Social impacts of the Sydney Olympics

Abstract This paper, drawing on social exchange theory, examines the changes in enthusiasm between 1998 and 2000 towards Sydney’s Olympics among a socially diverse sample of host city residents. In particular, it studies variables that differentiate respondents’ altering attitude. Results suggest that for the majority the reaction to Sydney’s Olympics intensified from 1998, reaching euphoria in September 2000. Elation was particularly evident among those living in the city’s western suburbs, those with dependent children, those from non-English backgrounds, or who perceived the event’s wider economic benefits as outweighing personal costs. Implications arising from this project are considered for future researchers and organizers of hallmark events.

[1]  S. Lankford,et al.  Developing a tourism impact attitude scale , 1994 .

[2]  The reinvention of Australia for the sydney 2000 olympic games , 2000 .

[3]  L. Spencer,et al.  Qualitative data analysis for applied policy research , 2002 .

[4]  S. Wearing,et al.  Refocussing the tourist experience: the flaneur and the choraster , 1996 .

[5]  G. Syme.  The Planning and evaluation of hallmark events , 1989 .

[6]  David Montgomery,et al.  The attitudes of Bakewell residents to tourism and issues in community responsive tourism. , 1994 .

[7]  Bill Faulkner,et al.  A Framework for Monitoring Community Impacts of Tourism , 1997 .

[8]  M. Searle.  Propositions for testing social exchange theory in the context of ceasing leisure participation , 1991 .

[9]  R. Butler.  The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: implications for management of resources. , 1980 .

[10]  R. Bagozzi.  Marketing as Exchange , 1975 .

[11]  J. Sinclair.  More Than an Old Flame: National Symbolism and the Media in the Torch Ceremony of the Olympics , 2000 .

[12]  Bill Faulkner,et al.  Host community reactions: A cluster analysis , 2000 .

[13]  R. Madrigal.  Residents' perceptions and the role of government , 1995 .

[14]  L. Fredline,et al.  Resident Reactions to a Major Tourist Event: The Gold Coast Indy Car Race , 1998 .

[15]  D. Ley,et al.  Landscape as Spectacle: World's Fairs and the Culture of Heroic Consumption , 1988 .

[16]  Sharon Zukin.  Landscapes of power : from Detroit to Disney World , 1993 .

[17]  J. Chan,et al.  Changing Police Culture: Policing in a Multicultural Society , 1999 .

[18]  B. Badcock.  Recently Observed Polarising Tendencies and Australian Cities , 1997 .

[19]  Tf Boston,et al.  Global Spin: The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism , 1999 .

[20]  Ady Milman,et al.  Social impacts of tourism: Host perceptions , 1993 .

[21]  G. Waitt,et al.  Playing Games with Sydney: Marketing Sydney for the 2000 Olympics , 1999 .

[22]  J. Ap.  Residents' perceptions on tourism impacts , 1992 .

[23]  J. Ritchie,et al.  Olympulse II - Evolving Resident Attitudes Toward the 1988 Olympic Winter Games , 1985 .

[24]  K. Cox,et al.  Locality and Community in the Politics of Local Economic Development , 1988 .

[25]  R. Cashman,et al.  Staging the Olympics : the event and its impact , 1999 .

[26]  Gianna Moscardo,et al.  Tourism community relationships , 1996 .

[27]  C. Hall,et al.  Hedonists, Ladies and Larrikins: Crime, Prostitution and the 1987 America's Cup , 1995 .

[28]  Martin Fishbein,et al.  Readings in attitude theory and measurement , 1968 .