), pp.591-611.
Ruhanen, L. and Whitford, M., 2014. Indigenous Tourism and Events for Community
Development in Australia. In Tourism as an Instrument for Development: A Theoretical and
Practical Study (pp. 183-194). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Ruhanen, L., Whitford, M. and McLennan, C.L., 2015. Indigenous tourism in Australia: Time
for a reality check. Tourism Management, 48, pp.73-83.
Visit Victoria home. 2017. Melbourne, Australia – Official tourism website for visitors from
India. [online] Available at: http://www.visitmelbourne.com/in [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].