Evaluation of Tourism Events: a critical review with a view to sustainability Prof. Jack Carlsen Curtin Sustainable Tourism Centre Western Australia

Overview Expert survey of event evaluation criteria* Post-event results reviewed Evaluation by TDAs Future trends in ‘greening’ of events Criteria for sustaining events *Carlsen J, Getz, D and Soutar, G (2000) ‘Event Evaluation Research’. Event Management 6 (4) pp

Current Approaches to National Event Evaluation Economic impact at the national level Number of international visitors Additional Bed nights (occupancy rates) Total attendance Additional investment Employment creation

Current Approaches to State/Regional Event Evaluation Economic impact at the state level Economic impact at the city/community level Number of interstate visitors Direct visitor expenditure Value of media coverage Financial results (profit/loss) Sponsor satisfaction Cost benefit analysis Yield per visitor

Limitations of Event Evaluation Outcome based – not formative or process oriented Economic outcomes Many technical problems Estimation of visitation Aversion and switching Temporal scope – short-term instead of long-term

Sustainable event evaluation Pollution (air, water, noise, waste) Energy use patterns Environmental audits Energy efficient facility design Conservation and environmental education Greening of event suppliers (eg. Visy) Event transportation Community (socio/cultural) benefits Increased volunteerism Increased skills in events workforce

Summary Event evaluation needs to move beyond short-term, outcome based economic estimates Create and design sustainable events through use of sustainability criteria at the formative, process and outcome stages