Event Management, Vol. 23, pp.

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EVENT-BASED DESTINATION MARKETING:

THE ROLE OF MEGA-EVENTS

YING WANG AND XIN JIN

Department of Tourism, Sport and Event Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast,
Queensland, Australia

Mega-events play an invaluable role in the development of many destinations. These events con-
tribute significantly to the host destinations’ economy, enhance the awareness of the destinations,
encourage cultural exchange, and promote the preservation of local culture. This study adopts a nar-
rative review method to indicate research production in the field of the effect of event-based destina-
tion marketing. The review proposes an event-based destination marketing model to delineate how
event, destination, and market characteristics, as well as the degree of collaboration between event
committee and destination marketing organization (DMO), may affect the effectiveness of event-
based destination marketing strategies (produce, price, place and promotion).

Key words: Mega-events; Review; Event-based destination marketing

Introduction visible, attracting tremendous media coverage and

global attendance (Jafari, 1988). Most mega-events
Events range from small community events to rotate among destinations; therefore, the opportuni-
regional, hallmark, and internationally oriented ties for destination marketing may be short-lived
mega-events, and are across different themes: cul- without proper planning and management.
tural, business, and sports. Hallmark events are Mega-events play an invaluable role in the devel­
rooted in the destination tradition and culture. Reoc- opment of many destinations. For instance,  the
curring hallmark events, usually attached to a spe- Eurovision Song Contest (regarded as a mega-
cific destination (Getz, 2008), have an ongoing effect cultural event) was used by Azerbaijan as an offi-
on, and are closely related to, destination marketing, cial strategy of incorporating mega-events into their
although the effectiveness of using hallmark events attempt to develop international tourism, reduce
in regenerating or modifying destination image is the image of the country’s dependence on oil, and
understudied. Unlike hallmark events, mega-events to  achieve long-term development (Arnegger &
are typically internationally orientated and highly Herz, 2016). Dubai also uses World Expo 2020 to

Address correspondence to Dr. Xin Jin, Department of Tourism, Sport and Event Management, Griffith Business School, Griffith
University, Gold Coast Campus, 4222, QLD Australia. Tel: +61 7 5552 7413; Fax: +61 5552 8507; E-mail: [email protected]

