Event to Promote the Destination - Coursework Example

Event to promote the Destination Introduction In the modern days, the term event tourism has become popular in the tourism industry. In the event tourism the destination of the events are flocked by millions of people worldwide. This helps in the popularity of the destination in the tourism world and involves high expenditure of the tourists. The economy of the destination improves with the involvement of the tourists. With the popularity of the sporting events, people flock to the destination to view the event and as a result develop the economy of the place. The events garner a lot of media attention and as a result the people are attracted to visit the place. People may go to the destination to participate in the event or to holiday. The paper will look into the relevance of the events in promoting the destination of the place. The help in the discussion the help of the chapter “Micro foundations of tourist choice” by Andreas Papatheodorou has been taken. The chapter talks about the areas taken into consideration by the tourists in the choice of their destination. The chapter tells what factors are to be taken into consideration by the marketers to make the destination a popular one. Events to promote the destination Events in the modern world are packaged with a definite concept that appeals to a definite group of people in the world. The tourists have different constraints in the choice of the destinations in the world. There are various components in the organization of the events like the media, venue, infrastructure, and the targeted audience. The supply side of the tourism should look into the matter of providing the tourists with all the facilities to attract the tourists. The events are organized to appeal to a group of tourists. For example, in the case of a sporting event like the Olympics, the sports enthusiasts will be attracted. The events are responsible for delivering important messages about the destination. As the events draw the tourists from all over the world, they are useful in providing: Maximize the utility of the tourists. Image of the destination. Economic development. According to the classical economics, the main function of the tourist destinations is to maximize the utility of the consumers- here the tourists. In the case of tourism, the economics of the tourists work in a different manner. In the case of tourism, the consumers first decide to go to a certain place or destination and then decide to spend in the other activities there. The main aim is to go to a certain destination. The financial constraints are the main consideration for the tourists. The economics of tourism is unique in the sense that the demand for the product here is dependent on the choices and the preferences of the consumers and to a large extent on the financial constraints. The choices of the tourists in the case of travel for a specified purpose like business meetings are limited and the choices of the destination depends to a large extent on the availability of the comforts. The events are organized in the destinations to provide an understanding of the country to the world. The price of the destination and the time are important factors in the attraction of the tourists to the destination. The general condition of the country- social and economical also influences the arrival of tourists. The events shall look into the matters of economic accessibility of the spectators and the available time. They should look into the maximum utility of the consumers. Various facilities are developed with the organization of the events. The events in the country are organized to make the people aware of the country and its conditions. The events will draw the audience. (Papatheodorou, 2006; Pp 73-80) The image of the country is the general impression of the people of the place where they do not reside. The image of the country may be negative and this may deter the people from the other places not to visit the country. This is called the image transfer where the brand of the events gets transferred to the destination and affects it positively. (Glaesser, 2006; Pp 99-100) The events should be in compliance with that of the destination like in the case of Dubai where the shopping festival is held, as the place is free of taxes and duties. The Monaco Grand Prix held every year has been influenced by the availability of the only street circuit in the world. It draws millions of people around the world because of the sheer excitement of the race. The huge arrival of the tourists in the destination helps in the economic development of the place. It helps in the development of the image of the destination and there is a gradual arrival of tourists over the year. (King, 2008, Pp. 110-111). The events are generally short termed but the benefits of the events may be long term. With the development of the events, the tourism sector develops with the increase in the accommodation in the destination. As loads of international tourists come to the destination, the Government takes special care to develop the communication and transport of the place. Events like the dance and the music festivals help in the development of the culture of the place. (Hudson, 2003, Pp. 50-51) The development of the image of the place has become one of the most important constituents in the branding of the events. The events organized in the destination become the USP of the destination and there has to be certain marketing activities to make the people know about the event. The destinations organizing the events look for the long-term benefits of tourism and they turn to the marketing activities to promote the destination with the help of the events. Different processes of marketing of the events can be described as follows: Media: One of the most important constituents of the event tourism is the media. The media helps in the marketing of the events. The different forms of media like the television, radio, print advertisements etc. helps in informing the targeted audience about the event. This requires careful planning on behalf of the marketer to balance the image of the destination and the event. The targeted audience is the key in the marketing of the events and the first step is to determine the audience of the event. The marketing tools develop after the determination of the audience. In the case of the sporting events like the Football World Cup in 2010 in South Africa, the advertisements are shown in the sporting channels and the sports magazines. The interested people watch the sporting channels and read the sporting magazines. Therefore, they come to know about the events. (Tassioupoulos, 2005, P. 283; Hoyle, 2002, P.156; Papatheodorou, 2006; P 82) Public relations: The public relations are one of the most important points in the development of the development of the destination as the brand. The journalists from the world over should be invited to cover the events. This helps in the creation of the awareness of the events and draws the tourists to the destination. In the case of the event tourism involving an annual activity like that of the Dubai Shopping Festival, the journalists should be invites in keeping in mind the target customers. In this case, the journalists of the lifestyle magazines may be invited to cover the events. (Yale & Carothers, 2001, Pp. 39-40) Merchandising: The merchandising activities of the events are essential in the development of the branding of the destination and the events. Various merchandising products may be brought in the market bearing resemblance with the events. The use of the jerseys of the sportspersons and the athletes may be used for the promotion of the event. The use of the merchandising of the goods makes the events popular. (Standevan & Knop, 1999; Pp. 66-67) The use of the merchandising of the products with the help of the logo of the events is a popular concept in the development of the brand. In the 2006 World Cup, various sponsors of the events merchandised the products with the help of the jerseys of the sportspersons. The event was hugely popular and there were high sales for the companies. Infrastructure: The development of the infrastructure before the organization of the sporting events is one of the major effects of the events tourism. The destination is facilitated with the help of the basic amenities. The hotel industry is on the rise with the influx of the tourists. The example of China in the case of the Beijing Olympics can be cited in this regard. The organization of the Olympics in the city helped in the development of the infrastructure in the place. Various stadiums and sporting arenas developed and the hotel industry was in the boom. (Xiaohu, 2005, P. 280; Papatheodorou, 2006; Pp 83-84) The processes discussed above will help the people to know of the events and the interested people will come to the destination. With the influx of the tourists in the destination for the country, the destination will develop into a major attraction with the help of the ‘word of mouth publicity’. Conclusions The event tourism helps the country to develop economically and socially with the help of the influx in tourists. The economic activities relating to the tourism help in the development of the economy in the destination and project a positive image of the country. The main aim should be to popularize the event with the help of the marketing activities and that will draw the tourists to the destination. References: 1. Bowdin. G, Allen. J and Toole. W. (2006). Event Management. Massachussettes: Butterworth-Heinemann 2. Standevan,J and Knop,P. (1999). Sport Tourism. Illinois: Human Kinetics 3. Xiaohu,T. (2005). China Business Guide. Shanghai: China Knowledge Press. 4. Yale,D and Carothers,A. (2001). The Publicity Handbook. New York: McGraw Hill. 5. Tassioupoulos, D. (2005). Event Management. Claremont: Juta Academic. 6. Hoyle,L. (2002). Event Marketing. New Jersey: Wiley Publishing. 7. Glaesser, D. (2006). Crisis management in the tourism industry. Massachusetts: Butterworth-Heinemann. 8. King, D. (2008). Monaco. New York: Marshall Cavendish. 9. Hudson, S. (2003). Sport and adventure tourism. The Haworth Hospitality Press. 10. Papatheodorou,A. (2006). Micro foundations of tourist choice. In, Dwyer, L and Forsyth, P. International handbook on the economics of tourism. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Read More