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1 Sports events, tourism, development and regeneration
A perspective from Gulf states of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar
Joan C. Henderson
Introduction
Sports events can be a major tourist attraction and destinations vie with each other to host what are perceived to be the most prestigious. Events can bring appeal to destinations and have potential to generate new revenue. Competitions and other sporting occasions thus become a tool in tourism development and marketing policies, but are often harnessed to wider strategies and serve social and political as well as economic purposes. These issues are discussed in this chapter with specific reference to the Gulf States of Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, which have been very active in expanding their programmes of sports events and supporting infrastructure in recent years. They are illuminating instances of small and wealthy globalising states in the Muslim world with ambitious plans for the future where tourism is central. Limited conventional tourism resources have led to heavy investment in new amenities, including events of assorted types and requisite facilities, in a bid to attain and sustain growth. This chapter analyses and compares experiences with regard to sports-related events and tourism. Attention is given to other objectives and the extent to which official interest reflects broader agendas pertaining to development and regeneration and prevailing circumstances at home and overseas. While the cases are distinctive, especially regarding the financial and political power of governments and socio-cultural conditions, their study affords more general insights into the role of sports events in modernising states seeking to assert identities and enhance standing internationally.
Sports events and tourism
Events as a whole are the subject of a growing literature (Mair & Whitford, 2013) and one key form is sports events, which is also an essential component of sports tourism (Weed, 2009), encompassing active and passive modes of participation (Gibson, 2005). Academic and practitioner interest has increased in recent decades as certain events such as the FĂ©dĂ©ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup have become larger and of greater commercial significance, involving substantial amounts of money and reaching a global audience of millions. Effects are not confined to tourism and premier events are welcomed by authorities as a catalyst of infrastructure and economic development alongside regeneration. A widely studied example is the Olympic Games (Roche, 2006), which are exceptional because of their size and contests of smaller scale may be a more realistic option for many locations, perhaps packaged with complementary entertainment to lengthen visitor stay and spending. Although prestigious sporting tournaments are acknowledged to be a tourism resource with the ability to attract visitors, including recipients of corporate hospitality, there is less agreement about whether actual returns justify the high levels of investment (Weed, 2014). A destinationâs regular tourism may be disrupted and visitors displaced or discouraged by fears of price hikes and overcrowding. Surpluses of accommodation and venue capacity can result, as well as opportunities for corruption, and funding can be directed away from areas deemed more worthwhile for resident communities (Euromonitor International, 2011). There are additional adverse political, social and environmental impacts to take into account, which confound authoritative conclusions about whether benefits outweigh costs in the tourism and broader economies (Henderson et al., 2010).
Events do not only function as a visitor attraction or strategic economic tool. They are instrumental in place branding, which is now commonly employed by national and subnational administrations (Chalip & Costa, 2005). Moreover, events help transmit officially endorsed representations to foreign and domestic audiences in accordance with aspirations if not realities. China, for example, saw the 2008 Summer Olympics as a vehicle for articulating the countryâs status as a global leader and bolstering a sense of pride and accomplishment amongst the Chinese people. Authorities in South Africa too allied the 2010 FIFA World Cup to the vision of a land of promise where crime and poverty were diminishing (Cornelissen & Swart, 2006). For newly emerging and less developed countries, a successful bid and event demonstrates and inspires confidence in the financial and other capabilities of government which can yield political capital internally and abroad. It is a reminder that modernisation is occurring, challenging conventional stereotypes, and a sign of membership of the international community (Horne & Manzenreiter, 2006). Events can provide a rationale for environmental improvements and promote the well-being of citizenry by motivating them to take up healthy sports (Preuss, 2007) and such positive legacies are increasingly prominent in hosting bids. Once largely confined to the Western world where destinations were more likely to be able to meet funding and infrastructural demands, events are acquiring a more prominent position in Asia and the Middle East (Weber & Ali-Knight, 2012) as their tourism industries mature and socioeconomic development occurs. Some of the wealthier states in the Gulf have been at the forefront of this movement, exemplified by UAE members and Qatar as recounted below after some background information about the territories in order to set the scene.
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar in context
The UAE lies to the east of Qatar, the southern borders of which have been disputed between the two and adjacent Saudi Arabia. The UAE occupies 83,600 square kilometres, almost all of which is desert, and has a coastline of 64 kilometres. The majority of the population of 7.9 million live on the coast where summer temperatures and humidity can reach 46°C and 100%, respectively, with average rainfall of 42 millimetres. Inland, the desert has cool winters and hot dry summers. Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven autonomous sheikhdoms, followed by Dubai and Sharjah. Much of the landscape of Qatar, an Arabian Gulf peninsula of 11,251 square kilometres, is also desert with areas of rolling dunes in the southeast and more elevated ground in the northwest. The coastline is sandy and stretches 563 kilometres. Summer temperature too can surpass 45°C, accompanied by humidity of over 85%, but fall to 10°C and 20°C in the winter and yearly precipitation averages 39 millimetres. Most of the population of 2 million reside in the capital of Doha.
