Planning tourism through

sporting events
Angelo Presenza
Department of Management and Business Administration,
University G. DAnnunzio, Pescara, Italy, and
Lorn Sheehan
School of Business Administration, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build on the concept of using a population or portfolio of
events to help rejuvenate or redefine the strategic position of a destination. The aim is to gain a general
understanding of the local community outlook towards a process of repositioning the tourism product
based on a portfolio of sporting events.
Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research design using a case study approach
examined resident attitudes in a beach community of south Italy. In total, 740 questionnaires were
received and a cluster analysis was used to study the 11 statements about residents perceptions of
tourism development and sport events.
Findings The findings reveal that resident attitudes towards tourism development are strongly
related to their perceptions of their degree of involvement in the setting of strategy and the direction of
development. The results also support previous beliefs about increasing interest in the sport tourism
product and that sporting events are viewed as important drivers of tourism destination development.
The research reveals the presence of different resident attitudes and the cluster analysis is helpful in
finding homogeneous groups of residents within the destination.
Originality/value There is limited understanding of the degree to which the local community fits
into the plans of a citys pro-growth agenda and the role that a tourism strategy based on sport events
can have. This is particularly true in southern Italy where the classical sun, sea and sand (3S) tourism
model is in severe crisis and new ways of development are urgently required.
Keywords Italy, Tourism development, Sporting events, Social exchange theory, Host community,
Destination strategy, Cluster analysis
Paper type Case study
Introduction
The creation of new events as well as the attraction of well-known events have become
a critical component of destination management strategies across the world (Chalip
and McGuirty, 2004; Getz, 2008).
The interest in hosting events can be attributed to the contribution that they make
to important initiatives such as place branding, tourism promotion, generating
publicity, improvement of occupancy, encouraging repeat visitation, and overcoming
seasonality (Getz, 1997). Events can benefit community well-being through increases in
employment, income, output, investment, extra services as well as new sources of
entertainment and enhancements to quality of life (Deccio and Baloglu, 2002). At the
same time, they can generate substantial costs, including increased garbage, policing
costs, traffic congestion and pollution, and security problems (Walo et al., 1996).
Both positive and negative impacts influence the residents attitudes and
perceptions toward events. Growing concerns over the social impacts of tourism
development have drawn attention to the appropriate weighting of residents well-
being in destination strategies (Yang et al., 2010) as it is commonly recognized that
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1758-2954.htm
International Journal of Event and
Festival Management
Vol. 4 No. 2, 2013
pp. 125-139
rEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1758-2954
DOI 10.1108/17582951311325890
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Tourism through
sporting events
residents who are positively disposed to the development of tourism and related
products such as events will enhance the tourist experience and contribute to the
destinations attractiveness (Zhou, 2010).
This paper concentrates on the analysis of sport events, a category of events that
has experienced rapid growth in recent years (Zhou, 2010), and Weed (2009, p. 75)
highlights the importance of ensuring that sport tourism research can remain relevant
in the face of changing global trends and issues. In this regard, Walmsley (2008) uses
the term sportification of society to highlight the important position that sport has
achieved inside the leisure mainstream. The importance of sports and sporting events
for the competitiveness of tourism is also recognized by the UNWTO (2012) who
stated, at the South Africa International Summit on Tourism, Sport and Mega-events,
that at a time when some traditional tourism destinations are suffering from the
effects of recession, sports tourism is set to continue to grow.
Despite the widespread use of sporting events in urban development, the degree to
which the local community fits into the plans of a citys pro-growth agenda has been
questioned (Misener and Mason, 2006). The host community of a destination is where
the majority of impacts created by sports events will be felt, and the relationship that
community has with the sport event will determine the nature and scale those impacts
take (Walmsley, 2008).
Several authors have focussed on the social impacts of specific events most of
them mega events (Ritchie et al., 2009), while others have studied residents perceptions
of the social, economic, and environmental impacts of special events on the destination
(Jackson, 2008). To date, little research has examined the link between residents
attitudes toward sporting events and the local communitys perceptions toward
tourism destination strategies focussed on a portfolio of sport events (Ziakas and
Costa, 2011).
