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Major Event and Festival ImpactsSeminar 4: Economic Impacts

+Main Lessons from the Lecture

Events are one of the main economic drivers in the experience economy – this is particularly prevalent in the post industrial city

Until recently economic impact has been the main focus of both academics and event organisers

Economic impact can be a major determinant in the decision to proceed with a bid or development of an event

Economic impact can be broken down into three areas – direct, indirect and induced impact

Measuring economic impact can be problematic – benefits are often overstated and costs understated

As a general rule, the more attendees the bigger the economic impact

+Discussion

Critically discuss the importance of economic impact in the decision to bid for and host events. You should pay particular attention to the current economic climate and how this might impact in such decisions

Identify and discuss the main difficulties associated with measuring economic impact for events

+Debate

Given the current budget cuts and funding difficulties you should debate the economic viability of Glasgow’s hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth Games

One group to argue that hosting the event will benefit the economy

The other group to argue that hosting the event will damage the economy