International Events and Festivals: Positive and Negative Impacts

Write an essay which critically evaluates the economic, environmental & social impacts on Brazil of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and how any lessons learned could possibly be applied to the forthcoming 2016 Olympic Games?

International events and festivals have always been some of the most awaited events by the people across the world. Principal attractive features of the events for are considered while advertised o the internet, television, reality shows and social media. In case of most of the international events, celebrities from different field are appointed such as sports, music, business, fashion etc for advertising and promoting the events. It has been found that these factors attract people as they like to enjoy the performance and get engaged emotionally. After all, the main aim of this type of events is to attract individuals throughout the world, to make the event colorful in all dimensions. 

International events and festivals have different impacts including both positive and negative impacts on that particular place, society and economy (Alpert, 1994). It has been observed that most of these effects may be prominent even before the occurrence of the event.  In most cases, such events influence the stakeholders including the participants, local businesses and the host community. Prior to the event, some events will create a positive impact and some will create a negative impact on the stakeholders. Preparing for such event can be very overwhelming as many of the organizers want to make the event multicultural and they would not want a situation that would disappoint their participants. This experience in most cases should be treated as an adventure such that most of the individuals who will wish to attend will have a lot to see and the experience should be unique and enjoyable. From the government to the local community, everyone takes part in preparing the event to make its unfolding as high as expected.

As most of the visitors come from foreign countries, various things such as immigrations passports, transportation and accommodation must be considered. The host should have the ability to gauge the average number of people who might be attending the event and therefore, organize their affordable accommodations. The investors can get an opportunity to generate significant profit by offering best accommodation to their guests. Hence, the international events and festivals can contribute in the tourism industry as well as the allied industry of the economy. The local tourism sector can gain significant advantages from these events as the visitors of the events are alos interested to travel and explore different part of the countries. According to Forbes (2014), World Cup 2014 was indeed overwhelming for Brazilians and they were not able to provide enough accommodation for all the people who visited the country during the event and most of them had to share hotel rooms. Another aspect is that the hotel industry had capitalized the opportunity and increased the rate of hotel services (Goyal, 2010). It has been found that the visitors from different nations blamed the government as it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the visitors get proper accommodation. The visitors were frustrated as their expenditure exceeded the budget as they got exploited. The government needs to be very strict about the immigration matters. This would help in controlling the number of people visiting the country as well as help in understanding their intentions and needs. Moreover, it is important ensure that they has potential monitor the activities of the guests. This would also assure a good estimation of the possible revenue and income prior to the event. Issues regarding security breach may lead to various problems and the country will encounter significant loss and incur uncontrolled expenses. The major responsibility of the Immigration Ministry is to serve the guests efficiently so that it makes them feel welcomed in the host country, and they can roam around peacefully within the nation. In order to offer highest level of enjoyment during the rip, the host nation need to focus on training the guides who will assists the guests from various locations. The guides will provide maps and guide them regarding the different areas which can be visited. Additionally, they will explain the cultural aspects o the host nation for ensuring safe and sound stay in the host country.

Accommodating Visitors and the Tourism Industry

Some of the attendees experience the cultural shock while most people experience the physical and psychological shocks when visiting a new nation having different culture and environment. Most of the guest sometimes might find a culture entirely different from what they were expecting and sometimes they tend to be affected by some things such as health issues, loss of appetite or excess fatigue. Such issues must be considered by the organizers of the international events and festivals and medical staff must be appointed for providing medical services to the visitors (Douglas, 2011). Travelling abroad and leaving your safe place can cause serious difficulties for some people. It is important for the organizers to address the cultural shock of the visitors.  Later, the visitors start adapting the new things of the new country and they start enjoying the festival. At this point of time, the visitors start appreciating the services received and accept the eating and drinking habits along with the customs of the host nation. Thus, the emotions of the visitors become stable.  This stage can be invested for attracting the visitors even when no international events or festival takes place.

A good organization of services such as tourism and instruction for guests provide the essential background in organizing the FIFA World Cup. This event was one of the crucial events undertaken by the government of nation for making it huge succes. This primary aim was to provide a high quality and competent service for the guests so as to reinforce the nation’s picture as a perfect holiday destination (Goyal, 2010). More than 16 600 people were enrolled in the program during these preparations. Additional taxi drivers, tour agent, civil and military police, city police and fire department and the reaction unit to guarantee the wellbeing of the entire event was assured and they were all trained to welcome visitor during the World Cup.