Managing an event portfolio requires a destination to assemble a series of recurring
and interrelated events. The portfolio entails resource allocations, theming, marketing,
and strategic promotion to a range of stakeholders that the destination seeks to engage.
In the pyramid model proposed by Getz (2005, 2008), a strategic event tourism portfolio
approach should be based on the functionality of different events (i.e. mega, hallmark,
regional, and local events) and on the premise that each can achieve certain economic
and tourism goals. Chalip (2005) asserts that the value of an event portfolio ought not
be measured only by the media its events create, but rather, by the portfolios capacity
to build its brand for visitors and residents alike.
Ziakas and Costa (2011, p. 152) highlight a list of benefits generated by an event
portfolio. One significant benefit is that different events when bundled in a portfolio
can act as hooks for one another and hence bring together segments of the population
that might not otherwise meet. The variety of different events in a portfolio can target
and reach diverse market segments, hence increasing the size of a host communitys
events market. Another benefit is that, events of different types in a portfolio can
respond to different community issues (e.g. improving quality-of-life, building identity,
promoting a healthy lifestyle, etc.) and reach varied segments of the population by
appealing to peoples different interests.
The purpose of this study is to build on the concept of using a population or
portfolio of events to help rejuvenate or redefine the strategic position of a destination.
To this end, the study specifically investigates local residents attitudes toward a
portfolio of sport events and to identify different groups of residents with similar
perceptions. The focus is on a comprehensive event portfolio approach that views the
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different events as core attractions (bundles of resources) with synergies that can be
harnessed via an integrative event strategy. A key part of such a strategy must
recognize the presence of a myriad of interrelationships not only among the different
events but also among the stakeholders which necessitates initiatives that facilitate
cooperation among the various interests at stake (Ziakas and Costa, 2010).
The aim is to gain a general understanding of the local community outlook toward a
process of repositioning the tourism product based on a portfolio of sporting events.
To know the opinions of the local community and their relative interest in the
destination strategy is important for policy makers (Getz, 2008), especially when this
decision is taken as turnaround strategy by stagnating destinations where residents
are more likely to exhibit negative feelings toward tourists and tourism (Sheldon and
Abenoja, 2001). This case study explores the attempt to reposition Termoli, an Adriatic
destination in Southern Italy. This case is a good representation of this part of Italy.
Termoli has found it to be extremely difficult to evolve beyond its historic tourism
product offerings based on the classic sun, sea, sand (3S) model, despite its possession
of resources able to support a more differentiated tourism strategy.
Theoretical background
Residents perceptions about tourism vary. Some perceive tourism to have mainly
positive impacts while others consider the negative impacts to be greater. Understanding
residents perceptions about tourism is crucial in developing local support for tourism.
An insightful analysis of the perceptions and attitudes of residents can greatly inform
the decision-making process for tourism planning and communication strategies (Ritchie
et al., 2009).
To analyze the perceptions of residents, researchers often draw on social exchange
theory (SET). Its initiator Homans (1958) stated that Social behavior is an exchange
of goods, material goods but also non-material ones, such as the symbols of approval or
prestige. Persons that give much to others try to get much from them, and persons
that get much from others are under pressure to give much to them. This process
of influence tends to work out at equilibrium to a balance in the exchanges. For a
person in an exchange, what he gives may be a cost to him, just as what he gets may be
a reward, and his behavior changes less as the difference of the two, profit, tends to a
maximum (p. 606).
SET has appeared in the tourism literature since the 1990s and today it is widely
adopted (Ap, 1992; Gursoy et al., 2002). Ap (1992, p. 668) defines SET as a general
sociological theory concerned with understanding the exchange of resources between
individuals and groups in an interaction situation. SET assumes that residents
attitudes toward tourism and support for tourism in their community will be
influenced by their evaluations of the actual and perceived outcomes produced by
tourism in their community (Fyall, 2010). New approaches consider the process of
destination development not to design a product, price, place and promotion of a
tourism destination, but to ensure quality of the environment and of the life of
residents (Jamal and Jamrozy, 2006, p. 168).
