sponsor hospitality at the olympic games: an analysis of the implications for tourism

ABSTRACT

The study examined the impact on tourismof sponsor hospitality programmes at theSydney Olympic Games. With preferentialaccess to resources accorded to Olympicsponsors, new tourism networks werecreated. The role of the media, interpersonalcommunication and implicit messages usingOlympic symbols are discussed. A survey ofpeople invited by Olympic sponsors toattend the Sydney Olympic Games foundthat 80% of guests had not previouslyvisited Australia. Positive evaluations oftheir experience at the Olympic Games,attending events and visiting the host city,created a desire to return and to recommendthe destination to others. Copyright © 2007John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Accepted July 2007

Keywords: tourism management; OlympicGames; event sponsorship; corporatehospitality.

INTRODUCTION

By hosting a successful major event, a city is able to demonstrate technical and organisational abilities, and even

winning the opportunity to act as the host citysignals success. This is due to the competitive

nature of the bidding process and is illustratedby the status accorded to London when it wasawarded the right to host the 2012 OlympicGames in preference to Paris, Madrid and NewYork. An increasing number of cities are treat-ing events as strategic opportunities to raisetheir profile, and an enhanced image may helpattract investment and people. The latter mayseek permanent residence or wish to visit astourists. In this context, hosting the OlympicGames is a sought after prize due to the event’sglobal appeal and the benefits that can begained through association with the Olympicbrand.

A considerable amount of information aboutthe marketing of the Olympic Games is avail-able, including reports that are produced eachtime the games are held by the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC). The reports docu-ment the relative importance of income fromsources such as broadcast rights and sponsor-ship (IOC, 2005). A number of academic arti-cles have considered the significance of theimpact of Olympic marketing on host cities(Brown, 2000; Burton, 2003), but very littleattention has been devoted to the significanceof hospitality programmes and their relation-ship to tourism. This is surprising, as it isthrough these programmes that many of thebenefits sought by sponsors are delivered, and their success is dependent on the perfor-mance of suppliers of hospitality and tourismservices.

This paper will examine the implications fortourism of hosting the Olympic Games and,after briefly reviewing some of the morewidely discussed impacts related to mediacoverage, attention will be directed to theinfluence of Olympic sponsors. This will

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCHInt. J. Tourism Res. 9, 315–327 (2007)Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/jtr.636

Sponsor Hospitality at the OlympicGames: An Analysis of the Implicationsfor TourismGraham Brown*School of Management, University of South Australia, City West Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia

*Correspondence to: G. Brown, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide,SA 5001 Australia.E-mail: [email protected]

include consideration of the roles played by sponsors, sport marketing companies, theOlympic organising committee and tourismorganisations. A network analysis of the rela-tionships between key players will be made,and the results of a survey that sought information from sponsor guests about their Olympic experience and their attitudestowards the host city will be given.

TOURISM AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Media exposure makes it possible to create‘interest in a destination in the marketplace’(Hall, 1992, p. 14), and a distinctive character-istic of mega-events is their ability to pullincreasingly fragmented audiences back ontothe major television networks (Slack, 1999).The Olympic Games are widely recognised asthe ultimate benchmark of a mega-event(Faulkner et al., 2000) and have been defined as ‘the perfect example of a mega-sport eventwith worldwide appeal’ (Neirotti et al., 2001, p. 327). Thus, they offer a unique media op-portunity with telecasts reporting on the sportevents and, increasingly, on the host destina-tion — its landscape, attractions, culture andpeople (Hede, 2005). Although media coverageof sport events may not have a direct effect onintention to visit (Chalip et al., 2003), televisioncoverage can have a positive impact on theway the host city is perceived; and it has beensuggested that the 1992 Olympic Games trans-formed the image of Barcelona from ‘a greyand boring city: today it is a city of colour andlife’ (Duran, 2005, p. 83). The city’s new, fash-ionable image stimulated dramatic growth inthe cruise sector, made it a popular location forproduct launches and the favourite destinationfor incentive travel from the UK (Brown, 2006).Brochures produced for the incentive marketin subsequent years drew on the city’s suc-cess as a host of the Olympic Games by usingthe heading ‘Barcelona for Winners’ on the front cover alongside images of hands beingplaced in the cast made by gold medal winner,Carl Lewis (Turisme de Barcelona, 2005). In a similar way, advertisements encouragingpeople to visit Utah, after the state hosted the2002 Winter Olympic Games, used images ofthe games next to an appeal that suggested,‘Last year, your heart and mind were in Park City,

Utah. This year, be sure to bring the rest of you’.These examples illustrate post-games promo-tional opportunities, but much can be achievedprior to the event. The success of tourismstrategies associated with the Sydney OlympicGames led the Director of Marketing at theIOC to proclaim, ‘Australia is the first Olympichost nation to take full advantage of the Gamesto vigorously pursue tourism for the benefit ofthe whole country. It’s something we’ve neverseen take place to this level before, and it’s amodel that we would like to see carriedforward to Athens and beyond’ (AustralianTourist Commission, 2000, p. 1).