109
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 110 WANG AND JIN

further consolidate its image as a regional Meet- Topical Areas

ings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions
Mega-Events: Scale, Scope, and Perspectives
(MICE) center and a tourism destination (Kotsi
& Michael, 2015). A large number of studies have The conventional approach to define mega-events
identified the benefits and costs of mega-events. is based on the scale of the event and the sheer
Positive economic benefits come in the form of number of visitors attracted (Jafari, 1988). Mega-
income, employment, and tax revenues (Getz, events are ‘large scale events, marketed by global
1994, 2008). Socially, events enhance the aware- publicity, attracting substantial international visi-
ness of the host destinations, encourage cultural tation and associated with large scale economic,
exchange, and promote the preservation of local social and environmental impacts” (Jago et al.,
culture (H. J. Kim, Gursoy, & Lee, 2006). Environ- 2010, p. 222). Existing literature on mega-events
mental benefits include an enhanced environmental focuses largely on sports events. There are three
awareness, the desire for the conservation of natural main categories of mega-events, including sports,
resources, and strengthened focus on minimizing cultural, and business (Jago et al., 2010). By broad-
carbon footprint (Jago, Dwyer, Lipman, van Lill, & ening the definition of mega-events beyond sports
Vorster, 2010; H. J. Kim et al., 2006). More specifi- events, cultural hallmark events (e.g., Eurovision
cally for tourism, events increase tourist receipts in Arnegger & Herz, 2016,) may be subsumed into
and provide opportunities of business leverage, the mega category, thereby expanding the scope of
destination branding, and induced tourism (Chalip mega-events and blurring the boundary between
& Costa, 2005; Dwyer, Mellor, Mistilis, & Mules mega-events and large-scale hallmark events. The
2000; Getz, 2008; S. S. Kim & Morrison, 2005; latter is defined by Hall (1989) as, “major fairs,
Singh & Hu, 2008). expositions, cultural and sports events of interna-
Hosting an event is an exercise of cobrand- tional status which are held either on a regular or
ing (Chalip, Green, & Hill, 2003; Washburn, Till, a one-off basis. A primary function of the hallmark
& Priluck, 2000); hence, its relevance to tourism event is to provide the host community with an
destination marketing is evident. A study that syn- opportunity to secure high prominence in the tour-
thesizes literature on (mega) events studies, with a ism market place” (p. 263). Global publicity of the
focus on such events’ links to destination marketing event and substantial tourist visitation character-
and place making, is critical, as it provides insights ized mega-events in both definitions.
that help optimize marketing strategies based on Some events may not have this global orientation
mega-events. This study adopted a narrative review to attract a substantial percentage of international
method. Journals in the field of tourism, hospitality, visitation. For example, only 5.8% of the 70 mil-
sports, and events management have been systemat- lion visits to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo were
ically searched with key word search using combi- foreign nationals, including those who were already
nations of the phrases of: “mega-event,” “hallmark in China for working or studying purposes (Chen,
events,” “events study,” “destination marketing,” 2012). Similarly, some other large-scale events have
“tourism marketing strategies,” “destination brand- created phenomenal economic, social, and envi-
ing,” “event marketing,” and “event impacts.” With ronmental impacts but lack an international focus
a purpose to explore the role of mega-events as a on publicity and visitation. These mega-events are
destination maker and tourism generator for a host particularly evidenced in heavily populated emerg-
destination, this article: ing countries like China. It is thus debatable if these
large-scale events should be excluded from the dis-
• discusses the scope of mega-events; and cussion of mega-events.
• delineates how event, destination, and market Both Jago et al. (2010) and Hall (1989) draw a
characteristics, as well as the degree of collabo- link between mega-events and tourism develop-
ration between event committee and destination ment. The former highlights the significant impact
marketing organization (DMO), may affect the of mega-events for the destination and its communi-
effectiveness of event-based destination market- ties at large, whereas the latter emphasizes the direct
ing strategies. association between hallmark events and tourism

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 EVENT-BASED DESTINATION MARKETING 111