ACommunity can be viewed as a mix of social groups with varying levels of social
engagement. The heterogeneity of group attitudes within communities suggests that
representations shared by various societal groups are the result of the consensus of
community perceptions (Andriotis and Vaughan, 2003). The segmentation of residents
based on their attitudes implies that the host community is not homogenous but
comprised of a number of groupings of like-minded individuals. A cluster analysis
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conducted by Weaver and Lawton (2001) on the attitudes and perceptions of local
residents toward tourism development revealed three groups (which they labeled
supporter, neutral, and opponent), while Williams and Lawson (2001) identified
four groups (defined as lover, taxpayer, innocent, and cynic). With a similar
approach but focussed on the host communitys reactions to the Gold Coast Indy event
in Australia, Fredline and Faulkner (2000) have identified the following five groups of
residents with similar response patterns: ambivalent supporter, haters, realists,
lovers, and concerned for a reason.
The link between residents perceived impacts of tourism on their community and
their attitudes toward local governments role in tourism development has also been
of interest. In this regard, Madrigal (1995) asserts that the residents attitudes and
perceptions are influenced by the overall level of tourism development in the
community and the relative tourism strategy proposed by policy makers. They
hypothesize that the development of a tourism strategy focussed on sport events would
be more accepted in the clusters where there is a more positive perception of the
governments role in tourism. Central to this thinking is the idea that social capital
plays a fundamental role for the success of any type of tourism development strategy.
Social capital can be explained as collective actions for mutual benefit within a
particular group or community (Krishna, 2001).
More precisely, according to Putnam (1993, pp. 35-36), social capital can be defined
as the set of norms, trust, relations and social networks that facilitate co-ordination
and cooperation for mutual benefit. All of those tend to be self-reinforcing and
cumulative. Successful collaboration in one endeavour builds connections and trust,
social assets that facilitate future collaboration in other, unrelated tasks (Putnam,
1993, p. 37). For Coleman (1990), social capital is an asset of individuals or small groups
and defined it broadly as the resource inherent in social relationships that could be
used by its owner to gain access to other resources. In other words, social capital is
viewed as a neutral resource that facilitates any manner of action because with a web
of relationships, norms of behavior, values, obligations, and information more than a
resource in itself, it is a vehicle to acquire resource (Ford, 1999). Among others,
Lin (2001) and Krishna (2001) argue that a better understanding of social capital is
important for providing a feasible way to develop sustainable communities because
it supports the building of trust, mutuality, and cooperation within the community
(Arai and Pedlar, 2003). This is supported by Pretty (2003) who maintains that
in communities where social capital is high and well-established, citizens are more
predisposed to invest in collective engagements and collaboration, confident that
others will do the same.
Within the context of current political and sport policies, Falk and Kilpatrick (2000)
expand the definition of social capital as [y] the product of interactions which
contribute to the social, civic or economic well-being of a community-of-common
purpose (p. 103). Different aspects of the process of bidding for, acquiring, hosting,
and the legacy of sporting events are associated with the development of social capital.
Misener and Mason (2006) list some of them: local governance has to respect the
community values about space and how place is given collective meaning within those
communities; the local community needs the opportunity to continue to be involved
in the overall event hosting process; the organizers of sporting events who set up
formalized structures that allow for broad community consultation and generalized
inclusiveness are more likely to facilitate community development; the development
and implementation of sporting events has traditionally been limited to select groups
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4,2
within the city, it is imperative that these issues of network closure and ability to access
social capital be understood in order to truly understand the social impact of sport on
communities. Understanding the views of residents seems a logical precondition to
Masons notion of building social capital and hence the probability that a strategy
based on hosting a portfolio of events will ultimately succeed.
Research methodology
Study site
This paper examines the local community of Termoli, located on the Adriatic coast of
Southern Italy, and the potential to reposition its tourism strategy by focussing on a
portfolio of sporting events. With approximately 35,000 inhabitants, the economy
of Termoli is based on the agri-food and manufacturing industries, and, secondarily on
tourism. The tourism industry is highly seasonal with the peak season bringing mass
beach tourism in the summer.
