Hosting Tour De France Under COVID-19: Bargain Or Burden for New Stage Cities?

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Hosting Tour De France Under COVID-19: Bargain Or Burden for New Stage Cities? Umeå University Department of Geography Master Thesis in Human Geography (Spring Term 2021) Supervisor: Roger Marjavaara Hosting Tour De France Under COVID-19: Bargain or Burden for New Stage Cities? Cyril Herzet Master’s Programme in Tourism th 14 of May 2021 RÉSUMÉ (Français) Le Tour de France (TDF) est le troisième événement sportif au monde et la plus grande course cycliste en termes de popularité et de prestige. L’événement génère une exposition médiatique mondiale et attire chaque année des millions de visiteurs à court et à long terme. Le TDF est donc extrêmement attrayant pour les communautés à la recherche de profits. À l’aide de la Direction Moyenne Linéaire (MLD) et d’interviews semi-structurées (côté communauté et organisation), ce mémoire analyse l’évolution spatiale du TDF au fil du temps en comparant le parcours de 2021 à d’autres intervalles temporelles de la course. En outre, les raisons du changement potentiel en termes de distribution spatiale sont étudiées en tenant compte des problèmes actuels dus à la pandémie de COVID-19 ayant gravement affecté le secteur du tourisme et, par conséquent, les avantages que les communautés espéraient percevoir en accueillant le TDF. Les résultats ont montré que l’itinéraire de 2021 s’écarte des éditions précédentes de l’histoire du TDF en incluant 10 nouvelles villes étapes qui n’ont jamais accueilli l’événement auparavant. Le répondant de l’organisation a indiqué que la pandémie n’a affecté qu’indirectement le parcours du TDF et que l’emplacement du Grand Départ ainsi que les principales contraintes internes imposées aux organisateurs sont des éléments clés dans la répartition spatiale de l’événement. Les communautés interrogées ont reconnu qu’il y avait un risque à accueillir le TDF cette année en raison des mesures restrictives potentielles. Cependant, elles ont admis que les bénéfices apportés par la course surpassaient largement les impacts négatifs potentiels dus à l’épidémie. En effet, le TDF reste un moyen d’apporter des effets économiques positifs, de la cohésion sociale, du bonheur, de la fierté et de la satisfaction aux villes hôtes à un moment où l’industrie du tourisme est au point mort. Mots clefs : Tour De France, Tourisme Sportif, Courses Cyclistes, Exposition Médiatique, Réputation des Lieux, Marchandisation des Lieux, Développement des Communautés. ABSTRACT (English) The Tour De France (TDF) is the third largest sporting event in the world and the biggest cycling race in terms of popularity and prestige. The event generates global media exposure and attracts millions of short- and long-term visitors each year, thus, TDF is extremely appealing for communities in search of profits. Using Linear Directional Mean (LDM) and semi-structured interviews (community and organization sides), this paper analyzes how TDF has spatially evolved through time by comparing the 2021 racetrack to other time intervals. Additionally, reasons of the potential shift in terms of spatial distribution are investigated considering current issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has severely affected the tourism sector and therefore, the benefits that communities were expecting to perceive by hosting TDF. Findings showed that the 2021 route deviated from previous editions time of the TDF history including 10 new stage cities that never hosted the event before. The respondent from the organization indicated the pandemic only indirectly affected the TDF route and that the location of the Grand Départ as well as the main internal constraints imposed to the organizers are key elements in the spatial distribution of the event. Interviewed communities acknowledged that there was risk while hosting TDF this year due to potential restrictive measures. However, they recognized that benefits brought by the race largely overweight potential negative impacts from the epidemic. Indeed, TDF remains a way to bring economic benefits, social cohesion, happiness, pride and satisfaction to hosting cities at a time when the tourism industry is at a standstill. Key words: Tour De France, Sport Tourism, Cycling Events, Media Exposure, Place Reputation, Place Commodification, Community Development. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Roger Marjavaara from the Geography Department of Umeå University for helping and encouraging me during this thesis, his precious advice allowed me to get through every step with more confidence. Then, I am very grateful to my relatives, my friends and my girlfriend for their unconditional support throughout the elaboration of my thesis. Finally, I am thankful to my respondents from A.S.O. (organization of Tour De France) but also from the communities that will host the event for the very first time in July 2021 namely, Céret, Changé, Chatou, Landerneau, Malaucène, Sorgues and Vierzon. CONTENTS I- INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 II- LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 3 1- The Commodification of Place ................................................................................................. 3 1.1. Space and Place ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.2. Place as a Product ..................................................................................................................... 4 1.3. Tourism .................................................................................................................................... 5 1.4. Destination Branding ................................................................................................................ 6 2- Sport Tourism as a Way to Promote Places ............................................................................ 8 2.1. Sport Tourism ........................................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Impacts of Major Sporting Events ............................................................................................ 9 2.3. Experiencing Place Through Sport Tourism .......................................................................... 10 2.4. Cycling Tourism ..................................................................................................................... 12 III- STUDY CONTEXT: THE TOUR DE FRANCE .................................................................. 15 1- The Story of the Tour .............................................................................................................. 15 2- Impacts of Tour De France ..................................................................................................... 17 3- The Making of the Tour’s Itinerary ....................................................................................... 18 4- The COVID-19 Outbreak ....................................................................................................... 19 IV- METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 20 1- GIS Treatment and Analysis .................................................................................................. 21 2- Semi-Structured Interviews .................................................................................................... 24 3- Limitations of the Study .......................................................................................................... 25 V- RESULTS ................................................................................................................................. 27 1- The Spatial Evolution of Tour De France .............................................................................. 27 2- Interview with the Main Actors of the 2021 Tour De France: A.S.O. and the New Cities 34 2.1. A.S.O. ..................................................................................................................................... 34 2.2. The New Communities ........................................................................................................... 36 VI- DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 37 1- Causes of the 2021 Route Deviation ....................................................................................... 38 2- Motives for Hosting the Tour During the Pandemic ............................................................ 39 3- Tour De France as a Cure Against the Fatalism of the Pandemic ...................................... 41 VII- CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 42 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix : Questions for the Organization and Community Sides ............................................... 48 I- INTRODUCTION For a long time, places have been trying to promote their image and to become appealing through various means in order to attract settlers, customers, traders, investors, travelers or visitors (Anholt, 2010). Major sporting events like the Football World Cup, Olympic Games or Tour de France are reputed for their uniqueness and for attracting many visitors (Getz, 2008). These
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