The Australian Tourist Commission (ATC)received US$6.7 million from the AustralianGovernment over four years (1997–2000), tomaximise the tourism opportunities presentedby the Sydney Olympic Games (Morse, 2001).It assisted official ticket agents, appointed byeach National Olympic Committee, to developtravel packages that featured tours to variousparts of Australia. Many of the agents had littleprior knowledge of Australian destinationsand were working with the ATC for the firsttime. Thus, new relationships were formedand this became the norm as the distinctivenature of the Games offered opportunities towork with ‘non-traditional’ tourism playersthat included members of the ‘Olympicfamily’. This included the broadcast rightsholders and Olympic sponsors. Much of thesuccess of the ATC’s activities prior to theSydney Olympic Games can be attributed tothe effectiveness of relationships that wereestablished by the Commission’s OlympicsManager. The result was a network ofOlympic-specific relationships that openeddoors for the ATC and a number of othertourism organisations that were able todemonstrate that mutually beneficial out-comes would result from their membershipwithin the network.

The ATC allocated some of its additionalresources to expand its Visiting JournalistsProgram as a heightened level of interestamong the world’s media had been created bythe Games. In 1999 and 2000, more than 3000media representatives were brought to Australia as part of the programme (Morse,2001). Some journalists were invited to join thetorch relay, as it offered a valuable opportunity

316 G. Brown

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res. 9, 315–327 (2007)DOI: 10.1002/jtr

for the ATC to spread the geographical scopeof news coverage. The relay was the focus of aparticularly creative initiative by an inboundtour operator. ATS Pacific contacted the sistercities of the places in Australia that would bevisited as part of the torch relay. They wereinvited to send people to participate in the fes-tivals that were being organised to celebratethe arrival of the torch. The surprising level ofinterest led ATS Pacific to regard the initiativeas an ‘unsung success story’, as many of thecities accepted the invitations, sending groupsof up to 180 people to take part in the initiative(Pierce, 2000). Locations throughout Australiabenefited from the 4000 visitors who partici-pated, as many of the groups took regionaltours following the torch celebrations.

Working with the world’s broadcasters, theATC supplied film about destinations forinclusion in ‘postcards’ that were aired as partof Games coverage to an estimated globalaudience of 3.7 billion viewers in 220 countries(IOC, 2001). A partnership with the NationalBroadcast Company (NBC), the rights holderfor the USA, resulted in a television advertise-ment that was designed to generate, pre-event,interest in the Sydney Olympic Games. The‘colors of Australia’ advertisement was shownduring coverage of high profile sports eventsin the USA such as the Super Bowl. Airtimewas offered free, as part of the agreementsigned between NBC and the IOC. In the 12months before the Sydney Olympic Games, theATC hosted 100 visits by 17 national rightsholders, generating over US$300 million inpublicity (Australian Tourist Commission,2001).

A central element of the ATC’s strategy wasto persuade Olympic sponsors of the benefitsof co-branding their products with brand Aus-tralia (Brown et al., 2004). This resulted in jointadvertising campaigns with Visa, McDonalds,Coca-Cola and Kodak. The ‘come get some bigcolors’ campaign with Kodak that appeared intravel and leisure magazines, offered an excel-lent opportunity to feature Kodak productsand photos of Australian destinations. Themutual benefits of the partnership wereevident. This also proved to be the case whenVisa formed a destination marketing consor-tium with the ATC, the Sydney Conventionand Visitor Bureau and Tourism New South

Wales in 1997. It included incentives to travelto Australia for card-holders and a three-yearglobal promotion campaign using the desig-nation ‘Australia Prefers Visa’. Increased cardusage, prior to the Sydney Olympic Games,was a valuable outcome for Visa, but much ofthe success of its sponsorship was dependentupon the on-site execution of its hospitalityprogrammes.