Termolis capacity of approximately 2,000 beds accommodates about 200,000
visitors per year (Termoli Office of Tourism, 2012). The strategic location, the
proximity to important markets, and the provision of tourism infrastructure, have
meant that over time Termoli has been able to enjoy significant benefits from tourism.
However, growing concerns over maintaining its market share stem from the fact that
the destination is very dependent on the notion of 3S tourism which concentrates
visitation in the months of July and August. Based on Butlers (1980) model of tourism
evolution, the destination appears to be in the stagnation stage. The city is therefore at
a crucial fork in the path of developing tourism to continue to offer a relatively
generic beach tourism product or to differentiate itself from other Southern Italian
tourism destinations with the creation of new products and services.
Although not formalized in a written strategy or plan for tourism, the city
government of Termoli (in early 2011) declared its intention to invest in tourism and
particularly in the promotion of events, in which sport would play a crucial role.
Following this declaration, in 2011 the city organized and hosted several events, mostly
related to sports. In addition to several small scale sport events such as marathons,
sea sports events, and football and basketball tournaments four larger events were
organized. The four events were a stage of the road bicycle race Giro dItalia, the
Optimist National Championship, a Summer Camp in partnership with one of the most
famous Italian football clubs and the White Night of Sports.
The Giro dItalia takes place annually along Italian roadways and is one of the
three major bike races in Europe. The Optimist National Championship is a
sailing race for children. The Summer Camp is a two week event aimed at children
aged 8 to 16 years with a focus on football and opportunities for socialization.
The White Night of Sports is a special event that takes place during a single
evening and continues for most of the night. It consists of several amateur
competitions spread in the downtown (i.e. martial arts, dance, athletic exercises,
gymnastics, shooting, spinning, skateboarding, boxing, football, basketball, beach
volleyball) and live shows related to sports (i.e. dancing, martial arts, and boxing
matches), plus additional- related events (most of them related to the local
enogastronomy) and the special opening of the main citys cultural resources (they
usually are open only in the day and closed in the night), which are normally ticketless
in the course of the entire night.
Termolis interest in the sports tourism segment is also evidenced by the stated
intention of the city to promote bike tourism. In this regard, in 2011 the local
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government launched the project TermoliBike with a mission to facilitate the
development of this new tourism product.
Research design
Using a snowball sampling technique, starting with the entire population of Termoli,
not focussing just on a part of it, it was possible to generate a list of 1,374 e-mails of
citizens of Termoli, who were then sent an invitation to complete an online survey. Of
these, 811 (59 percent response rate) participated in the study and completed a two-part
questionnaire. The first part consisted of questions regarding respondents demographic
characteristics, such as age, gender, and length of residency. The second part included
eleven statements previously used and validated by King et al. (2011). Each statement
utilized a seven-point Likert scale, with 1 representing a response of strongly disagree,
and 7 representing strongly agree.
The data gathered were analyzed in two ways according to the nature of the
variables. Data from the demographic variables are reported with frequencies and
descriptive statistics. Data from the resident perceptions toward tourism and sport
events are analyzed by calculating the means and grouping responses into three
categories (disagree, neutral, agree) to assess the significance of the differences.
A K-means ipsative clustering method was performed on the 11 statements. The
ipsative approach supported a more accurate and intuitive description of the different
cluster segments. The analysis identifies common patterns of interest across the
concepts included in the research. Each pattern identifies a group of respondents
(cluster) with a common level of agreement in relation to the statements presented.
This ipsative method is typically chosen when variables are operationalized at an
interval level (as is the case in this study) and therefore subject to possible low
variability in responses (Beamam and Vaske, 1995). The method is not without
limitation and in this regard is not the best choice when variables are measured using a
scale with and absolute zero point such as when assessing attitudes toward
performance (Beamam and Vaske, 1995, p. 185).