development. Some academics argue that, from the events in stimulating tourism demand. The Sum-
tourism perspective, mega-events should be defined mer Olympics and FIFA World Cup generated the
on the basis of the degree to which they force tour- most tourist arrivals, but the Cricket World Cup,
ism development in the host destination (Jafari, the Winter Olympics, and the Rugby World Cup
1988). For example, if the demand resulting from the seemed incapable of making significant contribu-
event exceeds the capacity of the existing tourism tions (Fourie & Santana-Gallego, 2011). Further,
infrastructure at the destination, further substantial tourists from participating countries increase more
investment in infrastructure will occur. The event than tourists from countries not participating in
should be considered a mega-event owing to its abil- the mega-event (Fourie & Santana-Gallego, 2011).
ity to induce significant tourism development. Nev- Weed (2009) argued that the findings of economic
ertheless, current discourse on mega-events remains impact analyses should not be taken at face value,
determined primarily on the basis of event scale. and sometimes the results from different studies are
not comparable due to two reasons: methodologi-
cal incompetence and deliberate complication as a
Effect of Events on Destination
consequence of political pressure. Although there
Marketing by Event Type
is a general consensus about the macroeconomic
A key question in event studies is whether busi- impacts of hosting mega-sports events, the exact
ness, cultural, and sports mega-events impact differ- nature and extent of these impacts remain unclear
ently on host destinations’ marketing strategies and (Weed, 2009). In addition, critics have pointed out
the effectiveness of these strategies. Mega political/ an overly dominant economic focus at the cost of
government events (e.g., G20 and APEC summit) social and environmental issues.
are regarded as business events (Getz & Page, There is also a suggestion that studies on eco-
2016). In effect, all three types of mega-events have nomic outcomes of sports events need to go beyond
the potential to create iconic tourist attractions. For impact to leverage, which has a strategic and tech-
example, Beijing National Stadium (also known nical focus and is a more proactive approach to
as the Bird’s Nest Stadium) stands as a legacy of capitalize on opportunities sports events can pro-
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Hong Kong vide (Weed, 2009). One way of leveraging is to
Convention and Exhibition Centre was constructed incorporate these events in developing destination
for the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to Mainland marketing mix. Sports mega-events have tremen-
China ceremony and continues to function as the dous media coverage that may contribute to the for-
main venue for large-scale business events. The mation of the destination image held by the global
Chinese Pavilion remains a popular tourist attrac- audience, as suggested by Brown et al.’s (2002)
tion post the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. How- analysis of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games’
ever, the three types of events differ in several impact on “Brand Australia,” Li and Kaplanidou’s
aspects: economic, social-cultural, and environmen- (2013) study of the impacts of the 2008 Beijing
tal impacts; media coverage; the degree to which Olympic Games on China’s destination brand, and
DMOs incorporate the event in their destination most recently Knott, Fyall, and Jones’ (2016) study
marketing strategies; as a primary motive to visit a on South Africa’s leverage on 2010 FIFA World
destination; and effectiveness as a destination marker. Cup for national image building. These games can
Sports mega-events create long-lasting infra- create highly penetrable iconic pictures (e.g., the
structure and leave a long-term legacy at the des- Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube in Beijing) that
tination. There seems to be mounting evidence have the capacity to improve or dispel outdated
that mega-sports events have significant economic images of the destination (Lai, 2017).
implications; for instance, Horne and Manzenreiter Studies of this kind can inform effective market-
(2004) on the 2002 Football World Cup in Korea ing, which may have both positive and negative
and Japan; Jones (2001) on the 1999 Rugby World implications in each of the three realms, on triple
Cup in Wales; Madden (2002) on the Sydney bottom line sustainability for visitors and residents
Olympic Games in 2000. Yet, within sports events, (Weed, 2009), arguing for the adoption of a leverage
disparities occur in terms of the power of these approach that not only maximizes benefits but also

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 112 WANG AND JIN

mitigates negative impacts. Hede (2005) found that a history of close to six decades and attracting
the telecast of the 2004 Athens Olympics offered approximately 200,000 visitors (buyers) per session
a vicarious experience of the destination, which per year from more than 200 countries, the China
helped develop a positive attitude among potential Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) as well as the
travelers to Greece as a tourist destination. Lever- host city (Guangzhou/Canton) are little-known to
aging the media and social media is vital in mobi- international tourists (Jin, 2006).
lizing the local citizens to avoid potential damage Cultural mega-events enrich local culture and
to the destination brand: consider, for example, the way of life, which consequently contributes to the
social protests surrounding the 2014 FIFA World sense of the place and enhances its appeal to poten-
Cup held in Brazil (Knott et al., 2016). Stake- tial visitors. Therefore, they are important elements
holders must be encouraged to “plan this process of destination marketing strategies. Most of these
more deliberately to leverage the opportunity more events not only showcase the host culture but also
effectively, before, during and most importantly, bring together cultures from around the world. The
after the event” (Knott et al., 2016, p. 116). This success of the Edinburgh International Festival in
highlights the importance of integrating destination attracting international visitors relies significantly on
and event marketing activities in the early stages of its demonstration of international cultures (Prentice
event planning to optimize tourism benefits from & Andersen, 2003). The European Capital of Cul-
staging events in host destinations. ture events acted as a catalyst for hosting cities, trig-
There is a growing recognition that business gering the branding exercise of these cities (Nobili,
events make significant contributions to tourism at 2005), and potentially contributing to cultural policy,
a destination. This nexus between tourism and busi- heritage, and local identity (Cohen, 2013). Neverthe-
ness events has been discussed by a few scholars less, there is a lack of effectiveness of such cultural
(e.g., Getz, 2008, Jago & Deery, 2010), and ben- events in modifying destination image. As evidenced
efits identified include increased visitation, higher by Prentice and Andersen (2003), the Edinburgh
yield market, and participation in pre- and post- International Festival was not able to alter the image
tours by business travelers and their companions. of Scotland as a historical and rural destination.
Business mega-events create infrastructure and Cultural mega-events may act as primary travel
capitalize on business-related opportunities. These motivation for domestic visitors, but their effective-
events generate trade and commerce, and foster ness in generating international tourism demand is
innovation. Therefore, the benefits go beyond what questionable. For example, the World Expo, as a
sports and cultural events can generate (Jago et al., cultural mega-event, seems to have attracted less
2010). However, there is a lack of research in iden- attention in recent years. As mentioned above, in
tifying opportunities and approaches to leverage the case of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, visita-
the benefits of business events beyond the obvious tions were generated primarily from the domestic
economic impact to the host destination. and regional markets (Chen, 2012). Further, within
Business events (with the exception of mega- these markets, the event image did not affect tour-
political events) have specific target audiences who ists’ overall attitude toward the destination; rather,
travel primarily for the event. Despite their scale its effect was completely mediated through its
and international profile (e.g., CeBIT, a large inter- influence on destination image (Deng & Li, 2013).
national tech expo), the media coverage of these Similarly, the 2012 Yeosu World Expo generated
events tends to be within the relevant business sec- limited publicity resulting in low awareness of the
tor. Their role in shaping the image of the destina- event among potential travelers in culturally and
tion among leisure tourists may be limited. A search geographically distant countries such as Australia.
of the literature yielded little empirical evidence on
destinations using business mega-events in destina-
Effect of Events on Destination
tion marketing. Even if these events are included in
Marketing by Destination Type
tourism-related marketing and promotional mate-
rials, the effectiveness of their ability to generate The impact of mega-events differs across destina-
tourism demand is unknown. For example, having tion types (e.g., tourist vs. nontourist destinations;

