Introduction
After the proposition for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games was approved the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), was given the strategic duty to develop plans for carrying out one of the most outstanding Olympics event. Massive efforts were employed in planning and as well as development of this mega event. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games had a vision that could lead to vast opportunities that would have social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts for the country. Brief background of the London 2012’s Olympics targets will be of extensive significance based on exclusive evaluation of social, cultural, economic, and environmental facades that are paramount in extending favorable results, according to the vision goals. An analysis of the London 2012 Olympics values as well as their influence on the aims of the games will be of exclusive significance. Therefore, proper understanding of the tourism sustainability will be paramount framework to measure London 2012 social, economic, cultural and environmental sustainability objectives. London 2012’s Vision away from the Olympic and Paralympic Games
A well developed vision is paramount in guiding the planning as well as organizing of Olympic Games. The vision of the event has developed a sculpt scaffold for all of the strategic planning to occur with the aim of using the power of games to cause change. The vision for Olympic Games aspires to influence dynamic opportunities in the social, economic, cultural, and environmental facades of the Games. LOCOG had a goal of becoming the leading sponsor to ever organize a sustainable Olympics and legacy (London, 2012). In order to manage the process of achieving this vision the committee had to ensure the exclusive benefits of hosting the games are distributed equally in the strategic development as well as post impact of the Games. The impact of an event is marked by tourism sustainability that defines the event’s economic, social-cultural, and environmental sustainability.
Modern Olympics is renowned to have originated from the Ancient Olympic Games which were religious and athletic competitions that were held after four years at the Zeus sanctuary in Olympia, Greece from 8th century BC up to the 4th century AD. Olympics is the world’s largest international sporting activity that feature winter and summer sports where thousands of athletes engage in various competitions. The competition involves more than 200 nations as participants. The competition is governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which was established in 1894. The main Olympic Games are Summer Olympic Games, Winter Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, and Ancient Olympic Games. The IOC has the responsibility of choosing the host of an upcoming Olympics competition among a set of bidders eight years before the competition. In every competition there are approximately 13000 athletes competing in different events. Following the fame of the event every nation would like to be represented. This has led to numerous challenges such as bribery, boycotts, terrorism and doping. The Games also offer a chance to the host city to showcase itself to the globe. Since it began the event has attracted a lot of bidders as hosts with only a few getting qualified.
Sustainable Tourism
Sustainable tourism refers to the attempt to make minimal impact on the environment as well as local culture in the process of generating employment opportunities for local individuals. Olympics is a major event that attracts large number of spectators as well as athletes. Sustainable tourism ensures that development causes positive impact among citizens, tourists as well as tourist companies. Being games that mark various periods like summer and winter seasons they attract various tourists to the host nation. It is usually influential to the tourism industry of the host city or country since it opens up the country’s tourist’s attraction sites to various people who may visit them in future. For example, when London won the bid to host the games in 2005, history was marked as it would be the first truly sustainable Olympics, leaving a legacy far beyond the departure of Olympic Games. Being an event that attracts a lot of competitions, different people will attend the event with the aim of watching the different games. This means that the host country or city will be proud of extensive tourism in its borders. Tourism sustainability is usually achieved through economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability.
Economic sustainability
According to Prime Minister David Cameron, there were massive deals that were done during the 2012 Olympics. Through the UK Trade and Investment department (UKTI) the economy grew at an alarming rate during the Games. It was reported that there was additional £ 2.5 billion as additional inward investment in the country. 58% of this was outside London. £ 5.9 billion additional sales were realized following Olympic related promotions by UKTI and the Foreign Office. Also, the country secured approximately £ 1.5 billion worth overseas contracts like helping in designing venues in other host nations (BBC, 2013). For example, the best part of the Olympic park and stadium for the Russia Olympics were designed and constructed by British Businesses. This is an indication that the Olympics 2012 came with real jobs which translated to real money. Opportunities were opened to different people in the society as income for individuals rose at the moment. The money that was revolving in the economy at the moment was influential to every individual who survived in the nation.
