Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
tourism demand can produce only approximations' (Uysal and Crompton 1985:13).
Many of the early studies of the effects of tourism were restricted to economic analyses
and enumerated the financial and employment benefits which accrued to destination areas
as a result of tourism development. However, since the late 1970s a number of studies
have emerged that examine the socio-cultural impacts of tourism which cast a more
negative light on tourism's development capacities (Mathieson and Wall 1982).
INSIGHT: The economic impact of events
An area which has seen considerable attention by geographers (e.g. B.J.Shaw 1985; Getz
1991a, 1991b; Hall 1992b; Hall and Hodges 1996) is the impact of hosting staged, short-
term attractions, usually referred to as hallmark, special or mega events (Ritchie 1984;
Ritchie and Yangzhou 1987; Hall 1989) and particularly the impact of sports teams and
events (Hall 2001b; Hinch and Higham 2003; Owen 2003). The hallmark event is
different in its appeal from the attractions normally promoted by the tourist industry as it
is not a continuous or seasonal phenomenon. Indeed, in many cases the hallmark event is
a strategic response to the problems that seasonal variations in demand pose for the
tourist industry (Ritchie and Beliveau 1974). Although, the ability of an event 'to achieve
this objective depends on the uniqueness of the event, the status of the event, and the
extent to which it is successfully marketed within tourism generated regions' (Ritchie
1984:2). As with other areas of research on the economic impacts of tourism, the analysis
of hallmark events has been characterised by overstated large benefit-cost ratios (Hall
1989, 1992b; Getz 1991b). Several reasons can be cited for this:
• There has been a failure to account for the economic impact that would have occurred
anyway but has switched from one industry to another.
• There has been an 'unfortunately common mistake' of attributing all the benefits
received from the event to government expenditure, instead of establishing the
marginal impact of that contribution' (Burns and Mules 1986:8, 10).
• The taxation benefits of expenditure generation has been counted as additional to the
multiplier 'flow-ons' when they have already been included.
• 'Output' rather than 'value-added' multipliers, which can result in major overestimates
of the economic impact of events, are frequently uncritically used.
• There has been a general failure to delimit the size of the regional economy that is to be
studied. The smaller the area to be analysed, the greater will be the number of
'visitors' and hence the greater would be the estimate of economic impact.
As Long and Perdne (1990:10) observe 'attracting non-residents to the community
with the expectation that their spending will contribute significantly to the local
economy' has been a key argument used to justify public sector investment to develop,
underwrite and promote event-based tourism development (Connell and Page 2005). Yet
there are also significant economic costs which can arise when adverse weather
conditions prevail, as in the case of Edinburgh's Hogmany celebrations in 2003 when
losses of £1.5 million arose from cancelling the event. In this respect, risk assessment
needs to accompany any public sector (and private sector) investment in staging
hallmark, special or mega events.