Results
Respondent profile
The profile of respondents socio-demographic data is presented in Table I. It shows
that the proportion of male respondents (52.2 percent) was higher than that of females
(47.8 percent). The majority of the responders were in the 18-30 age group, while the
least represented were in the age group 60 and over. The size of the other age
groups decreased with the increasing age of the respondents. Over 40 percent of the
respondents have education at the college level, 30.8 percent were graduates of
university, while only 5.6 percent have an education higher than an undergraduate
university degree. The responders had a wide variety of backgrounds and occupations,
with 21.9 percent being employees, 11.3 percent professionals, 8.3 percent
entrepreneurs, and 6.0 percent unemployed. Students were 36.2 percent and retirees
1.9 percent. Of the sample, 52.2 percent were born in Termoli while 18.4 percent had
lived in Termoli for more than 20 years, and 10.2 percent of respondents had lived in
Termoli for less than five years. A third of respondents were a member of local
associations and 22.6 percent of respondents work in the tourism sector. Regarding the
interest in attending sport events, 71.1 percent enjoy attending such events while
13 percent of respondents indicated being neutral, and 15.9 percent are not interested
in sport events.
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Residents perceptions of tourism development and sport events
Table II summarizes the level of respondent agreement with the 11 statements
about residents perceptions of tourism development and sport events. Data from
the seven-point Likert scale were analyzed by calculating means, standard
deviation, and grouping the responses in three categories, whereby responses
between 1 and 3 were grouped in the category disagree, responses with the value
4 were considered neutral, while responses between 5 and 7 were grouped in the
category agree.
It is interesting to note that more than 90 percent of the sample hope that the
destination will be developed further for tourism. However, it is also important to
highlight that only slightly more than half of respondents (55.8 percent) think
that the positive impacts of destination development outweigh the negative ones.
This means that even though the local community considers tourism to be an
important driver for local development, they believe it also creates negative
economic, socio-cultural, and environmental effects. Respondents tended to strongly
agree that residents should have more opportunities for participation in the process
of developing tourism strategy and plans and greater ability to suggest control and
restrictions related to tourism development in the community (mean of 2.1; SD of
1.7). At present 70.6 percent of respondents said they did not identify themselves
as part of the tourism system of Termoli and the image that it evokes. Generally
speaking, these results indicate that respondents appreciate the economic,
environmental, and socio-cultural benefits of tourism despite indicating low
involvement in the tourism development process (mean of only 2.1 in the scale
from 1 to 7).
Regarding the perception of sport events, the results revealed high mean scores
indicating a generally positive appreciation of sporting events. Investing in sporting
Variables Category Frequency (%) Variables Category Frequency (%)
Gender Male 423 52.2 Occupation Other 35 6.18
Female 388 47.8 Manager 16 2.83
Age 18-30 314 49.14 Employee 124 21.91
31-40 109 17.06 Entrepreneur 47 8.30
41-50 108 16.90 Professional 63 11.13
51-60 74 11.58 Worker 31 5.48
460 34 5.32 Retired 11 1.94
Education Primary school 4 0.52
Length of living
in Termoli Unemployed 34 6.01
Secondary
school 166 21.76 Student 205 36.22
College 315 41.28 o5 81 10.21
Graduate 235 30.80 5-10 49 6.18
Post-Graduate 43 5.64 11-15 40 5.04
I am in an
association Yes 267 33.09
I like to attend
sport events 16-20 63 7.94
More than 20 146 18.41
No 540 66.91 For ever 414 52.21
Disagree (1-3) 127 15.9
I work in the
tourism sector Yes 183 22.60 Neutral (4) 104 13
No 628 77.40 Agree (5-7) 567 71.1
Table I.
Respondent profile
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events and facilities for tourists is supported by residents (mean of 5.9) with over 76
percent of respondents believing that this policy has a positive effect on residents.
Some 80.8 percent of respondents think that sports events can be important factors for
the improvement of the local economy (mean of 5.7) indicating a high interest in sport
events. The percentage of people that appreciate sport events is also high with o10
percent of respondents disagreeing (mean of 5.6) with the statement sports events
help to create a community spirit among residents. In general, the analysis clearly
shows that sporting events are considered to be positive factors for the development of
tourism. They are viewed as important to improving the image of the destination (5.9).
