Bsc (Honours) Events and Leisure Management
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Sheffield Business School BSc (Honours) Events and Leisure Management Title Hong Kong should not bid to host the 2023 Asian Games Name Cheung Siu Pun Student No 91206562 Month Year April 2011 Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Business School Title Hong Kong should not bid to host the 2023 Asian Games FULL NAME Cheung Siu Pun STUDENT No 91206562 Supervisor: Mr. Calvin Ng In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Events and Leisure Management. Month Year April 2011 1 Contents Acknowledgements …………………………………………………….…………P.3 Executive Summary ……………………………………………………….………P.4 Introduction ……………………………………………………………….………P.5-6 Literature Review ……………………………………………………….………P.7-12 Method of Investigation ……………………………………………….………P.13-14 Findings and Analysis ……………………………………………………….………P.15-19 Conclusions and Recommendations ……………………………………………….P.20-23 References ……………………………………………………………………….P.24-27 2 Acknowledgements This dissertation began as a series of questions about the direction of the research. Over a period of a semester it evolved into a dissertation. Along the way I was lucky enough to receive the assistance of many people who spent their time on my dissertation. First, I would like to thank Mr. Calvin Ng who is my supervisor. He helped with different aspects of my research and writing. He generously spent his precious private time on the individual supervision and he provided lots of helpful comments to me. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Louie Lobo Hung-tak. He spent his precious time on my interview. He provided plenty of useful information and professional analysis for my dissertation. At last, I would like to thank Mr. Eric Yung who was my English teacher in the past. He spent his precious time on checking the grammars and vocabularies of my dissertation. 3 Executive Summary In recent years, many cities or regions in Asia are going to bid to host the Asian Games. Hong Kong is also one of the Asian cities going to bid to host the 2023 Asian Games. This dissertation is going to find out the reasons why Hong Kong should not bid to host the 2023 Asian Games through the research by qualitative method. In terms of the primary data, an interview is conducted with Dr. Louie Lobo Hung-tak who is a specialist on sport event industry. For the secondary data, books, reports, professional journals, newspapers, and electronic media sources which are all about the discussion of sport events, Asian Games and Olympic Games are used as references. In the study, it is found that apart from positive impacts, there are lots of negative impacts in terms of social, economic, and environmental impacts in hosting major sport events. Moreover, it is also found that Hong Kong citizens oppose the bid to host 2023 Asian Games. The objection is attributed to the inappropriate moment at which Hong Kong is confronted with lots of tricky social issues and the very high costs of construction. Furthermore, the poor government promotion and marketing strategy cannot well encourage citizens to support the bid. These results of the research can be proved that Hong Kong should not bid to host the 2023 Asian Games. In terms of the recommendation, it is highly suggested the Hong Kong government should have a well thought out preparation by consulting and lobbying the scholars and people from different sectors, as well as an accurate and careful research on the resources budgeting before launching the programme. In addition, a good promotion and marketing strategy is also highly recommended. For the long-term improvement, the government should change its bureaucracy practice and develop a new sports policy of Hong Kong, as well as educating the next generation to have enthusiastic sporting culture. 4 Introduction The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were first regulated by the Asian Games Federation. After the breakup of the Asian Games Federation, they have been organised by the Olympic Council of Asia since 1982. The Games are recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The Games are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. (Asian Games 2011). In the Consultation Paper by Home Affairs Bureau (2010), the Asian Games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee. The first Asian Games were held in New Delhi, India in 1951. The Official Programme of the Asian Games must include all the 28 Olympic Sports which will be approved by the Olympic Council of Asia. Taking an example of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, there are total 42 sports. The 42 sports are Aquatics, Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Billiard sports, Bowling, Boxing, Canoe / Kayak, Chess, Cricket, Cycling, Dance Sport, Dragon Boat, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Karate, Modern Pentathlon, Roller Sports, Rowing, Rugby, Sailing, Sepaktakraw, Shooting, Softball, Squash, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Wushu. (Asian Games Sports 2010). “Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah President of the Olympic Council of Asia, has claimed that the Asian Games … has become the greatest youth festival in Asia and possibly second to none but the Olympic Games.” (Hong 2007, p111). In the Consultation Paper by Home Affairs Bureau (2010), it shows that Hong Kong has successfully hosted and achieved good results in a major international multi-sport event – 5 The 2009 East Asian Games. As a result, there are views in the community that the time is right to consider bidding again for the Asian Games. Moreover, there are three clear strategic directions for the long-term development of sport in Hong Kong. First, it is to help the elite athletes achieve excellence; second, it is to develop a strong sporting culture in the community; and third, it is to raise the profile as a centre for international sport events. Furthermore, the hosting of the Olympic Equestrian Event in 2008 and the East Asian Games in 2009 has shown that Hong Kong has the ability and social resources to organise large-scale international sporting events. Based on the above reasons, Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong China decided to bid to host the 2023 Asian Games in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government supported the bid and therefore conducted a consultation in September, 2010. However, the bid met with fierce opposition from the society. The aim of this research is to find out the reasons why Hong Kong should not bid to host the 2023 Asian Games. For achieving the aim, the following objectives are going to be included in the dissertation: (1) To find out the reasons for objecting to hosting 2023 Asian Games. (2) To find out the negative impacts of hosting 2023 Asian Games in Hong Kong. (3) To find out the faulty government policy and planning of 2023 Asian Games. 6 Literature Review Torkildsen (2005, p468) indicates that “the concept of mega-event refers to specially constructed and staged international cultural and sport events and event genres such as Olympic Games and World’s Fairs/Expos.” Torkildsen (2005, p469) adds that “major events are not on the scale of mega-events but are large enough and prestigious enough to attract the attention of the national media, attract large spectator numbers and provide economic benefits.” In the Consultation Paper by Home Affairs Bureau (2010), it can be seen that about 11,000 athletes and officials, 1,000 VIPs and technical delegates, 247,000 to 347,000 spectators and 4,800 media personnel will be expected to attend the games. Wagen and Carlos (2005, p5) state that “these events (major events) attract significant local interest and large numbers of participants, as well as generating significant tourism revenue.” Based on the above theories, as the scale of Asian Games is not as large as the Olympic Games, Asian Games can be defined as major events. Westerbeek et al. (2006, p253) states that “a stakeholder is any person or group that will be interested in, affected by, or is a necessary participants in the project.” Therefore, it is important to consult the public when bidding the events. Nowadays, lots of Asian cities or regions would like to bid to host the Asian Games, but the decision cannot receive unanimous support from the public. Although hosting the Asian Games would bring many benefits to a host city, it should not be ignored there are still lots of negative impacts. Shone and Parry (2004, p20) states that “the events market is so diverse and fragmented that it is problematic to say what the business is worth as a whole. In fact, to attempt to quantify it might be a fruitless exercise.” As the events market is so different and varied 7 and there are lots of risks which cannot be easily quantified, hosting the events sometimes may not be worthwhile from a business perspective. Moreover, Westerbeek et al. (2006, p242) recognizes that “major events are also heavily reliant on government funds … in return, facilities and events are expected to provide a significant return on government investment. However, the return is rarely expected to occur solely through operating profits.” It is possible that it would make a big loss after finishing a major event because the facilities after use cannot generate lots of money. The Should HK Host An Asiad (2010) refers to an article titled "Is it Worth It?" published by the International Monetary Fund. It looks at the economic benefits mega sport events in various places have brought and concludes they are dubious. The Should HK Host An Asiad (2010) says “cost overruns are common with major sport events. Athens initially projected that its Games would cost US$1.6 billion; they actually cost ten times as much.