SPONSOR HOSPITALITY

One of the major benefits of Olympic sponsor-ship is the right to entertain guests in ways andat locations that are not available to non-sponsors. Corporate hospitality has been asso-ciated with sporting events for a considerableperiod of time and has become an integralfeature of major tennis and golf tournamentsand motor racing championships. The readilyidentifiable tent areas are regarded as ideal set-tings to ‘reward current stakeholders and/orcurry favours from prospective ones’ (Corn-well et al., 2001, p. 15). Sponsor HospitalityCentres at Olympic Games were first intro-duced in 1984 at Los Angeles in response to thedesire to have an exclusive facility in closeproximity to competition venues. At the 2000Olympic Games, the Millennium Marquee, atSydney Olympic Park, was designed to offer aworld-class hospitality venue. It comprised ofa series of catered suites, where a staff of over1500 looked after the needs of an average of 12000 guests per day during the Games(Sydney Organising Committee for theOlympic Games, 1999).

In contrast to the global audience that can bedelivered by television coverage, hospitality isa more targeted marketing vehicle. It can beused for networking, product displays andsampling, and it can serve as a powerful incentive (Delpy et al., 1998). Kodak offeredpackages to the Sydney Olympic Games to distributors who achieved sales targets, andhospitality costs were more than covered bythe incremental sales that were gained(Riviera, 2000). Ansett Airlines offered pack-ages to the Sydney Olympic Games as aninducement to attract corporate accounts andas a consumer prize for those who flew withthe airline during the period of a competition(Brown, 2002). The latter represented an

Sponsor Hospitality at the Olympic Games 317


Olympic-themed sales promotion that wasdesigned to boost sales, however, some sponsors are moving beyond a concern for performance objectives towards a focus onrelationship management. Specifically, compa-nies wish ‘to determine whether they aregaining consumer trust through their sponsor-ship and if they are offering attendees a valuable experience on-site’ (IEG SponsorshipReport, 2000, p. 5).

The extended duration of an Olympic spon-sorship means that a company’s relationshipwith its employees must be carefully managedover a considerable period of time in order tomaintain the necessary level of commitmentand enthusiasm. Thus, internal marketing, inthe form of a comprehensive communicationstrategy, is essential. This should include thedistribution of newsletters with motivationalinformation about the Olympic Games to allemployees, and the provision of Olympic mer-chandise that is only available to staff due totheir status as employees of an official sponsor.These efforts are likely to be most effective ifextended to the families of employees. Theyshould be invited to the special events that areheld to mark important dates in the count-down to the Games which are often attendedby Olympic athletes that are sponsored by thecompany. At the Sydney Olympic Games, thestaff of sponsors such as Ansett Airlines, whoachieved the highest standards in internalincentive programmes, were rewarded with aninvitation to attend the games as a guest of thecompany.

Olympic hospitality programmes are nor-mally organised into four or five ‘waves’. Eachwave is between three and five days in dura-tion with transition days, when one group ofguests departs and the next group arrives.Guests can include consumers, employees,business partners, politicians, celebrities andopinion leaders. Different company objectivesare realised through interaction between thedifferent types of guests and sponsor repre-sentatives. Some guests are regarded as moreimportant than others in terms of the long-term benefits that may result from the interac-tion. This affects the way the interaction ismanaged and the most important guestsreceive invitations to take part in either the firstwave that coincides with the opening cere-

mony or the final wave that includes many of the gold medal events and the closing ceremony.

The Sponsor Hospitality Department of the Sydney Organising Committee for theOlympic Games (SOCOG) planned the Millen-nium Marquee and offered space to the 24Team Millennium Olympic sponsors for theexclusive use of their guests. Most sponsorspurchased between 300 and 600 square metresof space in the Marquee, at a cost of A$2 500per square metre (Sydney Organising Com-mittee for the Olympic Games, 1998). It isimportant to recognise that after paying for theright to become a sponsor, considerable addi-tional costs are incurred in leveraging benefits.These include costs associated with trans-portation, to bring guests to the host city, theiraccommodation, event tickets and hospitality.The quality of the programmes offered by thesponsors was reflected in the purchase of first-class or business-class airline seats, five-starhotel accommodation and premium eventtickets. The Sponsor Hospitality Departmentplanned all the necessary arrangements, liais-ing internally with SOCOG departmentsresponsible for accommodation, accreditation,ticketing, transport and venue management.Of necessity, it was also one of the best con-nected with organisations outside SOCOG. Itworked closely with hospitality organisationsthat could offer premier services to sponsorswishing to host hospitality events at non-Olympic venues in and around Sydney (Schier,1998). Significantly, the manager of the depart-ment was conscious of the need to be accessi-ble to tourism organisations and to act as animportant network facilitator by introduc-ing tourism representatives to key players atSOCOG, the IOC, the sponsors and their mar-keting companies. The Sponsor Hospitalityworkshops organised by SOCOG proved to be excellent opportunities to develop theseimportant network relationships.