The percentage of residents that agree with this statement is 78.6 while only 6.7
percent of people disagree. Over three quarters (76.3 percent) of respondents agree with
the statement Sports events can help create benefits for residents, while only 10.9
percent disagree.
More than 67 percent of respondents affirmed that Termoli has the potential to
succeed as a destination for sports tourism (mean of 5.2). Responses to the statement
Sports events can contribute to improving the environment is more varied compared
with responses to the previous statements. Although the percentage who agree still
represent a majority (66.4 percent) the data is less convincing (mean of 5.1). This could
be explained by the rapid growth of sport events and the related pressures of increased
tourism, such as possible environmental degradation.
Correlation analyses were conducted between the items Termoli has the potential
to succeed as a destination for sports tourism and Sports events can be important
factors in the economy of the city, Sports events can help create a positive image of
the city, Investing in sporting events and facilities for tourists has a positive effect on
residents (Table III). The results are significant indicating that residents perceptions
of the citys potential to succeed in the sport tourism segment is strongly related to
Disagree Neutral Agree
(1-3) (4) (5-7) Mean SD
The positive effects (economic, socio-cultural,
environmental) generated by tourism development
outweigh the negative ones 28.70 15.50 55.80 4.70 1.98
I hope that my territory can be developed further for
tourism 5.20 2.90 91.90 6.38 1.31
Overall I feel listened to and involved in the processes of
tourism planning in my territory 83.20 6.20 10.60 2.14 1.54
Overall, I identify and recognize myself as part of the
tourism system of Termoli, and the image that it evokes 70.60 14.60 14.80 2.68 1.66
Sports events can be important factors for the economy of
the city 8.80 10.40 80.80 5.70 1.47
Sports events can help create community spirit among
residents 9.60 12.40 78.00 5.57 1.50
Sports events can help create benefits for residents 10.90 12.80 76.30 5.46 1.51
Sports events can contribute to improving the environment 19.00 14.60 66.40 5.09 1.72
Sports events can help create a positive image of the city 6.70 14.70 78.60 5.90 1.38
Investing in sporting events and facilities for tourists has a
positive effect on residents 7.90 15.60 76.50 5.90 1.44
Termoli has the potential to succeed as a destination for
sports tourism 18.40 13.80 67.80 5.19 1.85
Table II.
Resident perceptions
towards tourism
development and
sport events
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their awareness of the power of sport events in improving the image and the economy
of the destination as well as enhancing the quality of life of residents. The results confirm
a general resident attitude toward sport events and a generally positive feeling about
tourism development. It is important for policy makers to note how respondents support
the generalization that investing in sport events has positive effects for residents.
Clusters, tourism development, and sport events
Through cluster analysis it was possible to identify different groups of residents based
on their perceptions about tourism development and sport events. Several cluster
analyses were conducted, using the SPSS 15.0 software program. Analysis of these led
to the acceptance of a four clusters solution (Table IV), as other solutions produced
groups that were not sufficiently differentiated from one another. Anchored to the
previous theoretical background, the four groups were labeled Realists (C
1
), Haters
(C
2
), Favorers (C
3
), and Disenchanted (C
4
). However, in all cases a widespread
malaise toward local politics and the current tourism model is evident.
Cluster C
1
: Realists. The cluster labeled realists consists of 226 residents (30.5
percent). It includes residents who maintain that sporting tourism can represent a good
way to develop the destination. They think tourism represents an important driver for
local development but feel a general detachment from policy makers that are not
interested in involving the local community in the processes of tourism planning.
Cluster C
2
: Haters. This is the smallest cluster, consisting of 52 residents (7.0 percent
of the sample). This group could be described as haters of sporting events as well as
tourism in general. This group was composed of those who were the most firmly
convinced that Termoli does not have the potential to succeed as a destination for
sports tourism. A distinguishing characteristic of this group is the low level of
involvement that the members feel.
