Leveraging Small-Scale Sport Events: Challenges of Organising, Delivering and Managing Sustainable Outcomes in Rural Communities, the Case of Gorski kotar, Croatia
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Research Framework
2.1. Organisational Issues of Rural Communities
2.2. Notion of Leveraging in Terms of Sport Events Organisation
3. Methodology
3.1. Contextual Background
3.2. Methods
3.2.1. Data Collection
3.2.2. Data Analysis
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Overview of General Impacts and Key Organisational Challenges
4.1.1. Diverse Visions of the Future Development and Target Participants
Although, we don’t keep statistics on overall number of visitors of sledding races, it seems that there are much more local people present there, than visitors and tourists.(TBD1)
There are some visitors from neighbouring cities, but I think, most of the SCGK participants are residents of Gorski kotar.(TBD3)
It was great to see that idea of sledding cup was so well accepted by local families and their interest in sledding as a form of recreation increased dramatically.(TBD5)
I would like to see more tourists to come at the events […] and we have to make additional efforts to achieve that.(TBD6)
From the start, we knew that we don’t have possibilities to create big sledding events and professional competitions so main idea of SCGK was to promote identity of the region and its tourist appeal in terms of unpretentious enjoying the snow and fresh air.
As a tourist board director, I don’t have knowledge, skills, nor capacities to create quality sledding competition, it would be better if some expert(s) could take over that job and create a more professional race, perhaps even bring some foreign sledding athletes […] My job would then be to organise additional promotion and tourist services during the event.
4.1.2. Insufficient Financial and Operational Capacities for Increasing the Overall Event Quality
There is very limited amount of money that I can use for racing event organisation, so I rely a lot on the volunteers helping with preparing the track and being assistants during the race.(TBD3)
As a person in charge of the tourist board, I cannot afford to spend most of the year’s budget on this one event, because we are always having lots of activities planned and projects that need our financial support.(TBD4)
I am the only tourist board employee and it is not possible for me to involve myself solely on the event, especially in terms of the amount of work and time necessary to improve the quality of the event.(TBD8)
4.1.3. Weak Local Networks and Lack of Cooperation among Local Stakeholders
They [referring to the volunteers] are from various associations, some of them are my neighbours, some of them are friends, cousins or acquaintances of my family and I know I can count on their help.(TBD2)
Scarce amount of snow and unfavourable weather conditions almost led to the cancellation, but a group of my friends whose children are regular participants of the races worked the whole day to create and maintain an adequate sledding track.(TBD7)
He is only interested in making profit from renting us the sled track and the price he set does not take in consideration additional value that the hosting of sledding races will provide to his business like promotion and additional income from hospitality services.(TBD2)
4.1.4. The Need for New Organization
We need a partner who would be in charge of logistic issues regarding the race organisation and who would be reliable enough, as well as flexible because of unpredictable weather conditions and the need for fast reactions.(TBD1)
Centralisation of activities related to the race itself would significantly help tourist boards in organisation and might contribute to higher level of professionalism and a more coherent identity of SCGK.(TBD6)
Since interviewees did not have detailed ideas on how to enhance the structure and organisation of the events, which is addressed in Section 4.3.I guess we all (tourist board directors) could and should organise much better and coordinate activities and efforts jointly, in order to create recognisable events with a unified identity and integrated logistics.(TBD7)
4.2. Discussion: Economic and Social Leveraging Opportunities
4.3. Proposal of the New Inter-Community Organisation
5. Concluding Thoughts
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Preuss, H.; Solberg, H.A. Attracting major sporting events: The role of local residents. Eur. Sport Manag. Q. 2006, 6, 391–411. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Solberg, H.A.; Preuss, H. Major sport events and long-term tourism impacts. J. Sport Manag. 2007, 21, 213–234. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hinch, T.D.; Higham, J. Sport tourism: A framework for research. Int. J. Tour. Res. 2001, 3, 45–58. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gibson, H. Sport tourism at a crossroad? Considerations for the future. In Sport Tourism: Principles and Practice; Gammon, S., Kurtzman, J., Eds.; Leisure Studies Association Publications: Eastbourne, UK, 2002; pp. 123–140. [Google Scholar]
