Impacts of Festivals and Events on Tourism: A Sustainability Analysis

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Impacts of Festivals and Events
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Assessment 1...................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
Tourism is a tool that helps in the development of regions. Festivals and events have been
recently attracting tourists in particular areas; thus, benefitting the tourism industry. Events and
festivals affect the host country both positively as well as negatively. In some events, the
sustainability method is used, and the impact of tourism is good in the specific region, but in
some events, it is not followed thoroughly; thus, affecting the environment in a negative way.
Events and festivals in the host countries affect the economic, social, cultural and environmental
aspects. In the given study, the positive and negative impacts of events such as the World Cup,
Olympics, and some other events would be evaluated. The methods that the host country or city
has applied to deal with the problems or to be benefitted by the positive impacts of the events
will be discussed.
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Assessment 1
The sustainability of Mega Events is a ‘myth’. Discuss this statement by comparing
successes and failures of mega events worldwide.
Events are particular rituals, performances, celebrations, or rituals that are managed and created
for the social occasions as well as for specific cultural, business, or social objectives and goals
(Rouse, 2019). Festivals contribute to the cultural as well as the social life of the individual.
Events nowadays, play a major role in promoting destinations. According to Chalip, the long-
term events help in developing the areas where the event is going to be held by enhancing the
position of the market and branding the particular region. The “Tour de France” event has helped
in connecting the French and some other international countries and has used sustainability
method through associating cycling as a part of the event (Andreff, 2016). “The Veterans
Awareness Week” is an event that has been incorporated with the “Annual Military” and
“Veterans Festival” every year in June in the United Kingdom. This event has helped the
veterans by supporting them through different charity organisations and agencies. Weymouth
and Portland is the best destination for this event. However, there are some negative impacts of
this event in the host city. There has been fluctuation in the values of land and over-dependence
of the city for tourism sector for the increasing economy.
The impacts of the football World Cup in the year 2002 in Korea have been both positive as well
as negative. The Asian Games have increased the confidence level of the native people and has
helped in developing the products and infrastructures of the country (taken from the support).
The increase in visitors has to lead to the prosperity of the hospitality industry. Thus, adding to
the economy of the country. Mega events such as this help the host countries in gaining fame and
strengthening the values of the region. The visitors also gained knowledge of the cultures of the
region, and this helps in providing both short term and long-term employment to the native
people. However, mega-events such as this increase the burden of tax on the country. The
organisers also mismanaged the funds of the public. The mega-events affect the local people
negatively by increasing the rent of the houses in the area of the event. This has happened in the
city Seoul aftermath the Olympics events. The traffic in the area has increased and the level of
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crime as well. Overcrowding has led to affect the serenity of the region and has caused damages
in the environment.
The FIFA World Cup 2002 hosted in Korea and Japan has increased the image of the country.
This has boosted the economy of both regions and increased the revenue of the hotel industry.
However, this has lead to problems in the parking area as well as the level of prostitution has
increased (Butler and Aicher, 2015). The prices of the hotel rooms have also been increased that
has created a problem for the common people. Festivals such as the “Buon Ma Thuot Coffee
Festival” in Vietnam have a positive effect on the host city (Thái, 2018). Through this festival,
the local community gets employment in improving coffee tourism in that area. Thus, the
economy of the country increases by employing the local people. The poverty level of the
country has also been reduced since the awareness of coffee tourism through this festival. The
increase in tourists in the region has resulted in increased revenue for the native citizens. In this
festival, the local food as well as food traditions are promoted and thus, enhancing the value of
the regional food all over the world. This has also enhanced the relationship between the
communities.
The festival has promoted the coffee culture of the region thus, has increased the sales of
retailers, enhancing the economy of the country. The “British Pop Music Festival” has increased
the economy of the region as many visitors have come to visit and they have paid tickets for
entertainment (McKay and Webster, 2016). Thus, the entertainment industry has also been
benefitted as well as the event management team of the region. However, the festival has
affected the environment of the host city negatively by increasing the waste and sewage of the
particular region. This has also lead to noise pollution and emissions of carbon due to increases
in vehicles. The “Greener Festival Organisation” has come up to aid the negative impacts by
promoting eco-friendly practices. As per the policies of this organisation, the waste bins should
be provided in the event areas, and recycling of the waste should be done to minimise the level
of wastes (Ali et al., 2008). Minnesota Festival has helped in increasing the economy of the city
by promoting marketing and advertising the local businesses. It involves many communities so
that they would be able to mingle and share each other’s view and experiences.
The festival also teaches the visitors about the social benefit of festivals. It promotes the use of
natural resources and the culture of native America. This strengthens the bond between the
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private and public organisations as well as among volunteers, residents, and staffs. The festival
and event management program incorporates the management of the site, strategic planning, and
evaluation of the event (extension.umn.edu, 2019). The Eurovision contest increases the
economy of the host country but increases the rate of tickets of the transport services. Thus, it is
also a boon as well as a burden for the host country. For instance, Ukraine’s image has been
developed due to hosting this event in its region. The event has opened the door for future events
in the country. It has also developed the infrastructure of the specific region (Averchuk, 2016).
