Why Local People Do Not Embrace Mega-Events in Their Community? - Research Paper

Problem or Challenge

Some local communities have been objecting hosting mega-events in their area because they do not understand its positive and negative effects. It is worth investigating the effect of event on local community in order to understand the benefits and drawbacks that local community face when they host mega event. Most of the research studies have focused on positive and negative effect of local community but they have failed to look at why some communities resist hosting such events. There are several benefits of studying the impact of events on local people. It enables local people to know both social-cultural and economic benefits of hosting mega-events. In the course of carrying out this research study, the researcher will shed more light on the effect of event so as to educate readers that events are useful and a very important development tool which can be used to upgrade a given local community. The same study will show the way events should be managed to ensure it is capable of bringing benefits to the local community. The main purpose of this study is to investigate why local people do not embrace mega-events in their community. This can be achieved by highlighting social and economic benefits of mega-events on local community through the application of a given case study.

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Key Terms/ Idea

Social Impacts

The main key terms that must be defined in this study include social impacts, quality of life and subjective wellbeing. According to this study social impact is defined as any positive change in the life of the people living in a given community. Social impacts cover any condition which makes people live quality life. Mega event is the agent which make people change the way of their lives. As a result, the effect of event becomes the subject of the study. Any activity that takes place due to the presence of an event can be used in measuring its impact. For that matter any phenomena which is investigated to measure social impact is what is called social impact indicator. They can either be a direct or indirect factor that shows the social impacts of an event. For example, the community members can be asked to state the social impact of mega-events or proxies can be asked.

Quality of Life

Quality of life is another term to define. It is a common term commonly applied in the study of social impacts of events. QoL refer to apparent condition in which members of a community expects to live. A person perceives to live a high QoL when he or she believes that his or her position in life is at par or is above the level the community values has imposed him or her to live rather than his prospects (Pfitzner & Koenigstorfer, 2016). The QoL of people living next to a place where there is a mega event change positively as the residents are likely to access job opportunities and better healthcare, create wealth and even entertainment.

Research Question

This research seeks to find out why local people reject hosting mega-events in their local community. To find the solution to this problem, it is necessary for the researcher to answer the following research questions in order to understand the benefits of hosting mega-events.

What are the critical economic and social impacts of mega-events on the local community?

Why local people do not embrace hosting Mega-events

To what extent do various events impact the lives of local people in their perception?

Impacts of Mega Event

Social and Cultural Impacts of Mega-Events

Mega-events have both positive and negative effects on hosting community. Social events are capable of restoring cultural and social life of the local community. As a result it builds community pride and ensures that the local community have a sense of identity. Furthermore, it is capable of making the city engage in other socio-economic activities which are not practised in the local area thus increasing their wellbeing and quality of life (Gursoy et al., 2004). According to Elias (2005) supports the attraction of various attributes through the provision of multiple activities required by tourists and also enhance the overall image of the destination located near or within the local community.

Economic Impacts of the Event on the Local Community.

Events have a positive consequence on the local hosting community. Event attracts very many people from different parts of the World, and they are likely to stay for a long time in a given destination thus spending much of their resources (Chalip & Layns, 2002). This makes local people receive high income from their businesses. The Government also accepts high tax imposed on the revenues gained from tourists which are used in improving the condition of public goods such as roads (Gursoy et al., 2004). Andereck et al. (2005) revealed that the economic effect of mega-events also improves the living standards of the local people which is also essential in enhancing the quality of life of the residents.

References

Andereck, K.L., Valentine, K.M., Knopf, R.C. & Vogt, C.A. (2005). Residents' Perceptions of Community Tourism Impacts. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(4), pp.1056-1076.

Chalip, L., & Leyns, A. (2002). Local Business Leveraging of a Sports Event: Managing an Event for Economic Benefit. Journal of Sports Management, 16, pp.132-158.

Gursoy, D., Kim, K. & Uysal, M. (2004). Perceived Impacts of Festivals and Special Eventsby Organisers: An Extension and Validation. Tourism Management, 25(2), pp.171-181.

Gursoy, D., Kim, K. & Uysal, M. (2004). Perceived Impacts of Festivals and Special Eventsby Organisers: An Extension and Validation. Tourism Management, 25(2), pp.171-181.

Pfitzner, R., & Koenigstorfer, J. (2016). Quality of life of residents living in a city hostingmega-sport events: A longitudinal study. BMC Public Health, 16(1), c2369. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3777-3