Many of the sponsors appointed specialistsports-marketing companies to develop anddeliver their hospitality programmes. Somewere responsible for the entire programme,which included the provision of motivationalinformation that was sent to the guests prior tothe Games as well as every element of the pro-gramme, from the time they left home to when

318 G. Brown


they returned. This included the meet-and-greet services upon arrival at the airport, alltransport and accommodation requirements,ticket arrangements, the organisation ofspecial events, visits and meals, and the provi-sion of gifts. Acting as a facilitator for its client(the sponsor) and ‘managing’ the multitude ofvendors were regarded as critical tasks performed by the marketing company (T.McDonald, Interview, 1999). Some sponsorsmade separate arrangements for transporta-tion, accommodation and ticketing, and placedthe local arrangements in the hands of a desti-nation management organisation (DMO). Thecontent and the relevant costs of this type ofmore limited programme are illustrated by abudget that was prepared by a DMO to delivera hospitality programme for 600 guests of an Olympic sponsor (Table 1). The budget was prepared in 1998, with prices quoted in

Australian dollars. It can be seen that the costsallocated to transport and staff payments were both approximately A$1.5 million.

The budget figure of A$8 million (Table 1) isstill only a partial picture of the total costsincurred by a sponsor to deliver hospitality toguests at the Olympic Games. It does notinclude expenses for accommodation, airfaresor event tickets. However, the information isparticularly revealing, as this level of detail israrely accessible and available for publicationdue to the competitive nature of the tenderprocess and the confidential nature of theagreement signed between a sponsor and theappointed supplier. The nature of the experi-ence offered to guests is illustrated by thewelcome function, which was an Australianbarbecue with entertainment at a cliff-topvenue, and the farewell party, which featuredseafood at Bondi Beach. The optional tours



Table 1. Hospitality programme budget

A$ A$

Pre-arrival Games staffingInvitations 24000 International reception 24800Trip planning 9600 Domestic reception 24800Welcome video 40000 Business desk 24180Newsletters 9600 Help desk 48360Baggage tags 9600 Ticket team 58032Questionnaire 3200 Sydney Olympic Park team 28272Visa applications 10000 Hospitality hostesses 106672Creative/Art/Film/Writing 25000 Motorbike outriders 70680

Subtotal 131000 Event coordinators 24180Event producers 15000

Arrival Catering supervisors 23192Credentials 6000 Sponsor hospitality suite manager 36572Gift pack 180000 Accreditation staff 3720Tourist publications 9600 Security staff 218400Wave itinerary 2100 Travel staff 58032

Subtotal 197700 Butlers 21204Subtotal 782096

TransportationBoat trips 450000 Staff uniformsCoaches 143000 Shoes 9600Taragos 198000 Polo shirts 14000Self-drive 120000 Long sleeve shirts 9600VIP coaches 54000 Akubra hat 5520Limosines 108000 Socks 4800Livery 20000 Trousers 21600Luxury day cruiser 380000 Belts 4800

Subtotal 1473000 Bum bags 1440Jackets 22800

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Table 1. Continued

A$ A$

Functions Motor bike overalls 400Day tour 120000 Bike helmets 1000Welcome party 225000 Sponsor pennants 200Farewell party 225000 Sample production 5000Optional tours 120000 Dry cleaning 7200Venue hire 60000 Subtotal 108360Boat entertainment 40000Business briefings 90000 Management expenses

Subtotal 880000 Office 30000Communication 50000

Food and beverage Freight/cartage 30000Boats 250000 Tradesmen 50000Free dining nights 312500 Two-way radios 20000Hospitality suite 675000 Petrol/mileage 30000

Subtotal 1237500 Office equipment rental 40000Office furniture rental 30000

Hospitality suite Legal expenses 40000Furniture 200000 Accounting fees 10000Desk manufacture 16000 Storage fees 10000Bar manufacture 15000 Insurance fees 50000Signage 30000 Taxi charges 10000Flowers 20000 Relocation expenses 60000Partitions 22000 Subtotal 460000Audio visual screen 80000Telephone/internet 20000 Training expensesStationery & supplies 5000 Venue hire 3000Office equipment 5000 Training preparation 10000Overseas newspapers 10000 Printing of staff papers 5000

Subtotal 423000 Lecture Fees 3000Audio-visual hire 7000

Special Features Tailoring/alterations 3000Creative for hotel lobby 10000 Food and beverage 10000Hotel lobby displays 50000 Subtotal 41000Hotel laser show 200000Sponsor TV show 120000 Post-eventSponsor daily news 30000 Report printing 10000Photo team 18000 Equipment re-positioning 40000