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 EVENT-BASED DESTINATION MARKETING 113

high profile vs. low profile destinations; urban vs. did not result in successful urban regeneration
rural destinations). Event locations are predomi- (Andranovich et al., 2001).
nantly selected by the hosting organizations. The The selection of Winter Olympic host cities is
choice of the hosting destination for a mega-sports restricted by the requirement of infrastructure for
event (e.g., the Olympic Games) is determined snow- and ice-based sports. Thus, all the host cit-
on the bases of the destination’s ability to supply ies are located in the high latitude region in the
game-specific infrastructure and the political will Northern hemisphere. The majority of the host cit-
at the destination for hosting the event, usually ies are not major metropoles. Based on a 5-year
through a bidding process (Persson, 2002). Host cit- longitudinal study focusing on the impact of 1988
ies are typically highly populated metropoles with Calgary Olympic Winter Games, Ritchie and Smith
well-developed economies and a strong institu- (1991) found that the event dramatically increased
tional capacity (Singh & Zhou, 2016). Most mega- the awareness of the city in the European and
business events are fixed to an urban metropolis North American markets and substantially modi-
with an infrastructure and business environment fied the image of the city. Nevertheless, this impact
suitable for the particular event theme. Some cul- decreases considerably after a short period of time.
tural events (e.g., folk or music festivals) are hosted The Games’ ability to attract the culturally and/or
in rural destinations. The diversity in destination geographically distant tourism market after the event
characteristics alludes to a varied effect of events is questionable. Likewise, S. S. Kim and Morrison’s
on destination marketing. (2005) study has shown that as a result of the
For destinations to capitalize on mega-events, 2002 FIFA World Cup, the image of South Korea
there must be a financing environment friendly changed positively among the Mainland Chinese
for tourism investment in order to build tourism group, while it remained similar among the Ameri-
bubbles for international visitation (Andranovich, can group. The special natural environment and/or
Burbank, & Heying, 2001). One would assume that geographic conditions (e.g., mountains, seas, lakes,
such a demand is less of an issue in well-known and forests) offer these destinations an opportunity
tourism destinations where there is an abundant to expand into the markets of niche tourism and
supply of tourism infrastructure. Popular tourist events, improving destination image and increasing
destinations may require less effort in international revisitation (Hallmann, Zehrer, & Müller, 2015).
marketing. This is because these cities with their
high profiles tend to enjoy a high level of organic
Effect of Events on Destination
images that would need to be created for destina-
Marketing by Customer Type
tions little known to international visitors. Further,
for destinations still in the developing phase, or des- There are various types of customers of events:
tinations with an increasing level of urban poverty, spectators, viewers, and participants at sports events;
investments on mega-events and tourism have to attendees and delegates of conferences; exhibitors
compete with projects aiming to improve economic and visitors to expositions; performers and partici-
and social conditions for residents (Andranovich et pants to cultural events. Customer groups differ in
al., 2001), creating challenges to obtain funding for motivation, expectation, channel of communica-
tourism-related activities. tion, information need, and mode of travel (e.g.,
In theory, mega-events generate direct and indi- Arnegger & Herz, 2016; Carlson, Rosenberger
rect revenues that should benefit residents at large III, & Rahman, 2015). Their interactions with the
(Lambert, Noci, Guo, & Zhu, 2011). However, in destination and their touristic needs vary based on
reality, mega-events fail to lead to poverty allevia- the event type. It is reasonable to assume that sub-
tion and urban revitalization in many cases. In the groups of spectators/attendees would respond to
cases of the 1984 Los Angles Olympic Games, the event and destination marketing differently. Many
1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and the 2002 Salt mega-events are recurring events, implying that the
Lake City Winter Olympic Games, all three cities market may be subject to multiple exposures to pro-
witnessed development of essential tourism infra- motional information across years. Some custom-
structure and leisure facilities, yet these events ers may have prior experiences attending the event

