Vassilios Ziakas

The Use of an Event Portfolio in Regional Community and Tourism Development: Creating Synergy between Sport and Cultural Events

Although host communities have begun to capitalize on a portfolio of recurring events to achieve a range of benefits, there is scant research and empirical evidence about the phenomenon of event portfolio. In addressing this knowledge gap, this study employed ethnographic methods to examine the rationales and drivers for the use of an event portfolio in regional development. Fieldwork was conducted in the rural community of Fort Stockton in USA – Texas. The findings indicate that the event portfolio is a socially embedded configuration in local life that facilitates the development of a holistic approach. It consists of sport and cultural events that strive to address community issues pertaining to social, tourism, and economic development. Event implementations are facilitated by the use of an integrated set of resources and the adoption of established practices. The relationship between sport and cultural events is innately symbiotic sharing common objectives, resources, and markets. The study argues that a holistic approach in event portfolio planning can integrate economic, sport, and tourism, as well as social development purposes and foster synergies between sport and cultural events. To do so, event tourism research needs to start building knowledge on the neglected area of event portfolios and understand this complex phenomenon.

Understanding an event portfolio: the uncovering of interrelationships, synergies, and leveraging opportunities

Although the potential value of an event portfolio strategy has been suggested in the literature, there are no empirical studies exploring the nature and implementation of event portfolios. To fill this gap, the purpose of this study was to understand an event portfolio by uncovering the interrelationships and synergies that assemble different events together as valuable community assets and foster an integrative mindset toward their use. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in the rural community of Fort Stockton, Texas, investigating its event portfolio. Results show that event interrelationships are grounded on the instrumental connectivity of events in terms of sharing common elements, objectives, and resources. This cultivates an organic event relatedness that capitalizes on experiential capacity, maintenance of volunteer pools, and generation of new or complementary markets. The local governmental structure enables collaboration setting mutual objectives, sharing common resources, and coordinating event implementations. However, strategic planning is not employed, and subsequently, events in the portfolio are not cross‐leveraged, leaving missed opportunities to magnify its value. The findings of this study have implications for event policy and management. A holistic policy approach is required if it is to foster and fully exploit the potential of event portfolios. Event planners need to create synergies among different events and integrate associated economic, tourism, leisure, sport, or socio‐cultural objectives by formulating and implementing joint strategies. A focus on event interrelationships can ultimately help event planners find the best means to leverage event portfolios.

‘Between Theatre and Sport’ in a Rural Event: Evolving Unity and Community Development from the Inside-Out

This study employed ethnographic fieldwork building on cultural theory and dramaturgy to examine and explore a major celebratory event that takes place in a rural community in southwest Texas as a consolidating device for building, reconnecting and strengthening the communitys social fabric. The event blends sport with other performance elements. Results show that the community creates a symbolic social space characterized by identification with local history, heritage and values/beliefs and a sense of community reconnection, as well as acknowledgement and recognition. The organic interrelatedness of these mechanisms, enhanced by the sport and theatrical elements present in the event, facilitates the regeneration and reinforcement of a heightened sense of community and a strengthening of the communitys social capital. Furthermore, VFR (visiting friends and relatives) tourism is fostered as former citizens of the community are targeted to attend this celebratory event, including the timing of other significant activities, such as when they visit the community for school reunions, which are typically scheduled to occur during the same time period. Implications for sustainability of events in community and tourism development, as well as the role of dramaturgy, are discussed. The dramaturgic nature of the event enables its significance for tourists, particularly former residents, which thereby contributes to the events value to the community and its consequent sustainability.

Explicating inter‐organizational linkages of a host community's events network

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the inter‐organizational patterns of an events network that shape a host communitys capacity to capitalize on its event portfolio.Design/methodology/approach – Network analysis was employed to measure the relationships within an events network. The network included nine organizations that participated in the organization of the host communitys event portfolio. Data were collected using an instrument adapted from Provan et al. and analyzed using the statistical software for social network analysis, UCINET. Four types of links were measured (shared information, shared resources, help sent, and help received) as well as attitudes toward trust and collaboration.Findings – Results showed that collaboration was not consistent across all types of links. The most central organizations in the network were the Tourism Department and the Chamber. Shared information was the predominant type of link with other types of links being weaker resulting in low multiplexity...