Subtotal 428000 Storage 5000Subtotal 55000

Pre-games staffingDirector of hospitality 210000 Consultant feesAssistant director 105000 Consultant 60000PA/Secretary 45000 Destination management company 100000Financial manager 50000 Catering organisation 25000Personnel manager 60000 Medical and dental 20000Logistics manager 105000 Subtotal 205000Travel manager 60000Hotel liaison/training 15000 Total 7252456Entertainment manager 10000Transport manager 10000 Contingency 36262324% on costs 180000 Goods and services tax 149794

Subtotal 830000TOTAL 7764873

included seaplane tours and the HarbourBridge climb. All guests would have hadaccess to the sponsor’s hospitality suite andwould have received a videotape of a compi-lation of daily highlights during their stay, butvariations in the content of the gift packreflected differences in the category of guest.This differentiation was also evident in otherelements of the programme, including themode of transport which made use of five 48-seat coaches, one 10-seat luxury coach and sixlimousines. The smaller vehicles and a luxurycruiser were available for VIP guests who were also offered butler service at the hotel.Additional information about the duration ofemployment for some of the staffing posi-tions and the consequent costs are insightful(Table 2). Only five people would have beenemployed for more than one year, and theduration of the majority of short-term con-tracts were for less than one month.

A marketing organisation that was formedin 1998 to specialise in the provision of hospi-tality for Olympic sponsors was responsiblefor managing the programmes for four TeamMillennium sponsors at the Sydney OlympicGames. Based in the USA, it employed 26 full-time staff on a permanent basis and offeredshort-term contracts to over 300 staff. Of these,125 ‘senior’ staff, with experience of workingat previous Olympic Games, were broughtfrom the USA for 30 days. Ten days were spenttraining at local venues prior to the SydneyOlympic Games. Two hundred of the contract

staff were young Australians, studyingtourism and hospitality courses at local uni-versities. The high demand for temporaryemployees made it necessary to secure the services of the ‘best’ students long before theevent. Enthusiasm and an engaging personal-ity featured prominently as selection criteria.After being offered a contract, the studentswere sent quarterly newsletters and personalcommunications such as birthday cards tomaintain their interest in the position and theircommitment to the company. The orientationsession was designed to be entertaining andoffered a chance to meet Olympic athletes (T. McDonald, Interview, 1999).

The quality of the experience offered tosponsor guests is evident from the programmedetails (Table 1), but a wide range of factors caninfluence the guest’s level of satisfaction andtheir attitude towards the host city. As no in-formation was available about the profile ofsponsor guests, it was decided to examinethese issues at the Sydney Olympic Games.

SPONSOR GUEST SURVEY

The ATC considered it important to learn moreabout the tourist market that had been createdby the Olympic sponsor hospitality pro-grammes, and without the active support ofthe ATC it would not have been possible toconduct the survey of sponsor guests. This wasbecause the IOC imposed strict controls on theconduct of research at Olympic venues and



Table 2. Hospitality programme staffing profile

Director of hospitality $120000/year for 21 months $210000Assistant director $70000/year for 18 months $105000Logistics manger $60000/year for 21 months $105000Personnel manager $40000/year for 18 months $60000Finance manager $40000/year for 15 months $50000Transport manger $40000/year for 3 months $10000Entertainment manager $40000/year for 3 months $10000Hospitality suite manager 2@$446/person for 41 days $36572Catering supervisors 2@$446/person for 26 days $23192Security staff 24@$350/person for 26 days $218400Hospitality hostesses 12@$372/person for 23 days $102672Domestic reception 8@$310/person for 10 days $24800Accreditation staff 2@$310/person for 6 days $3720Event producers 2@$1500/person for 5 days $15000

the Olympic sponsors did not want to makeavailable their guest lists. The sponsors did notwant to reveal the identity of certain guests nor the names of key business partners. Manysponsors were reluctant to allow an evaluationof their hospitality programmes and somebelieved that the completion of a questionnairewould be an unnecessary imposition on theirguests and would detract from their OlympicGames experience. Due to these difficulties, ittook two years to plan the survey and gain thenecessary approvals.

The ATC provided access to the SponsorHospitality Manager at SOCOG who had pre-viously worked in the tourism industry. Hersupport for the survey included requests to theIOC for it to be approved. Invitations to attendsponsor hospitality workshops organised bySOCOG provided valuable insight for theresearcher about the structure of the hospital-ity programs and made it possible to discussthe survey with sponsor representatives. Someof the information presented at the workshopsabout guest numbers and countries of originassisted the survey design. It was suggestedthat most guests in the majority of pro-grammes would be able to respond to a ques-tionnaire in English. Additional interviewswere held with representatives of the special-ist marketing companies employed by thesponsors, with inbound tour operators andwith other tourism and hospitality organisa-tions that were involved in the planning ormanagement of the services delivered as partof the hospitality programmes. As a result ofthese activities, seven Team Millennium spon-sors agreed to participate in the survey. Two ofthe sponsors considered the survey to be themost effective way for them to evaluate theirhospitality programmes and offered to helpdistribute the questionnaires.