Health and safety are the most fundamental factors during the preparation of any local or international event and the moment these factors are assured, all the guests find a good time to enjoy their stay in the host country (Getz, 1997). It is suggested that the visitors must be careful regarding their health so that they can enjoy the events. Moreover, the guests are always advised to ask for assistance from the tourist guide who will help in identifying unsafe places. It also should be a concern to understand the real motive of their guests visiting the festivals since some of them disguise as tourist with the intention of taking advantage of the significant event to make crimes and stealing from the other guest, some of them involve in the drug traffic and all sorts of illegal trades. The guests are advised not to travel alone especially at night, avoid public demonstrations such as the one which took place in Sao Paulo ahead of the World Cup opening ceremony and because tourism would be more approachable by thieves. They were advised to keep their bags zipped and wear the shoulder strap of a bag across the chest and always carry the hotel name, address and telephone number with them, written in the local language. They should always keep the door locked all the times at the hotel. For example, during FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil, a lot of preparation had to be made to assure the security of the tourists, especially in Rio de Janeiro and they even had to install electronic devices such as CCTV to assist in enhancing safety in the town (Kassens-Noor, 2012).

Challenges of Immigration and Security

Strategic plan is an essential element of the event management procedure which makes all the staffs engaged during the preparation of the events. Staff engagement generates additional inputs and helps to build the commitment to the end plan. For such an international festival, all the process should run as planned, and all the activities should be highly designed to avoid bad reviews and experiences for the guests. It is essential to provide all the stakeholders of the event the planning of the strategy and involving them in any changes that are taking place that is providing insight into issue, challenges, concern and opportunities which may not have been known or fully understood by al the personnel in the bid to make the event successful (Kegley, 1975). Strategic planning can only be successful when both bottom up and top down communication approach is implemented while the event is being organized. It begins with a correspondence to all levels of representatives by educating them about all the procedures and the way they will be handling the guests and always take the event as if it is their own. This virtue will encourage the  guests in the host country since they will enjoy the hospitality given to them, and they will want always want to come back due to the cooperation they were offered.

When the event is taking place, there are many factors that take place contributing positively or negatively to the society and in the host country. Hosting major sporting events such as World Cup tournaments can give many economic, social and cultural benefits, however the cost of hosting is also quite high but there are different factors which determine whether the benefits outweigh the costs. There various advantages of hosting an international event which includes:

• Enhances the Country Profile – This can lead to significant economic benefits, for example, cities which host the Olympic, and World Cup tournaments eventually experiences significant improvement in the tourism industry and better recognition across the globe. They become famous all over the world, and even people will keep coming to visit those cities and even consider investing in different business. For a country like China with a controversial human right record, hosting major festivals and sporting events can be a ways to gain greater international acceptance (Masterman, 2004). When South Africa hosted world Rugby Cup and later football world cup, it was the defining moment of this country in highlighting the new Post-apartheid South Africa and this raised profile can be essential for giving economic benefits such as attracting tourist and business investment. Since that world cup event, the country has been hosting other major events and it has been found that US president was present during Mandela’s Burial ceremony. However, even hosting commonwealth games can be beneficial for a city like Manchester, which has been significantly benefited from hosting games, despite persistent rain. In case of Brazil, it has been observed that the economy of the nation was significantly improved after international events. It helped in enhancing the infrastructure and it will host Olympic games and World Cup tournaments in future.
• Long term investment – a significant benefit for long term investment is enjoyed by the host country. The long term investment is associated with the preparation of the international events.  For example, most of the investment is employed for building stadium, hotels, and all the social amenities and other essential infrastructure which are permanent. Hence, later the  country will have the privilege to host other international events and different sporting venues. For instance, there has been significant investment and transport projects in London and, therefore, most of the Olympic Games have been hosted in that city. This will leave an enduring legacy for the residents of London (Preuss, 2013).  For example Maracana Stadium was one of the prestigious stadiums that hosted 2014 World Cup game in Brazil in Rio De Janeiro and has since been long-term investments of the Brazil and they can organize many events of such kind in the same ground not forgetting cozy hotels, thriving business environment, and advanced infrastructure.
• Short term economic benefits: The Olympics events will see a surge in visitors, athletes, and media personalities and it will be associated with higher level of spending and infusion of cash into the neighborhood economy, this is brought about the rise in the business opportunity brought about by the even, for instance during the 2014 World Cup tournament economy increase due to the foreign exchange in the country and improvement of different communication, transport and banking industries, although it is in short time the drastic change cannot be measured.
• Enthusiasm – It has been found that there are various reason to not to host major sporting activities. For example, too much debt and many challenges such as security and, immoralities that come along with such events but such major sporting and any other kind of festivals can create enthusiasm and excitement for such an event (Preuss, 2013). It helps to promote sport which has a lasting benefit for the health of the nation and incase the host country suffers from racial crises, such events brings together people with the intention to support their team without caring the race one comes from thus promoting Civic Virtues.
• Jobs and investment – Long term and short term investments in the event organizing economies will help in creating jobs and relatively depressed cities. This was an extraordinary claim made by the London Olympics, after choosing a site in East London which at the time was relatively depressed. The same case as in Brazil where the choose cities such as Saul Paulo. It is estimated that World Cup tournament created approximately 8000 full-time jobs and assisted in boosting up the economy which led to the output of approximatley $2bn.