Despite the massive economic merits discussed above, achieving the goal of hosting the Games was not an easy process. There were massive criticisms that it was impossible to achieve the goals following the high budget that was outlined for the Games. The budget for the Games seemed extremely high at £9.9 billion. However, despite the high construction cost there were a lot of benefits that outshined the challenges (Roche, 2013). Therefore, hosting these games could be termed as economically viable. There are economic connections that were made and will continuously benefit individuals as well as the government of England.
However, there are various economic elements witnessed during the competition that would influence the economic position of London and its neighboring cities.
Ticket pricing and sale on game outcome
Effective management of ticket sales would be extremely influential in determining the success of the Olympics Games. This was the main source of revenue for the Games. The process had to be considerate of the attendance, as well as participation of fans, as well as management of worldwide perception through TV broadcasts.
The event attracted other sources of revenue such as international sponsorship, purchase for broadcasting rights, domestic sponsorships and sale of licensing rights. Ticket sales raised approximately $650 million out of the $3 billion of total revenue raised. The organizing committee satisfied its target of between 500000 and 800000 spectators everyday in the course of the competition (Gourville & Bertini, 2013).
The main objective was to fill the venues as much as possible in line with the Olympic Games. The committee succeeded in setting up exclusive schedule that would allow maximum attendance of all games. This was an extensive boost for the targeted high revenue through sale of tickets to spectators (Cleeve, Ritchie, & Shipway, 2009). This meant the London economy would boast of extensive economic impact.
Olympic and management risks
Like any event, Olympics involved exclusive risks that appeared as challenges to execution of certain activities during the competition. The committee had promised to offer the best games ever but it did not unfold the organizational and political pitfalls that were ahead (Roan, 2012).
Risk lied in selection of host cities as well as for Games organization. All Olympics that were held previously had also witnessed extensive risks. Among the most common risks that had to be contained early through development of excellent execution strategies were geopolitical risks, and financial risks (International Inspiration, 2012).
Social sustainability
Large sporting events like the Olympics are renowned of typically placing emphasis only on the fiscal rewards, forgetting of communal rewards of hosting these events. Governments mainly seek to sponsor Olympics games with aims of boosting economic games and notoriety on the national stage. However, LOCOG did not only aim at attracting new revenues during the London 2012 Games but also connect the local public interest in the execution of a plan as well as disbursement of benefits of the Games.
The vision was developed with a tone that aims at gaining significant support as well as participation for the local community, promising benefits like new schools and inexpensive housing opportunities, that resulted from the Olympic infrastructure, employment and business opportunities that resulted from the building projects as well as the increase in need for services during the games, and improvement of the local transit system. The opportunities for transformation that stemmed from the regeneration of the urban space of East London following London 2012 Games led to sparking economic growth as well as a new environment for the once isolated community (Walton, Longo & Dawson, 2007).
There were massive social influences that were running the London economy. During this era of social network explosion, the Olympics event remained extremely famous among people in the public. There were extensive discussions in Facebook, twitter and other social sites as people tried to promote their countries. This was a platform for making different teams famous in the event. The event would also bring people of different origins with unique cultures together. This will be a platform for cultural interaction whereby its results may not be realized soon but with time the impact will be realized.
However, Olympics did not come with merits only. There are exclusive demerits that were social influences. For example, the lottery faced a significant challenge. The national lottery contributed approximately £ 2.2 billion to fund the Olympic Games (Walton, Longo & Dawson, 2007). This means that beneficiaries of the lottery were not to benefit from it during the Olympics Games.
Following the high number of attendants of the event, there were rises in prices for various facilities. Accommodation had become expensive for houses near the stadium. This means that tenants were restless to cope with this problem. All transport networks to the stadium were filled with people calling for transportation (Roche, 2013).This led to hiked costs of transport in the country making it difficult for residents who were not used to paying high fare.