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 114 WANG AND JIN

or may have visited the host destination. They may and target specific market segments based on their
or may not be satisfied with their visits. In the con- relevant segmentation criteria.
text of competitive sports events, the performance
of the team they support can directly influence their
Effect of Events on Destination Marketing
event experience, yet there is a paucity of litera-
by DMO–Event Collaboration
ture that has explicitly tested these issues. Research
on sports events suggests that customers can be Events often exist temporarily at a destination,
segmented based on their desire to learn about the but tourism is not temporary in nature, and demand
destination (N. S. Kim & Chalip, 2004), interest in for tourism exists before, during, and after the
visiting the destination (Li & Kaplanidou, 2013), event (Singh & Hu, 2008). Organizations that
and familiarity with a host destination (Chalip et hold ownership of mega-events are not stakehold-
al., 2003), as well as sociodemographics such as ers who benefit from long-term impacts of these
gender, age, and education (O’Reilly et al., 2016). events on the destination. Consequently, they are
N. S. Kim and Chalip (2004) found the likeli- not interested in being part of the strategies gen-
hood that Americans would attend the World Cup erating long-lasting prosperity of the destinations
in Korea increased if they could also obtain oppor- (Jago et al., 2010).
tunities to learn about Korea. Li and Kaplanidou In the early days of mega-events there was little
(2013) studied the collective perception of China to no indication that host cities formally incorpo-
by US travelers before and after the 2008 Beijing rated events into their tourism strategies. A case
Olympic Games. Various subgroups of this market study of the 1991 World Student Games in Shef-
showed different levels of likelihood in perception field suggested that the host city was very slow to
change during this process. Those interested in develop a formal master plan. The year before the
visiting the Greater China Area and those who are event a director of tourism was appointed to link
not interested in visiting Asia at all showed posi- the Games investment with tourism, and the event
tive improvement in their perceptions of China’s was identified as one of the five tourism strengths
destination brand. Interestingly, those interested in of the city to be further developed and promoted.
visiting Asian countries other than China displayed However, it was only 3 years after the Games that
a negative perception change. This finding is in line a formal strategy was developed for general and
with Dolničar’s (2004) proposition that interest in tourism promotion of the city, which focused on
destination is a useful segmentation criterion for its year-round events program (Bramwell, 1997).
destination marketing. Olympic media coverage Later events have recognized the opportunity for
following the event led to a more positive attitude cross-leverage of events with their host destina-
toward China, and the more exposure people had tions; however, evidence from Australia (Chalip &
to Olympic media the more favorable view they Leyns, 2002), the UK (Weed, 2009), and the US
held about China. Additionally, Arnegger and Herz (Ahmed, Krohn, & Heller, 1996) shows a lack of
(2016) posited that, regardless of the event expe- effectiveness in cross-leverage. These findings are
rience, the overall media coverage around Eurovi- surprising given the substantial gain from a robust
sion is sufficient to enhance people’s knowledge marketing alliance for both event marketers and
and intention to visit. DMOs (Chalip & McGuirty, 2004).
The effect of media on destination image can The 2008 Olympic Games forced the Beijing
vary as a result of the market’s familiarity with a tourism department, government organizations, and
host destination (Chalip et al., 2003). In markets industry stakeholders to work collaboratively to
where there is very little tourism advertising of shift Beijing’s image from an historically signifi-
the destination, the effect of media tends to have cant destination to a new image of an economi-
a more substantial positive effect. This is because cally strong and technologically advanced nation.
the information communicated to the market is However, as time has passed since the games, the
new and fresh, resulting in a higher likelihood of tourism department has reverted to its former con-
influencing perception. From a strategic perspec- ventional promotional strategies (Singh & Zhou,
tive, DMOs at the host destinations should identify 2016).

