Critically analyse the impacts that mega events have on a tourism Essay

Critically analyse the impacts that mega events have on a tourism destination - Essay Example It shall also discuss the strategies that the Chinese government used in order to enhance positive impacts and reduce the negative impacts of these mega events on Beijing, China, and on the Chinese people. The 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China is the most recent Olympics conducted. China won the bid in 2001 to hold the 2008 Olympics after two rounds of voting by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was China’s second bid to host the international games after it failed in its first bid 8 years before to Sydney, Australia (Longman, 2001). The games were declared a success by the IOC during the 13th Olympic Congress last October. The Olympic Games featured participants from 204 IOC member countries with about 80 heads of state attending (Xinhua News Agency, 2008). The city welcomed thousands of tourists who participated, watched the games, and took in the many sites around the country. It was the biggest influx of tourists the country has ever seen; and considering its closed-door policy for so many years, the Beijing Olympics opened China, on so many levels, to the rest of the world. Mega events have the potential of bringing various economic benefits to the place where the event is to be held. Economic analysts claim that they bring macroeconomic benefits which ultimately mean higher economic growth to the country due to increased spending in relation to the mega event. Economics Help.org (2008) also points out that the extra spending seen in mega events helps fuel inflation and boosts the economy of the country in general. With the increased influx of tourists into China, the exchange rate was also expected to increase. CNN’s Nick Hopkins (2001) also points out how the Beijing Olympics would potentially trigger the entry of major international investments into China. The entry of multinational corporations like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Eastman Kodak into China is already a given because these