- Daniels, M.J.; Norman, W.C.; Henry, M.S. Estimating income effects of a sport tourism event. Ann. Tour. Res. 2004, 31, 180–199. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Weed, M.; Bull, C. Sport Tourism: Participants, Policy and Providers, 2nd ed.; Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford, UK, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Cheung, S.Y.; Mak, J.Y.; Dixon, A.W. Elite active sport tourists: Economic impacts and perceptions of destination image. Event Manag. 2016, 20, 99–108. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Castles, S. Studying social transformation. Int. Political Sci. Rev. 2001, 22, 13–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Deery, M.; Jago, L.; Fredline, L. Rethinking social impacts of tourism research: A new research agenda. Tour. Manag. 2012, 33, 64–73. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dwyer, L. Relevance of triple bottom line reporting to achievement of sustainable tourism: A scoping study. Tour. Rev. Int. 2005, 9, 79–93. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wise, N. Outlining triple bottom line contexts in urban tourism regeneration. Cities 2016, 53, 30–34. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wise, N.; Perić, M. Sports tourism, regeneration and social impacts: New opportunities and directions for research, the case of Medulin, Croatia. In Tourism in the City: Towards an Integrative Agenda on Urban Tourism; Bellini, N., Pasquinelli, C., Eds.; Springer: Berlin, Germany, 2017; pp. 311–320. [Google Scholar]
- Schulenkorf, N.; Edwards, D. Maximizing positive social impacts: Strategies for sustaining and leveraging the benefits of intercommunity sport events in divided societies. J. Sport Manag. 2012, 26, 379–390. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Harwood, S. Planning for community based tourism in a remote location. Sustainability 2010, 2, 1909–1923. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gibson, H.J.; Kaplanidou, K.; Kang, S.J. Small-scale event sport tourism: A case study in sustainable tourism. Sport Manag. Rev. 2012, 15, 160–170. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rojek, C. Event Power; Sage: London, UK, 2013. [Google Scholar]
- Conyers, D. Guidelines on Social Analysis for Rural Area Development Planning; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Distribution and Sales Section, FAO: Rome, Italy, 1993. [Google Scholar]
- O’Brien, D. Points of leverage: Maximizing host community benefit from a regional surfing festival. Eur. Sport Manag. Q. 2007, 7, 141–165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- O’Brien, D.; Chalip, L. Sports events and strategic leveraging: Pushing towards the triple bottom line. In Tourism Management: Analysis, Behaviour and Strategy; Woodside, A.G., Martin, D., Eds.; CAB International: Wallingford, UK, 2008; pp. 318–338. [Google Scholar]
- Tönnies, F. Community and Society, Orig.pub. German 1887; Loomis, C.P., Translator; Dover Publications, Inc.: Mineola, NY, USA, 2002. [Google Scholar]
- Wise, N. Placing sense of community. J. Community Psychol. 2015, 43, 920–929. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McMillan, D.W.; Chavis, D.M. Sense of community: A definition and theory. J. Community Psychol. 1986, 14, 6–23. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wise, N. Maintaining Dominican identity in the Dominican Republic: Forging a baseball landscape in Villa Ascension. Int. Rev. Soc. Sport 2015, 50, 161–178. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nicholson, M.; Hoye, R. Sport and Social Capital; Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford, UK, 2008. [Google Scholar]
- Tidey, A. Social Capital Production: Sport Event Volunteer Perceptions and Impacts. Master’s Thesis, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2010. [Google Scholar]
- Hall, C.M.; Page, S. Geography and the study of events. In The Routledge Handbook of Events; Page, S., Connell, J., Eds.; Routledge: London, UK, 2012; pp. 148–164. [Google Scholar]
- Hallmann, K.; Breuer, C. Images of rural destinations hosting small-scale sport events. Int. J. Event Festiv. Manag. 2011, 2, 218–244. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Reid, S. Identifying social consequences of rural events. Event Manag. 2008, 11, 89–98. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Reid, S. Event stakeholder management: Developing sustainable rural event practices. Int. J. Event Festiv. Manag. 2011, 2, 20–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Osborne, S.; Williamson, A.; Beattie, R. Community involvement in rural regeneration partnerships: Exploring the rural dimension. Local Gov. Stud. 2004, 30, 156–181. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Steinerowski, A.; Steinerowski-Streb, I. Can social enterprise contribute to creating sustainable rural communities? Using the lens of structuration theory to analyse the emergence of rural social enterprise. Local Econ. 2012, 27, 167–182. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Peredo, A.; Chrisman, J. Toward a theory of community-based enterprise. Acad. Manag. Rev. 2006, 31, 309–328. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Munoz, S.-A.; Steiner, A.; Farmer, J. Processes of community-led social enterprise development: Learning from the rural context. Community Dev. J. 2015, 50, 478–493. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chalip, L.; McGuirty, J. Bundling sport events with the host destination. J. Sport Tour. 2004, 9, 267–282. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chalip, L. Towards social leverage of sport events. J. Sport Tour. 2006, 11, 109–127. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- O’Brien, D.; Chalip, L. Executive training exercise in sport event leverage. Int. J. Cult. Tour. Hosp. Res. 2007, 1, 296–304. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chalip, L. From legacy to leverage. In Leveraging Legacies from Sports Mega-Events: Concepts and Cases; Grix, J., Ed.; Palgrave Macmillan: London, UK, 2014; pp. 2–12. [Google Scholar]