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 EVENT-BASED DESTINATION MARKETING 115

Event media can complement tourism advertis- (and possibly lack of consultation) of the needs
ing but, in some cases, it can also undermine tour- of sports and events stakeholders (e.g., organiza-
ism advertising. In the case of Gold Coast IndyCar tions and users of facilities), resulting in a massive
race, a lack of event media exposure of the natural disaster for both the event and tourism stakehold-
environment of the Gold Coast resulted in a depres- ers. Competitions and spectators complained about
sive effect on the market’s perception of the city’s the bad weather with rain and high winds during
natural attractions. This highlights the importance the events, and the pictures of a rain-soaked Gold
of collaborative marketing between event media Coast were broadcast worldwide. Stakeholder col-
and DMO promotion. laboration must start from the very early stages of
The nature of an event could limit the extent to event-related planning, such as venue design and
which tourism attributes can be incorporated in urban regeneration plan. The collaboration must be
event marketing (Chalip et al., 2003). In relation to maintained throughout and after the event. It is also
the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Singh and Hu’s vital that a crisis recovery strategy be put in place
(2008) study on the strategic alignment between in the event of negative media coverage (Fairley,
destination marketing and the Games revealed a Lovegrove, Newland, & Green, 2016).
lack of communication and collaboration between Mega-events offer destinations opportunities to
the two organizations. The DMO made effort in enhance their product, place, price, and promotion—
using the event to improve its tourism facilities and the four P model (McCarthy, 1960). Although var­
to enhance the image of Athens. It also had to run ious versions of the event marketing mix (e.g.,
special campaigns to address game-induced nega- Allen, O’Toole, Harris, & McDonnell, 2011) have
tive publicity, such as delays in planning Game been developed, their relevance to tourism is lim-
activities, increase in terrorism, and inflated accom- ited. To treat a mega-event as an integral element of
modation cost. The study suggested that proper and the tourism offering, we developed an event-based
timely coordination between the two organizations destination marketing model (Fig. 1) building on
could have increased event revenue as well as the traditional four Ps. Our model outlines how
avoided negative publicity. Successful event-based the destination and the event can be integrated into
marketing requires strategies and operations that each of the four Ps so that DMOs can manipulate
involve two knowledge domains, namely Olympic them to achieve effective event-based marketing.
planning and destination marketing (Singh & Hu, Out of the four Ps, product and promotion have
2008); however, it is the DMO’s primary respon- attracted much of the discussion in the extant lit-
sibility to develop, coordinate, and align their tour- erature, whereas little attention was given to how
ism strategies carefully with the event. Ahmed et al. mega-events can influence place and price.
(1996) suggested that the World University Games Events offer immerse opportunities for placing
in Buffalo, New York did not generate a satisfying marketing in relation to product and promotion. As
economic impact because local businesses failed the review demonstrates, events can expand desti-
to cultivate spending by event visitors. DMOs thus nation product portfolio and infrastructure system.
need to engage in internal marketing to commu- These contribute to the building of a sense of place,
nicate to local businesses the event’s benefits and which consequently enhances destination reputa-
means of profiting from events. tion and image. An expanded and enriched event–
The involvement of multiple stakeholders com- destination product is a unique opportunity for the
plicates the planning and delivery of an event destination to differentiate itself from its competi-
and its associated marketing outcomes. This is tors. The cobranding between tourism and events
evidenced in the case of 2014 Pan Pacific Swim- requires collaborative marketing for both to lever-
ming Titles hosted on the Gold Coast, used as a age on media coverage. In the event of undesirable
test event of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The publicity, the collaborative spirit should mediate
main swimming venue features a debatable design the impact on individual stakeholders. The limited
without a roof. The concern is that this may detract focus on place and price may be explained by the
from the city’s goal to showcase its tourism assets, fact that DMOs have little control over these factors.
and it demonstrates an insufficient consideration Place and price present challenges to destinations.