Cluster C
3
: Favorers. The cluster Favorers is the biggest and is composed of 290
residents (39.2 percent). Residents of this group adopt a more favorable attitude to
tourism development and related sports opportunities than those in other groups.
Favorers highly agree that investing in sporting events and facilities for tourists also
has a positive effect on residents. They believe that sport events can help create
benefits for the local community in economic, socio-cultural, and environment terms, as
well fostering a positive image for the destination.
Cluster C
4
: Disenchanted. The fourth cluster is composed of 172 residents
(23.24 percent) and is labeled Disenchanted, reflective of their skepticism toward
Sport tourism items
Sport events can
be important factors in
the economy of the city
Sport events can
help create a positive
image of the city
Investing in sporting
events and facilities for
tourists has a positive
effects for residents
Termoli has the potential
to succeed as a
destination for sport
tourism
Pearson correlation 0.467 0.548 0.543
Significance (two-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.000
n 793 793 793
Note: Significant at 0.01 level (two-tailed)
Table III.
Correlation analysis
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Tourism through
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Table IV.
Cluster analysis of
residents perceptions of
tourism and sport events
134
IJEFM
4,2
concrete development opportunities for the destination. Even if sporting events are
deemed a good opportunity for tourism development, they do not believe that
the tourism policy developed will lead to a competitive strategic position for tourism in
their destination.
Discussion
McCool (1994) asserts that the sustainable development of a tourism destination
requires a managerial approach that adopts both (1) a technical planning system that
addresses problems and forces explicit decision making, and (2) a public involvement
process, that is, oriented toward consensus building. The study proposed here
confirms both assertions and the importance to follow both simultaneously.
It is becoming widely recognized that for tourism destinations to be successful they
need to be planned. A comprehensive and effective shift in tourism planning must
move away from rigid and linear methods toward more flexible, iterative processes
for creating and implementing strategies. These continuous processes have to be more
responsive to changing circumstances and should involve ongoing monitoring,
evaluation, learning, and adaptation.
Tourism planning should increasingly involving the multiple stakeholders affected
by tourism, including residents, so that they may collaborate to develop a shared vision
for tourism. Findings here revealed a general enthusiasm toward tourism while a
diffuse skepticism toward the ability of the policy maker to maximize the positive
tourism development potential. In this situation, new approaches of local governance
have to embrace more democratic models where community consultation is a key
element in the destination development and planning process.
Despite the increasing interest in this new governance model, some critical issues
also exist. Authors, such as Tosun and Timothy (2003), have raised doubts about the
ability of community participation to effectively contribute to tourism planning. In this
sense, a new role of the policy maker has to be advanced, in which leadership abilities
are paramount and where community engagement and consultation are used not
only for discovering community perceptions but also as an educative opportunity.
Effectively, an ongoing dialogue must be created between policy makers, residents, and
other stakeholders.
It follows that identifying stakeholders and ascertaining their characteristics and
values is very important in building an effective tourism destination. The discovery of
different groups within Termoli highlights the necessity for policy makers to deepen
their knowledge of the community and to develop approaches to consensus-
building followed by appropriate internal marketing activities able to improve the level
of social capital.
According to Ziakas and Costa (2011), developing a tourism strategy based on an
event-portfolio can support attaining a wide range of goals such as deseasonalization,
destination promotion, etc. It is also suggested (Ziakas, 2010) that smaller-scale
regional events might result in significantly positive effects for host communities
because of possible synergies among different events and associated economic,
tourism, leisure, or socio-cultural objectives. However, the case-study analyzed reveals
that the success of a portfolio of events is not certain but importantly related to the
ability to create a deliberate strategy and to communicate it to the various
stakeholders.
More broadly speaking, the findings highlight how important it is to consider social
impacts along with economic impacts. Moreover, the consideration of social impacts ex
135
Tourism through
sporting events
ante (rather than ex post) would enhance the resident support that policy makers are
able to garner in support of tourism strategies. In this study two large groups labeled
realists (over 30 percent of respondents) and disenchanted (over 23 percent) could
be swayed into being more supportive if they were more informed and engaged by
policy makers. This support would benefit policy makers aiming to develop strategies
based on a portfolio of sport events given that the success of such events is dependent
on significant and diverse community resources. These resources are more likely to be
forthcoming from an informed and engaged community than from one not informed
and engaged.