There are several disadvantages of hosting major international events and festivals which includes:

• Cost of building stadiums and other infrastructure- In order to host a major sporting event like Olympics or World Cup tournament significant amount of money is required by the nation and the amount has to be paid by the taxpayers. It has been observed that these festivals and international events tend to exceed the budgeted cost. For a case of Brazil, indeed before the world container started in June it was clear that there were real issues with a few of the 12 stadiums Brazil either redesigned or constructed new to host the competition. In addition to the construction and the delays and concerns about the Brazil would do with no less than four of the stadiums once the four- week tournament ended, and also there were concerns about raising costs that had far exceeded original predictions (Alpert, 1994). There were claims of the mismanagement of funds to be used for the renovation and construction of these stadiums as a report by Reuters published that the total stadium cost was $8.44bn which was far exceeding the predicted value of $2.1 bn. Of the 35 public transportation projects only 5 were completed a month before the tournament as was reported by Reuters and again of the 25 airports upgrades promised only 14 were finished, and none of the incomplete public transit project was finished. The far-fetched idea that this projects will be of benefit to the country in the future was the truth, but it was really straining the economy and even the taxpayers.
• Short term use- Though it has been observed that the both short term and long term investments helps in improving the infrastructure, most of the capital is invested for short term purposes. For example in 2014 world cup tournament most of the stadiums were to be used only in a 4-week session. Most of the facilities build during this session might not be used in the near future (Radnedge, 2014). This problem can be mitigated by careful planning. For example, London Olympics stadium will be used for West Ham and other Olympic facilities, like Olympics village will be converted into affordable housing. This will enable the government to avoid excessive cost related to the international event which can be only used once. For a country like Brazil, they should mobilize other tournaments with their neighboring countries so that most of these facilities are at operation and in this case they will be able to generate some income and even create employment.
• Potential for adverse publicity- holding international event one should be aware of the different opinions by different people according to the services given to them, some of the media are just there to criticize the effort of the government to make the festivals full of fun and even comparing the previous even with the current event. The organizers should clearly understand this, and they should come up with measures to avoid such situations to take place. They ought to strive to make things work out as planned since the country will enjoy positive publicity, and the vice versa is true. For example, Delhi suffered negative publicity over the state of its facilities at the Commonwealth Games. Winter Olympics has gotten antagonistic attention due to the corruption and the cost over-runs.
• Cost of security and high taxes to fund the incurred costs- major international festivals have to make arrangement for high level of security. This is both the cost to restrict freedom of movement of local citizens during games to give chances to the tourist coming in (Goyal, 2010). These overwhelming activities most of the times suffers from the security breach and if not well catered them might also bring about negative publicity. In most of these countries like Brazil, taxes were reported to have doubled in most case is to assist financing the high expenditure incurred by the government.

For the sake of the forthcoming Rio 2016 Olympic games the government should be aware of various challenges which was encountered during the 2014 World Cup tournament and they should make proper arrangements and planning which will help in avoiding the excessive cost. The controlled expenditure will help in conducting the event within the budget and the investment can be used for longer term.  This will assist to avoid straining the taxpayers (Walker, 2012). The issue of security should be well addressed, and accommodation of the people who will attend the event this will ensure the image of Brazil is maintained, and it will also encourage more people to be visiting the country. The fact that the country will maintain a good reputation will also encourage other international events to be hosted in the country and thus gaining more revenue

In conclusion, it can be stated that the international event helps in uniting world as the international events and festivals give a chance to bring most of the countries at a common point and enjoy the event together. It also gives an opportunity for interracial mingling, and people belonging to different cultural background can share their diversity and uniqueness. These events attracts people from all walks of life and it has been seen as the most efficient way of eliminating the hatred of mankind where some of the whites tends to believe they cannot share a meal with a black but in this situation they share the same roof with the aim of competing with their countries. The aftermath of these festivals is learning how other countries handle life and even learn more efficient ways to compete even in business without any hatred and mutual cohesion to make the world a better place to live and ability to live any part of the world without fear or intimidation.

References:

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Walker, J. (2012). Introduction to hospitality management. [s.l.]: Prentice Hall.