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 116 WANG AND JIN

Figure 1. Event-based marketing: Four Ps.

Different from small or medium events that desti- stakeholders. Factors identified in our review,
nations typically target to fill capacities in low sea- namely event type, destination type, customer type,
sons, mega-events with a more fixed calendar often and event–DMO collaboration, moderate the inter-
intensify seasonality and short-term price hikes. actions between the destination and event.
One concern of the destination is the limited con-
sumption of local tourism products by mega-event
Conclusion
attendees due to their focus on events. A strategy
to encourage tourism consumption is through bun- This article discusses a number of aspects related
dling event ticket sales with that of local tourism to destination leveraging on mega-events, including
products (e.g., local attractions). Such efforts have the scale and scope of events, and their impacts on
the potential to redistribute event attendees, thereby destination marketing from four perspectives: event
reducing the pressure on the core event precinct. type, destination type, customer type, and DMO–
The concept of the sharing economy also offers the event collaboration. The review suggests that effec-
potential to reduce price hikes through accessing tive marketing requires a holistic and systematic
underutilized accommodation and transportation approach that considers the aforementioned factors.
capacities already in existence at the destination. We conclude that in order to optimize the benefits
Effective place requires high levels of involvement from events, DMOs need to employ both external
with complementary distribution channels for the and internal marketing strategies. The latter, espe-
purpose of exchange of mutual values. An integrated/ cially, has not attracted academic attention.
coordinated distribution effort can provide upselling Successful event-based destination marketing
opportunities from the events for tourism providers faces a number of challenges. One such challenge is
and extend their distribution channels beyond tour- insufficient empirical evidence to inform effective
ism. Responding to the challenges with regards to marketing planning and design. The event-based
place and price, DMOs need to shift their think- marketing model provides a framework to extend
ing from marketing towards management to facil­ research in this regard. Another challenge is the dif-
itate long-term planning and collaboration across ficulty of collaboration resulting from the different

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 EVENT-BASED DESTINATION MARKETING 117

(and sometimes conflicting) interests of the event brand Australia (pp. 163–185). Oxford, UK: Butterworth-
committee and the DMO. The four Ps must be Heinemann Ltd.
Carlson, J., Rosenberger III, P. J., & Rahman, M. M. (2015).
operationalized in this particular context. In addi- Cultivating group-oriented travel behaviour to major
tion, there are also conflicting interests between the events: Assessing the importance of customer-perceived
public and private sectors (e.g., the event organizing value, enduring event involvement and attitude towards
committee and corporate sponsors). Studies offer- the host destination. Journal of Marketing Management,
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Acknowledgment Journal of Travel Research, 42(3), 244–250.
Dwyer, L., Mellor, R., Mistilis, N., & Mules, T. (2000). A
The authors contributed equally to the research. framework for assessing “tangible” and “intangible”
impacts of events and conventions. Event Management,
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