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The economic impact of the 2008 beijing olympic games
Author(s)
Zhao, Xiang
Date Issued
2014
Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Abstract
Sporting events like the Beijing Olympic Games have grown big, and have assumed
increased importance on a global scale. The hosting of mega-events such as the
Olympics comes with many challenges that have to be dealt with. For this reason, an
understanding of the impact of the Olympic Games for the Chinese economy was
important to the host community both before and after the Games. This study
investigated the impact of the Beijing Olympic Games and set out to understand the
problems and challenges in more detail, and to examine the implementation of the
plans and the realisation of the anticipated benefits. Sporting events attracting large
numbers of visitors to a host city are likely to have negative impacts like noise, heavy
traffic and overcrowding, and a large number of visitors, results in excessive waste
and energy use, compromises water quantity and quality, disturbs natural
environments and processes, and disrupts local activities.
A mixed method research design was used, involving a literature search to obtain
secondary data, and then two phases of data collection: the interviewing of
government officials responsible for the Olympic Games organisation, and a
questionnaire-based survey. Despite limited data collection success during the first
phase, a 54 per cent response rate to the survey was significant and was used to
obviate the some of the limitations of the first phase.
Consequent on the award of hosting rights in 2001 both government officials and the
people of China were enthusiastic; the event was perceived to be positive socially
and economically, and people looked forward to courteously meeting with and
working with people from other countries. However, not all experiences were
positive and some expected benefits were found to be over-estimated.
This study found that the 2008 Beijing Olympics had significant impact on the
Chinese economy and on other aspects of life in China. Four areas of impact
(security threat, environmental pollution, social cultural, and economic) were
established and used to develop hypotheses and variables that were tested for their
significance. 17 of the 25 variables showed statistical significance while eight of them
did not. On the basis of this, it was concluded that the Beijing Olympics had a
generally significant positive impact on the Chinese economy, with few perceived
security threats and no perceived environmental pollution problems.
increased importance on a global scale. The hosting of mega-events such as the
Olympics comes with many challenges that have to be dealt with. For this reason, an
understanding of the impact of the Olympic Games for the Chinese economy was
important to the host community both before and after the Games. This study
investigated the impact of the Beijing Olympic Games and set out to understand the
problems and challenges in more detail, and to examine the implementation of the
plans and the realisation of the anticipated benefits. Sporting events attracting large
numbers of visitors to a host city are likely to have negative impacts like noise, heavy
traffic and overcrowding, and a large number of visitors, results in excessive waste
and energy use, compromises water quantity and quality, disturbs natural
environments and processes, and disrupts local activities.
A mixed method research design was used, involving a literature search to obtain
secondary data, and then two phases of data collection: the interviewing of
government officials responsible for the Olympic Games organisation, and a
questionnaire-based survey. Despite limited data collection success during the first
phase, a 54 per cent response rate to the survey was significant and was used to
obviate the some of the limitations of the first phase.
Consequent on the award of hosting rights in 2001 both government officials and the
people of China were enthusiastic; the event was perceived to be positive socially
and economically, and people looked forward to courteously meeting with and
working with people from other countries. However, not all experiences were
positive and some expected benefits were found to be over-estimated.
This study found that the 2008 Beijing Olympics had significant impact on the
Chinese economy and on other aspects of life in China. Four areas of impact
(security threat, environmental pollution, social cultural, and economic) were
established and used to develop hypotheses and variables that were tested for their
significance. 17 of the 25 variables showed statistical significance while eight of them
did not. On the basis of this, it was concluded that the Beijing Olympics had a
generally significant positive impact on the Chinese economy, with few perceived
security threats and no perceived environmental pollution problems.
Additional information
Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Event Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014
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