Olympic legacy and cultural tourism: exploring the facets of Athens’ Olympic heritage

This study examines the effects of the Olympic Games on Athens’ cultural tourism and the city’s potential to leverage the Olympic legacy in synergy with its rich heritage in order to enhance its tourism product during the post-Games period. In doing so, a qualitative and interpretive approach was employed. This includes a literature review on Athens’ 2004 Olympics to identify the sport facilities and regeneration projects, which constitute the Olympic legacy and heritage. Based on that, an empirical analysis was undertaken, by collecting official documents about the 2004 Olympics, and conducting five semi-structured interviews with tourism/administrative officials. The findings indicate that the Olympiad contributed significantly to Athens’ built and human heritage, revealing the dimensions of new venues/facilities, infrastructure, transportation and aesthetic image of the city, and human capital enhancement. Hence, the Games affected to the multifaceted representation and reconstruction of the city’s identity and cultural heritage. However, the potential afforded from the post-Olympic Athens remains unrealised due to lack of strategic planning/management. The study concludes that there is a need to develop cross-leveraging synergies between the Olympic legacy and cultural tourism for the host city. Finally, a strategic planning framework for leveraging post-Games Olympic tourism is suggested in order to maximise the benefits of Olympic legacy and heritage in a host city’s tourism development.

Planning and Leveraging Event Portfolios: Towards a Holistic Theory

This conceptual article seeks to advance the discourse on the leveraging and legacies of events by examining the planning, management, and leveraging of event portfolios. This examination shifts the common focus from analyzing single events towards multiple events and purposes that can enable cross-leveraging among different events in pursuit of attainment and magnification of specific ends. The following frameworks are proposed: (a) event portfolio planning and leveraging and (b) analyzing events networks and interorganizational linkages. These frameworks are intended to provide, at this infancy stage of event portfolios research, a solid ground for building theory on the management of different types and scales of events within the context of a portfolio aimed to obtain, optimize and sustain tourism, as well as broader community benefits.

For the benefit of all? Developing a critical perspective in mega-event leverage

The purpose of this article is to bring to light the need for developing a critical leveraging perspective on mega-events and propose a research agenda that extends the focus of the leverage concept towards this direction. Current research on leverage focuses on the attainment and magnification of mega-event outcomes. A critical lens of inquiry however is needed to move forward and take into account the influence of power structures and social-ordering processes on developing and implementing strategic leveraging programs. Such a perspective can help examine if and how the benefits of mega-events are fairly delivered to host communities, equally distributed among stakeholders and then sustained, while negative impacts are minimised. Ten research themes are brought forward to help build a robust ground for a critical mega-event leveraging perspective.

Towards reviving post-Olympic Athens as a cultural destination.

This paper examines the effects of global change on the status and qualities of the Greek national capital, Athens, focusing on how they affect the development of cultural tourism in the city. Although Athens constituted one of the most significant destinations for Greek tourism in the past, in recent years it started to weaken. Athens is characterised by a series of problems, among them are the degradation of its environment and quality of life and traffic congestion. However, in terms of tourism development, the Olympic Games helped in re-imaging the city and upgrading its infrastructure. This study based on semi-structured interviews with top officials reveals how global change has affected Athens’ socio-cultural/economic status, identity and image. Despite the tourism policy/planning responses to global changes, Athens’ tourism continues to decline leaving unexplored potential such as its rich cultural heritage, new multicultural identity and the New Acropolis Museum. The paper suggests that cultural elements of capital cities must be multidimensional including a variety of attractions and amenities. The use of cultural heritage assets needs to be in line with global developments in order for cities to effectively leverage heritage for cultural tourism.

Fostering the social utility of events: an integrative framework for the strategic use of events in community development

Although the use of planned events for achieving community development has received academic attention from different disciplines, the findings of these literatures are not systematically used towards developing a common understanding aimed at fostering their social utility. The challenge then is to study from an integrated interdisciplinary perspective how the social value of events can be fostered and leveraged for community development. In addressing this challenge, the purpose of this conceptual paper is to shed light on the multi-layered processes that foster the social utility of events. To this end, the theoretical tenets of social leverage, event dramaturgy and social capital are employed and integrated. On this basis, a conceptual framework linking event processes and outcomes is proposed aimed to guide future interdisciplinary research towards strategically incorporating events in community development. This line of research can eventually help create synergies between different event genres and implement joint social leveraging strategies, hence, fostering and magnifying their overall social utility for host communities.

Contextualizing phenomenology in event management research: Deciphering the meaning of event experiences

Purpose – Although the core phenomenon of events is the experiences and the meanings attached to them, there is limited management research on the experiential, existential and ontological dimensions of events. Phenomenology provides a sound philosophical framework for studying the multifaceted dimensions of experiences and associated meanings of events. However, quite surprisingly, phenomenology has not yet been systematically applied on the event management field. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to introduce phenomenology to the study of events, demonstrate its value for the field and encourage as well as guide its application on event management research. Design/methodology/approach – A review and synthesis of the main phenomenological streams of thought was undertaken in order to develop a research paradigm for the application of phenomenology on the event management field. Findings – The paper explains why phenomenology is needed in the study of events and their management, its conceptual und...