For those countries who have hosted major events there is a rather unfortunate occurence that is experienced by all – the post event void. This usually refers to the fact that so much effort is placed on promoting such an event, like the Olympics or World Cup that they year after tends to be rather an anti climax. Most of the countries who have hosted the Olympics over the last few decades have experienced it, when the hype and spotlight moves to the next venue – the previous host dips into the shadows.
Sydney at the time was heralded as one of the best Olympics ever, yet also suffered badly the year after with a big drop in tourism numbers. Other cities suffered similarly although perhaps Athens had more serious issues than just an Olympic malaise! London however is trying to buck this trend by carrying on a multi million pound marketing effort in the following years. The idea is to learn from others mistake and attempt to keep the city in the spotlight for longer in order to maximise the benefits.
So far it’s seems to be working, with tourism numbers still rising and rivalling the numbers that attended the games itself. There have been some other advantages apart from the increased marketing spend however. Some big sporting events and the diamond Jubillee have also helped keep the country in the minds of tourists across the world.
When people see, hear and listen to news about a specific country, the benefits are usually seen in higher tourism numbers. Obviously it helps if the news is benign, no tourism boom is going to follow bad news like terrorism or riots. External factors like the value of currencies can also have an affect, the British pound is fairly weak currently which also helps attracts tourists.
The marketing campaign for Britain has been particularly well done though with a huge use made of the internet and digital advertising opportunities. I for instance usually watch many of my TV shows using an online media service like Netflix, I usually watch the American version using this method – http://www.theninjaproxy.org/ninja/american-netflix/. What I am surprised to see is the high level of visibility of the UK on these channels either directly or indirectly related to the marketing efforts.
The UK has also learnt to make the maximum use of Olympic infrastructure. Most of the stadiums and venues have been modified to be open to the public in the future. Not all of this work has been completed but it ensures a steady stream of beneficial Olympic news going on into the future.
Update:
Other Source of information on the proxy site issue above is here – http://dnsproxy.co.uk/using-american-dns-for-netflix/
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