Special Event Management

Introduction

Special events management refers to the use of project management in organizing, creating and developing activities such as festivals, events, conferences and exhibition. It involves identifying the target audience, identifying the objective of the event and coordinating the technical aspect of the event. In this regard, a special event can be said to be an event that is first class or an extraordinary event in terms of its publicity (Bowdin, Allen, & O'Toole, 2006, p 33). Marketing of a destination should take into account the target group, what event is being marketed and identifying the right media for the marketing. Also there are three key theoretical terms in special event management: repackage, re-image and reinforce. Repackage means destinations use events to highlight attributes or images which already exist, but which are not particularly well known, the features may included alter a destination with different cultural attributes to make it more desirable or appealing to tourists and distinguish the destination from others based on cultural aspects. Re-image can define as remake or reinvent the destination in order to compete, and destinations use events to promote a completely new and attractive image. Reinforce means people using this method to strengthen the image of a destination through the use of events, as well as creates awareness, generates interest, stimulates desire and ultimately results in action particular in increased tourism. The event allows this image to be reinforced or strengthened amongst potential tourists. (Frost, W. and Laing, J. 2011). My event is the hosting of Commonwealth games in 2002 at Manchester.

Discussion

Marketing the Destination

Manchester overview

The hosting of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester provided an opportunity to redesign and repackage the city. This was to ensure that the event will help improve the image of the region and to act as an avenue of providing more opportunities to encourage more visitors and investment in the region (Tym, 2008). The event is used to market the intrinsic properties of the town. This involves what the town has to offer in terms of tourist destination sites such as museums and national parks where visitors have to visit and pay. It also involves marketing the town's rich and diverse culture for the tourists. The event showcases the country's hospitality industry as one of the best and makes visitors long to visit the country. The advertisement in the media helps to show what the town has to offer in terms of accommodation and this leads to increased visitors in the town. There are three core stakeholder groups that worked in partnership with the competition which are strategic & funding stakeholders, operational stakeholders and regional stakeholders. Strategic & funding stakeholders are including Manchester City Council (MCC), department of culture media & sport and sport England. Operational stakeholders are Manchester city centre Management Company, marketing Manchester, local business, Manchester police, transport executive, local community groups and sponsors & partners. Regional stakeholders also have great contribution in holding this competition there are New East Manchester, England's North Country, North West Development Agency, Cumbria Tourist Board, British Tourist Authority, North West Tourist Board and Manchester Investment & Development Agency Service.

Hosting of the event achieved its objectives

To ensure that the hosting of the event achieved its objectives, the organizers of the event embarked on various strategic urban regeneration strategies. This included a range of legacy activities were aimed at providing economic, tourism and social benefits across the whole region and to provide business opportunities in the Northwest. The programmes focussed on providing positive legacies for business, tourism, health, education, arts, volunteering and young people (ECOTEC, 2004). In terms of the economy, it gets a major boost when visitors come through increased job creations in the hotel industry, infrastructure industry, transport industry and also in the agricultural industry. This is due to promotion of investment by the government in order to meet the increased demand of visitor. There is also increase in the business opportunities, commercial activities and creation of new jobs (Bowdin, Allen, & O'Toole, 2006:38).

Government raising a lot of revenue

These leads to the government raising a lot of revenue through foreign exchange, it creates job and business opportunities for the locals. The events also have social cultural impacts on the host country which stems from the shared entertainment experience created by the sport. The sport also led to increased pride among the citizens of the host country as well as leaving a great legacy of the sporting event. The number of tourist visit an area may increase if a mega sporting event like the 2002 Commonwealth Games was taking place in the area. People are usually drawn to the city or town due to the event rather than the area and hence there is need to market the area as the destination of choice. Tourism in the host cities of mega sporting events are known to increase due to the influx of visitors. Manchester city was therefore marketed and promoted as the perfect destination due to the upcoming sporting event and other attractive places within the city. The promotions were aimed at capturing the attention of international visitors and to provide information to entice them to travel to Manchester City.

Cosmopolitan