Answer

Attraction and Event Management

The 2018 Winter Games were scheduled at Pyeongchang, South Korea. At the initial stage of the event bidding, the region was free from any possible conflict. However, in the presence of war threat, poor ticket sales, and other Olympic controversies, the possibility of the success of the event dwindled. Also, the removal of a village- Sukam, along with massive deforestation raised concerns over the planning of the game. Through the course of this review, the event and its impact on the tourism of the country is studied from a product/event life cycle perspective.

Event Brief Analysis

Mega sporting events such as Olympics draw a great deal of international attention and contribute to an increase in sports tourism for the respective nation. A country stands to benefit in terms of economic parameters and social value through such events (Beneke 2018). It is not always possible to get the desired outcomes with such interactions since each game impacts the ethos, logos, and pathos of the viewer differently (Mueck et al. 2016). Mega-events generate social identity and pride for the local community while, on the other hand, regarding infrastructure and community building, there are both positive and negative impacts. The symbolic status of the event, the global appeal and connectivity, and the destination accessibility to tourism impact the destination competitiveness of the region (Sung 2018). Mega-events can be a source of social conflicts, increased threats to society and substantial financial burden to the hosting country. This was a sport event that brought people from different countries together.

The Formulation Stage of Pyeongchang’s Winter Olympics

Much like a brand, or a business, a festival or an event in its formative period is an idea. In such frameworks, often the initial years are absolved for feasibility analysis, defining economic investments, identifying variables, and defining the trajectory of its development (Lee & Son, 2016).

The Growth Stage of Pyeongchang’s Winter Olympics

Once the region won the bidding campaign, the focus was towards the formation of the Olympic committee that was responsible for the planning and development of the infrastructure needed to host the event (Essex & de Groot 2016). In the initial stage, the region had to manage the weather conditions for foreigners, and further assist so that the international players could perform in such cold and harsh weather conditions. Additionally, the country increased their security measures and provided terror drills and other security training to the military team posted around the Olympic site (Scott et al. 2018). Lastly, due to the vast number of people expected to attend the event, the country had to establish different sporting events field, the state also moved some local communities and retraced some villages, as well as removed trees to construct new infrastructure mandatory for the Olympics (Kshetri & Rojas-Torres 2018). All these aspects were a part of the venue planning and infrastructure development in the region. Once these initial steps were achieved, there was need to necessitate transformation (Baade & Matheson 2016). At this time, numerous brands with different marketing plans and agendas partnered with the event and helped in celebrating and preserving the festival’s essence. The branding strategy for the winter Olympics focused on engagement with the audience and bringing the spirit of sports and energy for them.

Number of Participants in Pyeongchang’s Winters Olympics

As per this stage, the event is hosted, and at this point the infrastructural challenges faced by the hosting country become irrelevant. The core audience- South Koreans, were initially very less for the event; however, the numbers soon increased and precedence of the event’s likeability was established (Ahn, 2018). The event, like all sporting events, connected primarily with the younger audience. Further, it was expected that the country would boost regarding tourist. However, even the arrival lifts in this aspect were not as anticipated in the region owing to the threat of the imminent war and hostile weather conditions. The event took place on 9 February- 25 February and was attended by 50,000 people from across the world. A total of 2,922 athletes (1680 men and 1242 women) from 92 nations took part in 15 disciplines (Jowett & O’donnell 2018). The original estimated budget for the event ranged between $7 and $8 billion. However, the event ended up breaking the budget costing about $12.9 billion.    

Stakeholders of Pyeongchang’s Winters Olympic

The stakeholders in this even included the residents, academic institution, researchers and spectators who offered their support to make the event a success. The media also played a very significant role in ensuring activities carried out were aired (Kim, Choi & Kaplanidou 2015). Local and national levels of government played the role of funding the event and ensured that security was maintained and participants did not misbehave (Rowe 2018). The last group of stakeholders were sponsors who offered financial support to the event to ensure that it was a success.

Conclusion

Through this report, it is argued that Pyeongchang’s post- Olympic is facing challenges in maintaining their initial tourism influx. Through this research, it is advocated that this problem can be resolved by promoting the country as a winter sporting destination. Furthermore, there is a need to promote the influx of tourism in the country by enhancing the culture and attractions of the country globally.