Search results

Many Olympic cities are faced with the challenge of converting various remaining infrastructures after the Games have been held. These infrastructures, often imposing and highly specialized, require local actors to innovate and engage in an urban renewal process that can be very complex and expensive when trying to give them a second life as tourism sites. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Based on an online survey administered to international travellers (n=5,553) and 36 semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders, this study shows that the Olympic Park, mainly through the stadium, has international recognition.

However, the sustainability and development of these attractions will need a major overhaul with its welcoming amenities and the integration of the surrounding neighbourhoods in the regeneration plan.

Among these facilities, we have the Montreal Olympic Stadium, which is often identified as the architectural jewel of the games and is used as an urban flagship in tourism development strategies. This situation raises several questions not only in the field of tourism, but also the fields of urban studies, leisure and sociology. This paper will examine the case of the Olympic Park in Montreal and its urban regeneration concepts and place branding that have been integrated into the tourism strategies since the early 2000s.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between Olympic stadiums and the urban environment. This relationship is considered as key to understanding the cultural significance of these exceptional event‐based buildings. It helps to explain present challenges faced by their conservation and raises the issue of considering likely heritage values at the design stage of stadiums.

The analysis is based on a periodization of the relationship between Olympic stadiums and the urban environment. This periodization proposes a six stage typology, starting from the stadium of Olympia at the Hellenistic period. It combines an analysis of the stadium architecture itself and the integration of Olympic facilities within their urban setting and the city at large.

The article highlights that Olympic stadiums have progressively been isolated from the city environment they are located in. This isolation can both be observed at the scale of the building, through the progressive adoption of arena‐shaped envelopes, and at the scale of the city through the clustering of Olympic facilities in campus‐like sites. Although it can be explained by functional and city‐marketing requirements, it is argued that this isolation will hamper an adaptive reuse of these facilities once the Olympic event is over. It is further suggested that the conservation of Olympic stadiums should be considered at the design stage of these buildings, considering their potential outstanding socio‐cultural values.

This research is based on the analysis of Olympic stadiums solely. It may have been completed and refined by a comparison with other stadiums, especially those dedicated to football competitions. It means that the research results are closely related to a very specific type of stadium, which is designed for a once in lifetime a time event, repeated throughout the world every four years.

The main originality of the work consists in the combination of a building‐ and a settlement‐oriented typology within the periodization. It has been further considered that considering the stadium of Olympia at the Hellenistic period within the typology would help to better describe a general movement from opened‐ to closed‐stadium environments that definitively finds its roots in the Greek Antiquity.

Olympic Stadiums are expensive and large constructions. The media often report on cost overruns based on the extravagant appearance of an Olympic Stadium and the lack of its postgames utilization. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual stadium legacy framework consisting of four dimensions and twelve functions that an Olympic Stadium can potentially have.

These were identified by an extensive literature research and an analysis of the findings. Additionally, we collected available data on the specific Olympic Stadiums under review (1984–2016).

The utilization of Olympic Stadiums varies greatly from city to city. However, 12 functions can be observed as being valid for Olympic Stadiums. The dimensions with its functions are interpreted by the positive/negative values which Olympic Stadiums can have for particular stakeholders. The benefits can be local, regional, national or international. The framework also delivers interconnections of the functions and shows how they interlock and how they can potentially boost the benefits.

Future bid cities that consider constructing a large stadium can plan their stadium legacy by developing business cases based on the 12 functions developed in this paper. This offers a direct link to marketing, as iconic stadiums and urban development support city marketing.

To date, the complexity of functions and their interconnections, as well as their potential values, have not been examined. Thus, many (media) critiques oversee the benefits an Olympic Stadium can have besides its proper sport utilization.

Although research on the impacts of the Olympic Games on Athens addressed the impact of the Games on economy, generic tourism, and urban restructuring, there has not been given to date attention on the prospects for sport tourism development in Athens as a result of hosting the Olympics, especially if it is considered that the construction of Olympic facilities was legitimized by the government's intention to use them for sport. To address this omission, the purpose of this study is to draw attention to examining the challenges and potential of post‐Olympic Athens to exploit its Olympic legacy for the development of sport tourism.

A qualitative approach was employed by conducting nine semi‐structured interviews with Athens’ tourism/administrative officials and analyzing them in line with pertinent literature.