- Dangi, T.B.; Jamal, T. An integrated approach to “sustainable community-based tourism”. Sustainability 2016, 8, 475. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ziakas, V. Understanding an event portfolio: The uncovering of interrelationships, synergies, and leveraging opportunities. J. Policy Res. Tour. Leis. Event 2010, 2, 144–164. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fairley, S.; Lovegrove, H.; Brown, M. Leveraging events to ensure enduring benefits: The legacy strategy of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Sport Manag. Rev. 2016, 19, 466–474. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Misener, L.; Mason, D.S. Creating community networks: Can sporting events offer meaningful sources of social capital? Manag. Leis. 2006, 11, 39–56. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chalip, L.; Leyns, A. Local business leveraging of a sport event: Managing an event for economic benefit. J. Sport Manag. 2002, 16, 132–158. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Green, B.C.; Lim, S.Y.; Seo, W.J.; Sung, Y. Effects of cultural exposure through pre-event media. J. Sport Tour. 2010, 15, 89–102. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Taks, M.; Misener, L.; Chalip, L.; Green, B.C. Leveraging sport events for participation. Can. J. Soc. Res. 2013, 3, 12–23. [Google Scholar]
- Yin, R.K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 4th ed.; Sage: London, UK, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Eisenhardt, K.M. Building theories from case study. Acad. Manag. Rev. 1989, 14, 532–550. [Google Scholar]
- Glaser, B.G.; Strauss, A.L. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research; Aldine: Chicago, IL, USA, 1967. [Google Scholar]
- Schulenkorf, N. Sustainable community development through sport and events: A conceptual framework for sport-for-development projects. Sport Manag. Rev. 2012, 15, 1–12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Higham, J. Commentary-sport as an avenue of tourism development: An analysis of the positive and negative impacts of sport tourism. Curr. Issues Tour. 1999, 2, 82–90. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Green, B.C. Leveraging subculture and identity to promote sport events. Sport Manag. Rev. 2001, 4, 1–19. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Babiak, K. Determinants of interorganizational relationships: The case of a Canadian nonprofit sport organization. J. Sport Manag. 2007, 21, 338–376. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Moscardo, G. Analyzing the role of festivals and events in regional development. Event Manag. 2007, 11, 23–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Botes, L.; van Rensburg, D. Community participation in development: Nine plagues and twelve commandments. Community Dev. J. 2000, 35, 41–58. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Orjuela, C. Building peace in Sri Lanka: A role for civil society? J. Peace Res. 2003, 40, 195–212. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lawson, H.A. Empowering people, facilitating community development, and contributing to sustainable development: The social work of sport and physical education programs. Sport Educ. Soc. 2005, 10, 135–160. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Provan, K.G.; Isett, K.R.; Milward, H.B. Cooperation and compromise: A network response to conflicting institutional pressures in community mental health. Nonprofit Volunt. Sect. Q. 2004, 33, 489–514. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Miles, J.D.P. Designing collaborative processes for adaptive management: Four structures for multistakeholder collaboration. Ecol. Soc. 2013, 18, 5. [Google Scholar]
- Provan, K.G.; Milward, H.B. Do networks really work? A framework for evaluating public-sector organizational networks. Public Adm. Rev. 2001, 61, 414–423. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Peric, M.; Djurkin, J. Systems thinking and alternative business model for responsible tourist destination. Kybernetes 2014, 43, 480–496. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Leverage Element | Case Study Results |
---|---|
Enticing visitors to spend (see [19]) | Need for a wider range of additional services and products for visitors and participants on-site |
Lengthening visitors’ period of stay (see [19]) | There is a potential to create and offer weekend events |
Minimising the booth effect (i.e., keeping event expenditures in the local economy) (see [19]) | Preferential choice of local entrepreneurs and suppliers in developing partnerships and cooperation |
Using the event promotion to build the host destination’s brand (see [19]) | Lack of resources for more active campaigns; Lack of recognizable design and a unique visual identity associated with the event; Promotion is highly dependent on unpredictable weather conditions |
Using the event to foster business networking and enhance business relationships (see [19]) | Not enough efforts focusing on long-term networking and sustainable partnerships between sectors at the community level; Problem of risk in delivering immediate effects (weather) |
Liminality, communitas and celebrating atmosphere (see [19]) | Vital importance of active local community involvement; Scarce opportunities to socialise outside the venue |
Local capacity building through participation in event organisation (see [48]) | Difference between communities in informal support to event organisation (informal network and relationships, mobilisation of resources) |
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Perić, M.; Đurkin, J.; Wise, N. Leveraging Small-Scale Sport Events: Challenges of Organising, Delivering and Managing Sustainable Outcomes in Rural Communities, the Case of Gorski kotar, Croatia. Sustainability 2016, 8, 1337. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8121337
Perić M, Đurkin J, Wise N. Leveraging Small-Scale Sport Events: Challenges of Organising, Delivering and Managing Sustainable Outcomes in Rural Communities, the Case of Gorski kotar, Croatia. Sustainability. 2016; 8(12):1337. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8121337
Chicago/Turabian StylePerić, Marko, Jelena Đurkin, and Nicholas Wise. 2016. "Leveraging Small-Scale Sport Events: Challenges of Organising, Delivering and Managing Sustainable Outcomes in Rural Communities, the Case of Gorski kotar, Croatia" Sustainability 8, no. 12: 1337. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8121337