According to the views of the conference that was held in Stockholm, the Eurovision song
contest has helped in sharing the ideas and ideas of Europe all over the world. It has also
projected the values of human rights, speech freedom, media freedom, and rights of children and
women (Lavesson et al., 2019).
As per the Earth Summit 1992, the tourism industry should control the activities to reduce the
negative impacts on the economy, environment, and society. The ‘Green Flag” promotes
biodegradable plastic in the tourism spots and use of biodiesel by tourists as well as by the
members of the tourism sector. The Alpine ecosystem has been degraded by the tourism
activities in Nepal during the mask dance festival. Mega events such as Olympic increase the
cost of the country. Thus, the development of the country on the areas of needs stops or pauses
for a duration. FIFA has a long-lasting effect on the host country by displacing the people of the
particular area and commercialising the space of public (Müller, 2015). NGI events provide
education to tourists about the culture of the North East. “Juice” is a public event for the young
people and children of the country. It promotes the idea of preserving the cultural heritage of the
country. It also helps the children in increasing their skills through their participation in the
festival. The sustainable development is possible only through the active participation of
stakeholders and local communities in the host countries of events and festivals.
The use of alternative technologies should be promoted for reducing the water and air pollution.
There should be indicators to check the quality of natural resources as well as control on the
ecosystem. The manufacturing of stadiums and infrastructures causes dust that leads to air
pollution and is harmful to the health of the people. Manufacturing infrastructures need timber
that leads to deforestation, which further results in global warming. The construction area
produces noise as well as the clubs and entertainment areas generate noise. Events and festivals
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though bring together stakeholders and tourism industry, it creates conflicts and issues between
them too. There should be a limit on the visitor’s volume in the tourist spots to control the
pollution.
The tourism due to events and festivals also lead to a shortage of water and food of the host
community. The London 2012 Olympic Games has to lead to improving the conditions of the
people of Lea Valley. It has provided employment opportunity as well as programmes for skills
training and education (Konstantaki, 2009). The Sydney Games 2000 has developed the country
by changing the look of the area of the event and has linked the transport system with the space
of industry (Malfas et al., 2004). The “Local Organising Committee” in Russia has developed a
sustainable strategy in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It has incorporated control on waste and
applied “tobacco-free event policy” to reduce the pollution of the stadium.
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Conclusion
It can be concluded from the given study that mega events have positive and negative effects on
the host countries. Sustainable tourism is the only method to control or reduce the negative
impacts of tourism on the host countries. The sustainability of mega-events is not a myth if
applied properly.
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Reference List
Ali-Knight, J., Robertson, M. and Fyall, A. eds., 2008. International perspectives of festivals and
events: paradigms of analysis. Elsevier.
Andreff, W., 2016. The Tour de France: A success story in spite of competitive imbalance and
doping. In The economics of professional road cycling (pp. 233-255). Springer, Cham.
Averchuk, R. (2016). Eurovision-2017: More About Its Economic Impact and the Choice of a
Hosting City. [online] VoxUkraine. Available at: https://voxukraine.org/en/eurovision-2017-
more-about-its-economic-impact-and-the-choice-of-a-hosting-city-en/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2019].
Butler, B.N. and Aicher, T.J., 2015. Demonstrations and displacement: social impact and the
2014 FIFA World Cup. Journal of policy research in tourism, leisure and events, 7(3), pp.299-
313.
Extension.umn.edu. (2019). Community festivals—Big benefits, but risks, too | UMN Extension.
[online] Available at: https://extension.umn.edu/vital-connections/community-festivals-big-
benefits-risks-too [Accessed 24 Apr. 2019].
Konstantaki, M., 2009. Social and cultural impact of the London 2012 Olympic Games: a
lecturers' and students' perspective.
Lavesson, O., Vuletic, D., Kurosz, J. and Stjärne, S. (2019). Conference explores impact of
Eurovision Song Contest on diversity and belonging. [online] Ebu.ch. Available at:
https://www.ebu.ch/news/2016/05/conference-explores-impact-of-eu [Accessed 24 Apr. 2019].
Malfas, M., Houlihan, B. and Theodoraki, E., 2004. Impacts of the Olympic Games as mega-
events. ICE.
McKay, G. and Webster, E., 2016. From Glyndebourne to Glastonbury: The Impact of British
Music Festivals.
Müller, M., 2015. What makes an event a mega-event? Definitions and sizes. Leisure
Studies, 34(6), pp.627-642.
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Rouse, M. (2019). What is event? - Definition from WhatIs.com. [online] SearchMicroservices.
Available at: https://searchmicroservices.techtarget.com/definition/event [Accessed 24 Apr.
2019].
Thái, H.A.C., 2018. Livelihood Resilience–A Case Study: Community-Based Tourism (CBT).
In Livelihood Pathways of Indigenous People in Vietnam’s Central Highlands (pp. 103-135).
Springer, Cham.
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