The survey questionnaire sought informa-tion about the guests and their experience atthe Sydney Olympic Games. The sectionsreflected issues of interest to the organisationswhich had agreed to support the survey. Ques-tions were included about attitudes towardsthe Olympic Games, at the request of the IOC,about the Sydney Olympic Games, at therequest of SOCOG, about the hospitality pro-grammes, at the request of sponsors and aboutSydney and Australia, at the request of the

ATC. The final version was approved by theIOC. Many of the questions examined issuesthat were relevant to the respondent and tohis/her partner, as this was consistent with theform of invitation to attend the Games. Eachversion of the questionnaire included a logo ofthe sponsor and a welcome message from theManaging Director of the ATC on the coverpage. The instructions were kept simple andconsiderable care was taken to make the four-sided form attractive and user-friendly. It wasintended to be easy to understand and to com-plete, as this was considered to be the mosteffective way to achieve a good response rate.

The way the survey was conducted varieddue to differences in the level of support provided by the sponsor and the way that each programme was structured. The methodsemployed to distribute the questionnaires tothe guests of one of the supportive sponsorsinvolved handing them to guests in an enve-lope (with a souvenir pen supplied by theATC) while travelling to the last event theyattended. The guests were encouraged to com-plete the questionnaire by a sponsor represen-tative and were asked to return them beforeleaving the coach. An incentive, in the form ofa Salt Lake City Olympic pin, was given toguests when they returned the questionnaire.This method generated a response rate ofapproximately 25%. For the other sponsor thatsupported the survey, questionnaires wereincluded in the welcome packs that guestsreceived upon arrival at their hotel. They wereasked to complete them at the end of their stayand to place them in a box located at theirreception desk in the hotel lobby. Reminders,requesting guests to complete the question-naire, appeared in their daily newsletters. Thismethod generated a response rate of approxi-mately 10%. A very small number of question-naires were returned from the sponsors whohad agreed to distribute them to their guestswithout any involvement on the part of theresearcher.

A total of 313 questionnaires were com-pleted, giving information about approxi-mately 600 people attending the games assponsor guests. The data is biased due to thehigher response rate for the guests of Sponsor1 (Table 3). However, analysis revealed verylittle difference when comparing the results of

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Sponsor 1, Sponsor 2 and the aggregate resultsof the remaining sponsors.

Fourteen percent of the questionnaires werecompleted by guests who lived in Australia. Aseparate analysis was conducted to identifythe results for overseas guests and the findingsdiscussed in this paper relate exclusively tointernational sponsor guests. The gender ratiowas very even (male = 51%) and 75% of theguests were aged between 30 and 59 years old.A large proportion of the people who com-pleted the questionnaire (37%) were employedin senior positions such as Chairman, Director,President, Vice-President or Chief ExecutiveOfficer. Managerial-level positions were thenext most frequently cited (16%). A smallerproportion of the partners of the respondentswere employed in executive positions (10%)and management positions (13%) with house-wife (19%) and student (14%) mentioned morefrequently as their occupation.

A total of 35 different countries were repre-sented in the sample with more coming fromthe USA (35%) than any other single country.The next most important source markets werethe UK (14%) and South Africa (6%) (Table 4).North America and Europe accounted for two-thirds of the guests.

Almost everyone (96%) visited the Millen-nium Marquee and a very high level of satis-faction was recorded across all of the elementsof the hospitality programmes. A mean of 6.49(out of seven) indicated that the majority ofguests ticked the maximum possible score foroverall satisfaction. All of the individual ele-ments of the programme gained scores greaterthan six, except the item about pre-trip infor-mation (Table 5). About half of the people(45%) took the opportunity to offer sugges-

tions about ways that the programme could beimproved. Among the most common sugges-tions were the need for more free time (25%)and better pre-trip information (16%).