The cultural impact of the London 2012 Games is based on the approach of having an immense capability to promote unity amongst participating groups from sundry backgrounds. It also shows a response of nation and community pride in showing the achievements of developing this grand event. The efforts of approximately 70000 volunteers renowned as dream makers will make sure the success of the Game events, and the local youth were encouraged to increase sport involvement through local programs (Supple, 2010). The host country is renowned of excellent football leagues where most people are football fanatics. The football obsession was diluted by citizens becoming knowledgeable of other sports that were equally attractive (Supple, 2010). With the exclusive driving forces behind the cultural and environmental initiatives on their way for the London 2012 Games, an outstanding opportunity is created for transformation and legacy for the London community, hopefully well above the Games.
As people interacted during the games, they shared ideas on how well such athletics events are organized and practiced in their countries. This is an indication that cultural influence would remain evident among the interacting communities. London residents had a lot of elements to pick from visitors. This is a sign of the changes that are likely to be witnessed in the country as time elapsed. It is likely that London will be home to various athletics with time following extensive exposure to different people with unique capabilities.
Environmental sustainability
In the planning process, the committee had it in mind that the 2012 Olympics would be the greenest Olympic ever held. There were extensive measures that needed to be employed to ensure the environment remained green as well as friendly to competitors. During the Games the committee was carrying out a campaign on recycling and regeneration, which had become a success. The committee tried to come up with strategies that would help minimize the impact of future Olympic Games on people as well as the planet. Previous Olympic hosts have been criticized of environmental damage they caused through transport, construction and waste but London Olympics was unique. Sustainability was at the heart of the committee and they had to do everything to ensure that the Olympics were free from contaminations of the environment (BBC, 2012). For example, venues were made of at least a quarter recycled materials that involved disuse of gas pipes in the Olympic Stadium.
The Committee had committed to reduce general use of potable water by 40%. This was realized through use of treated sewage water in the Olympic Park. The water was extracted from an existing Thames Water sewer before it was treated in a combined sewage treatment works as well as drinking water treatment plant in Stratford (BBC, 2012). London being the host city would have participants as well as attendants flow meaning there is high probability of extensive littering in the city. Therefore, the organizing committee had to play critical role in ensuring that the city was kept clean despite the challenging moment of a large flow of people.
Crime
Crime is a major determinant of environmental sustainability as defined in the 2012 Olympics. During the event, levels of crime were with terrorism being at rise, the 2012 Olympic needed to employ exclusive security measures to govern the issue. The committee had developed techniques where the London security department had to deploy its security personnel; the United States also rendered security services through its military forces while companies such as Coca Cola were required to provide private security (Royal Geographical Society, 2012). In most cases, such events such as Olympics are targeted by criminals. England being anti-terrorism nation, with exclusive campaign against terrorism in the globe may be a major target by terrorists.
Apart from terrorism the other crime that was evident in the cities during the period was prostitution. This event comes with a lot of visitors meaning that the country is exposed to massive flow of money in the economy. Therefore, prostitutes may find it a good opportunity to acquire money (Roche, 2013). It had already been predicted that prostitution would increase during the event.
Theft cases also rose during the event. This is following the presence of rich individuals who had valuables such as phones, necklaces and other belongings that could fetch a lot of money for thieves (Roche, 2013). There were several theft cases that were reported during the event with some people losing even their vehicles.
Conclusion
The success of the 2012 Olympics is anchored on excellent management of various elements that were used for planning as well as execution of the games. The competition had extensive social, economic and environmental impacts. Proper analysis of the competition is through tourism sustainability which offers excellent explanation of how events unfolded to economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability. Ticket pricing was a critical element in the competition as it was the main source of revenue for the competition. However, the success would depend on the ability of the committee to deal with management risks that were included in the process. London Olympics remain one of the most outstanding Olympics ever held.
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