Results show that the city's tourism officials respond with ad‐hoc policies in their effort to capitalize on Athens’ Olympic legacy. Consequently, Athens’ potential is constrained by the absence of a comprehensive tourism policy aimed at enriching and diversifying the city's post‐Olympic tourism product. In this context, the study shows that there is limited awareness by the city's tourism administration for sport tourism development and for establishing appropriate coordination mechanisms, which could foster mutually beneficial links between sport and tourism stakeholders. This leaves unexploited the potential for utilizing effectively Athens’ Olympic facilities and destination capitals in developing a competitive sport tourism product mix.

A limitation of the study is that it examines Athens’ sport tourism prospects through the lens of tourism policy. Future studies are needed to examine also sport policy. On a broader level, it is suggested that future research should extend the focus on the study of post‐event leverage to find the best means for fostering post‐Games Olympic tourism from a sustainability perspective.

To redress post‐Olympic Athens’ inertia and associated structural problems that affect its tourism policy, the study presents a framework for the strategic planning and sustainable development of sport tourism in Athens.

The study by examining Athens’ neglected legacy for sport tourism, attempts to synthesize a common ground for sport and tourism development in Olympic cities. This inquiry suggests the need for a broader planning and leveraging framework to extend the study of Olympic tourism in the post‐Games period as it relates to the use of Olympic legacy and post‐Olympic assets, which can, in turn, reveal the conditions for synergistic development of sport and tourism. Also, such an examination may shed light on what and how can be corrected in order to mitigate the sources and consequences of problems, while providing lessons for future Olympic cities. Finally, by focusing on sport tourism as it is induced by the Olympics knowledge can be advanced on how to effectively leverage the Olympic legacy and develop sustainable post‐Olympic tourism products.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe the key driving forces in international sponsorship during the years preceding the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

A “means‐objectives model” is applied, thereby linking sponsorship to brand equity factors and to strategic aims. Co‐branding, revenue streams and new customers are identified as means factors. The objective factors are presented in three dimensions: product, corporation and region. The analysis is based on 492 advertisements, articles and press releases collected from Chinese newspapers and Chinese official web pages covering the period 2001‐2007.

Analysis sees seven dominant means‐objectives combinations in sponsorship leading to different pattern of sponsor advertising strategies depending on the lead time to the Olympic Games. First, sponsors mainly focus on co‐branding marketing efforts. In the second stage, global Olympic sponsors link co‐branding with corporation image, Chinese brands are focusing on product/corporation image and new customers. In the third stage global Olympic sponsors focus more on local markets and customers in advertising. Chinese brands tend to keep an activation strategy based on revenue and product. Only a few local sponsors place emphasis on leveraging their sponsorship investment toward creating an international image.

Data collection is limited to a period of altogether three months in 2006 and 2007, focusing on Chinese print media available in Beijing and Shanghai universities' libraries. Given the size of the Chinese media market the data therefore consist only of a random selection of advertisements. Further, the sample does not cover different marketing channels, like TV, radio etc., which might also be part of the sponsor's advertising strategy.

In addition to providing further understanding of Olympic sponsor advertising behavior and sponsorship in an emerging market context, this paper provides insights into how the strategic aims related to sponsorship depended on the level of internationalization of the firm.

But if, my heart, you would speak of prizes won in the Games, look no more for another bright star by day in the empty sky more warming than the sun, nor shall we name any gathering greater than the Olympian.

This case study examines the interactive marketing initiatives of Coca-Cola China Company for one of its marquee Olympic properties, the Olympic Torch Relay. It provides insights into building increased brand interaction by adding an online interactive component to an age-old concept in Olympic activations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify strategic objectives that can be utilized by non-host communities to leverage the opportunities provided by mega sport events. The unique context and timing of this study facilitates discussion surrounding a particular non-host community and how it can plan relevant objectives to best identify appropriate leveraging mechanisms.

The study adopted a qualitative approach, drawing upon a case study of Kobe City, Japan, a non-host city of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Data were collected using diverse sources such as site visits, field notes, newspaper articles, destination marketing materials, archival data from sport and tourism facilities, and workshop with key stakeholders.

The within-case analysis identified four key objectives a non-host city could utilize to leverage mega sport events, namely, enhancing destination brand equity, integrating leveraging strategies with the existing event portfolio, fostering social capital, and strengthening corporate networks.

Research on event leveraging has typically focused on host cities, while there has been limited research attention on non-host cities. This paper highlights the importance of formulating shared objectives so as to provide a strong focus for relevant stakeholders, guide the deployment of resources, and create effective leveraging strategies. Few studies have focused on the planning of leveraging initiatives.