The aforementioned scenario requires a vigorous shift from the analysis of
economic impact assessment to the analysis of the strategies through which outcomes
are obtained or enhanced (Chalip, 2006). In this sense, these results confirm the
important role that sport events can play in social leverage so that a higher percentage
of respondents will be supportive of tourism in general and specifically in the
particular portfolio of sport events being developed by policy makers. Furthermore,
the higher level of engagement and involvement in sport events is a social benefit to the
community that also has the potential to enhance community spirit among residents
as they come together to contribute in various ways to make the events successful.
Conclusion
The results of this study reveal that there is a strong connection between residents
attitudes toward tourism development and their perceptions of their degree of
involvement in the setting of strategy and direction of development. This confirms
how important it is for a destination to have a governance system, that is, able to
educate the local community about tourism and to develop a policy framework for
the destination based on sustainable development and growth. This can only be
maximally achieved with local governance functioning with clear leadership and a
genuine focus on engaging the local community to develop a shared view and
understanding of the destinations future.
The results also reveal a general interest in sports tourism and related events. This
finding confirms notions previously advanced in the literature about increasing
interest in the sport tourism product. Sporting events are viewed as important drivers
of tourism destination development. They can help to create and improve the
destination image. Sport events can also support the improvement of networking
activities among stakeholders because such events afford citizens opportunities to be
more active not only in participating directly in the competition but also attending
the event. Hence, events can contribute to the community spirit among residents by
generating opportunities for socialization (such as through the organization of events)
that increase trust between individuals and accordingly support the development of
social capital. The empirical results confirm that social interactions represent an
important tool for reinforcing destination competitiveness. The capacity to improve the
destination and maintain a high level of social capital is an important consideration for
policy makers that are interested in a long term, resident-supported destination
development strategy.
The research has demonstrated how very different attitudes may exist in a
destination. In this regard, the cluster analysis is revealing. Perhaps of greatest interest
is finding that the importance and implications of hosting sport events for destination
competitiveness are usually not well understood by policy makers. The same is found
regarding tourism in general. As already stated by several authors (Stokes, 2008; Getz,
136
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4,2
1997), a large proportion of destinations are reactive with only few having a strategic
plan for event tourism that articulates a clear and practical vision. This reflects the
predominant occupation of local forms of tourism governance with ad hoc decisions
instead of coordinating a long-term strategy that engages the range of stakeholders
that form the local community.
To improve the effectiveness of tourism initiatives including sport events it is
fundamental to involve local stakeholders to share tangible and intangible resources,
such as the ability to cooperate in creating and diffusing knowledge inside the
stakeholder network. To organize a long-term strategy becomes fundamental
regardless of the stage of destination development. However, it is clear that for
destinations experiencing stagnation this intervention becomes even more important.
In fact, as observed in the case of Termoli, the absence of a clear and formalized
strategy significantly reduces the power of sporting events in building a competitive
destination. Specifically, it reduces the ability of the destination to maximize its tourist
appeal because it does not have adequate skills and instruments required for effective
marketing. Additionally, the absence of internal marketing based on the residents
socio-demographic characteristics (aimed at building involvement and commitment to
tourism planning and place branding) reduces the spirit of hospitality.
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About the authors
Angelo Presenza is Assistant Professor of Business Organization at the University
G. DAnnunzio. He holds a PhD in Management with a dual specialization in Organizational
Studies and Tourism. His main research interest is destination management with studies
on destination governance, stakeholder engagement, event management and food tourism.
Angelo Presenza is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: presenza@unich.it
Lorn Sheehan is Associate Professor of Strategy and Associate Director of the School of
Business Administration, Dalhuosie University. He holds a PhD in Management with a dual
specialization in Strategy and Tourism. His research focuses on destination management and
related organizational structures. He is also interested in sustainable tourism in coastal
environments.
To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com
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Tourism through
sporting events