The guests considered it of some importanceto spend time with representatives of the sponsor.This received a mean score of 3.17 out of 5. Thespread of responses to the question is illus-trated in Figure 1, and shows that, for somepeople, this was regarded as an importantoutcome of the trip, while for others it was con-sidered to be of no importance. Learning moreabout products and services offered by the sponsorand developing business opportunities with thesponsor received slightly lower importanceratings (means = 2.63 and 2.61, respectively).Nineteen percent of respondents agreed thatthe trip had provided specific business oppor-tunities with the majority of these respondents(73%) referring to the way their business networks had been enhanced. These findingsreflect the differences in the type of guests andthe level of interaction that was organised aspart of the programme. Meetings with con-sumer prize winners were held at the hotelsand were of a social nature, whereas informa-tion was given to key business partners on anumber of occasions and in a range of settingsincluding the hospitality suites at the Millen-nium Marquee. The business meetings werepart of a strategic process in which sponsorrepresentatives sought to consolidate relation-ships with specific individuals. Interestingly,there was evidence of variation within the



Table 3. Questionnaires completed by sponsorguests

Sponsor Number completed

1 2142 603 104 105 86 77 4

Table 4. Country of origin

Country % of guests

USA 34.7UK 13.5South Africa 5.6Italy 4.8Canada 4.0Poland 3.6Mexico 3.2Spain 2.4United Arab Emirates 2.4Germany 2.4Singapore 2.4Japan 2.0Netherlands 2.0

sample regarding interaction with the sponsor.The guests of Sponsor 2 gave scores that weresignificantly higher than those of Sponsor 1 inrelation to the items spend time with representa-tives of the sponsor and developing business opportunities with the sponsor.

Responses to the open-ended question aboutwhat guests had enjoyed most during their tripwere particularly interesting, and it was foundthat although many of the guests made refer-ence to an Olympic event (35%) or the OpeningCeremony (10%), 50% described outcomesassociated with experiences of the host city.The beauty of Sydney was mentioned fre-quently as was the friendliness of Australianpeople. Sixteen percent specifically com-mented on the level of service provided by thesponsor staff as a characteristic they found particularly enjoyable (Table 6).

Guests accorded a very high level of agree-ment (mean = 6.7) with the statement that, Ibelieve that Australia has done a great job of organ-ising these Olympic games, with almost everyone

marking the maximum score of seven. Therewas also strong agreement that guests wouldvery much like to attend another Olympic Games(mean = 6.5) and further evidence of attitudestowards the Olympic Games is provided byresponses to the questions included at therequest of the IOC (Table 7). Although therewas little difference between the mean scores,it is interesting to note that a belief in the abilityof the Olympic Games to deliver enjoymentgained the highest score. The suggestion thatparticipation is as important as winning wasthe least strongly endorsed.

For most guests (80%), this was their firstvisit to Australia, and the positive nature oftheir Olympic experience in Sydney seemed toinfluence their level of interest in returning fora vacation. Twenty-eight percent said theywould definitely return within the next threeyears, and a further 32% that they would prob-ably return during this period. Interestingly,many people (35%) expressed a desire toreturn to Sydney. The other most frequentlycited locations to visit on a subsequent trip

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Table 5. Guest programme evaluation

Level of satisfaction (maximum = 7)Programme component Mean

Service provided by sponsor staff 6.68Transportation to Olympic venues 6.49Hospitality at Olympic venues 6.49Hotel accommodation 6.45Olympics events attended 6.29Special events organised by the sponsor 6.24Meet and greet services at the airport 6.14Pre trip information 5.52

Of No Importance

Extremely Important

0

80

40

Rating

Frequency

Figure 1. Importance of attending the Games tospend time with sponsor representatives.

Table 6. Most enjoyable parts of the trip

Mentioned by Experience guests (%)

Specific Olympic event (named) 35Friendliness of local people 28Beauty of the city 22Service by sponsor staff 16Meeting people 16Olympic atmosphere 15Opening ceremony 10

were found to be Melbourne (33%) and NorthQueensland (27%), to visit the Great BarrierReef. The prospects for word-of-mouthendorsement was indicated by the strength ofagreement that the guests will definitely beencouraging people at home to visit Australia for avacation (mean = 6.6).

DISCUSSION

Approximately 40000 guests of Olympic spon-sors attended the Sydney Olympic Games.This is a large number of visitors, but it onlyrepresented a small proportion of the corpo-rate hospitality that was organised to coincidewith the event. Significantly, the guests of non-Olympic sponsors may represent a moreattractive tourism market because, withoutdirect access to event tickets and accommoda-tion through the organising committee, theirpackages were longer and featured activities atlocations away from the competition venuesand the host city. It is important for tourismorganisations to identify and work with man-agers of hospitality programmes that includelarge tour components and less Olympic-specific components. However, prior to theSydney Olympic Games, when approached bysuch groups, destination management compa-nies were unable to respond. Eighty percent of the hotel stock had been committed to theorganising committee, leaving an inadequatesupply of suitable rooms. An inability to meetthe accommodation needs of potentially valu-able tourist groups, due to the preferentialtreatment accorded to the Olympic family andsponsor guests, represents an important lessonfor tourism management in other host cities. Itis also important to recognise that traditional

tourist markets may be denied access to hotel, restaurant and convention space. Thedisplacement and disruption caused duringthe period of the Olympic Games must be managed in ways that make it possible to accommodate new markets without dis-advantaging, and potentially losing, existingmarkets.

Playing host to the guests of Olympic spon-sors also offers opportunities for the tourismindustry. A new market has been created, asthe guests have had the opportunity to samplethe destination at the expense of the sponsors.Without receiving an invitation, many wouldnot have come to Australia. The survey find-ings indicated that the host country maybenefit from positive word-of-mouth commu-nications when the guests returned home andtheir messages may have a disproportionateinfluence due to the status of many of theguests and their role as opinion leaders in theirhome communities. The impact may also begreater than those of normal traveller’s tales,as their audience is able to more effectivelyrelate to the information, having recently witnessed television coverage of the OlympicGames and the host city.

The very positive evaluations of their expe-rience meant that a large number of the guestsexpressed a desire to return to Australia. Thehost city featured prominently as a preferreddestination for a future visit and some guestssuggested that this was partly due to a desireto share their experience with family memberswho had not been able to come to the OlympicGames in Sydney. This means that DMOsshould try to establish a relationship with the guests and, through subsequent contact,encourage them to convert their level of



Table 7. Attitudes towards the Olympic games

Level of agreement (maximum = 7)Olympic attribute Mean score

The Games offer something for everyone to enjoy 6.36The Games represent the best in sport 6.29The Games experience exceeded my expectations 6.24The Games create harmony and peace 6.21The Games bring the world together 6.19The Games are about taking part rather than winning 5.73

interest into repeat visitation. However, thismay be difficult to achieve due to restrictionsimposed by the organising committee and thesponsors.

There are opportunities for businesses todevelop contractual arrangements with thesponsors and their marketing agencies tosupply tourism and hospitality services. Butthis requires gaining access to the informationheld by departmental managers within theorganising committee. The organisationalstructure of the Olympic Games, with its levelsof accreditation, creates a hierarchy of access topeople, places and resources. This is translatedinto relational networks centred on functionalareas of activity such as sponsor hospitality.The importance of becoming part of thenetwork was demonstrated at the SydneyOlympic Games by initiatives taken by of theATC’s Olympics manager. A theoretical per-spective using network analysis suggests thatthe manager was able to establish the ATC’s‘network identity’ (Olkkonen, 2001, p. 315) dueto the perceived value of what the ATC wasable to exchange with other network members.In this type of analysis, emphasis is placed on the role of interpersonal communication in the establishment of ‘trust and mutuality insponsorship relationships and networks’(Olkkonen et al., 2000, p. 15). This study hasdemonstrated that the manager of the sponsorhospitality department at SOCOG acted as agatekeeper who recognised the need to workwith representatives of the tourism and hospi-tality industries. The sponsor hospitality work-shops at SOCOG were a particularly importantforum for interpersonal communication be-tween members of the sponsor hospitalitynetwork and were a valuable source of infor-mation about developments that affected thetourism industry.

In addition to helping establish forms ofinterpersonal communication between net-work members, Olympic sponsorship pro-vides opportunities to send implicit messagesto a wide range of audiences. Interaction withOlympic athletes and the distribution ofOlympic merchandise to employees was usedto change the internal culture of organisations.By association with Olympic values, messageswere encoded about excellence and achievingpersonal goals. The use of Olympic symbols as

part of human resource management practiceswas notable. This was evident within incentiveprogrammes that offered Olympic packages asthe main reward and in the selection and train-ing procedures for staff employed in sponsorhospitality programmes. The success of thelatter was revealed in the findings of the guestsurvey in which very high scores were givenfor the service provided by sponsor staff.

Sponsor guests received many messageswhile participating in the hospitality pro-gramme. The design of the hospitality suites atthe Sydney Olympic Games reflected imagesassociated with brand Australia (Brown et al.,2004) and the Millennium Marquee repre-sented a zone of privileged indulgence,making it possible for sponsors to deliver thenecessary level of exclusivity to their guests.The location was physically and symbolicallyseparated from other, more crowded, Olympicvenues. As a ‘servicescape’ (Bitner, 1992), itwas replete with environmental cues and alevel of service that expressed the value spon-sors placed on the relationship with theirguests. Understanding sponsor hospitalityfrom a management perspective is important,but there is considerable scope for researchthat adopts a more sociological form of analy-sis. Becoming a member of the sponsor hospi-tality network at a future Olympic Games willbe a pre-requisite for the completion of studiesof this kind.

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