Once part of the Ottoman Empire and then a British Protectorate, Qatar rejected affiliation with the UAE on independence and became a republic in 1971. The government has been headed by Sheihk Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani since 2013 when he took over from his father and the family has long been influential in the territory. There is an Advisory Council which is wholly appointed and a cabinet, but these do not have legislative responsibilities and political parties are illegal. The UAE is governed by a Supreme Council comprising all leaders of the families ruling individual emirates, which are granted a degree of autonomy, and the emir of Abu Dhabi (Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan) is the President. The administration also includes an advisory Federal National Council, half of whom are appointed and the remainder elected. Oil and gas industries have catalysed modernisation and urbanisation and citizens had an estimated GDP per capita of $73,266 (all monetary figures in US dollars) in 2015; hydrocarbon deposits are not distributed evenly, however, and Abu Dhabi is the richest (EIU, 2016a). Reserves are also found in Qatar and have given Qataris one of the worldâs highest GDP per head, at $143,343 in 2015 (EIU, 2016b). There is awareness of the need for economic diversification to lessen reliance on finite supplies of oil and gas; this underlies UAE efforts to develop as a hub for finance, trade, transport and tourism (EIU, 2016a) and the 2030 Qatar National Vision which envisages Qatar as a leading centre for business and finance (EIU, 2016b).While Islamic, levels of orthodoxy vary and Dubai in particular exhibits a cosmopolitanism unusual in the Middle East. The presence of migrant workers from expatriate professionals to manual labourers cannot be overlooked and more than 75% of Dubaiâs inhabitants and those of Abu Dhabi are from overseas (Henderson, 2014) while only around 12% of Qatarâs inhabitants are nationals. Qatari society has traditionally been conservative and adheres to the Wahhabist school of Islam propounded in Saudi Arabia, although an easing of some constraints has been observed in Doha (Henderson, 2015).
Tourism arrivals and attractions
Tourism in the UAE is dominated by Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and an estimated 8.4% of the whole federationâs GDP was earned directly and indirectly by the industry in 2014 (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2015a). Dubaiâs hotel revenue was $6.5 billion for 2014 when foreign hotel guests numbered 11.6 million. Saudi Arabia was the main market followed by India, the United Kingdom, the United States, Iran, Oman, China, Kuwait, Russia and Germany (ETN, 2015). Leisure is the primary reason for visiting and the official website (DTCM, 2015a) divides offerings into three themes of discover (world famous attractions, festivals, events and exhibitions), shop, dine, relax (shopping, cuisine, spas, beach and beach clubs) and see, thrill and play (adventure, sport, entertainment and the arts, nature, heritage and culture). Dubai is a transport hub served by Emirates Airlines, which has an increasingly comprehensive global route network and work underway will raise airport capacity from 60 million passengers to 80 million passengers by 2018 (Dubai Airports, 2015).
Abu Dhabi recorded 3.49 million tourists in 2014, 1 million of whom were from other emirates, and revenues of $272 million. India, the United Kingdom, Germany, China and the United States were other principal generators (The National, 2015). Business travel predominates, yet Visit Abu Dhabi (2015a) promises attractions and landmarks (family, iconic, cultural), experiences and activities (summer season, golf, motor sports and karting, water sports, sports and clubs, tours, cultural experiences, horse riding, activities), shopping and lifestyle (luxury retail, shopping malls, lifestyle and community, centres and bargain outlets, traditional markets and souks) and leisure (wellness and spa, dining, events). It too has a very ambitious airline, Etihad, which is adding new routes and an airport being enlarged to handle 30 million passengers annually by 2017 (Abu Dhabi Airports, 2015).
A total of 2.8 million visited Qatar in 2014 and injected $7.6 billion into the economy, contributing 5.1% of GDP overall (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2015b). Other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounted for 40% of the total with 28% from Asia and Oceania and 15% from Europe (Bqdoha, 2015). Business travellers account for most visitors and vacationers make up only 10% of demand (Cighi & Gandhi, 2011). Advertised leisure attractions are outdoor pursuits, entertainment, dining, shopping and sightseeing at natural and cultural heritage locations (QTA, 2015a). Doha is the centre of activity and its modern cityscape is a striking illustration of Gulf urban transformation (Rizzo, 2013). It is the place of entry for most air passengers and the airport, base for the rapidly expanding Qatar Airways, has become a stopover and transit point. Airport capacity recently was augmented to 30 million passengers annually and was planned to reach 50 million in the next phase, although the 2015 deadline was not met (Civil Aviation Authority, 2015).
Tourism policy making
There is a National Council of Tourism Antiquities, dating from 2009, which represents the UAE collectively under the slogan of âSeven Emirates One Destination.â It acts as a coordinator and supports expansion alongside conservation (NCTA, 2015). Promotion and development are largely carried out at an emirate level by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Tourism and Culture (TCA), formed in 2012 by a merger between tourism and culture agencies, and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai which had its origins in the late 1980s. The latterâs vision is of Dubai as a âleading destination for global travel, business and events by 2020â with an economy strengthened by tourist spending and inward investment (DTCM, 2015b). For the TCA, the goal is âevolution into a world-class, sustainable destination which makes a unique contribution to the global cultural landscape while conserving its singular character and ecosystemâ (TCA, 2015). Tourism is an ingredient of wider development strategies and features in Abu Dhabiâs 2030 Economic Vision (Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development, 2008) and Dubaiâs 2021 Strategic Plan (The Executive Council, 2014), the latter also possessing a Tourism Vision 2020 (DTCM, 2015c).
Amongst common elements are emphasis on business and higher-end leisure travellers as well as education and healthcare, but Abu Dhabi is distinguished by an interest in culture. This is demonstrated by the new Zayed National Museum and branches of the Guggenheim and Louvre under construction and designed by star architects (Ponzini, 2011; McClellan, 2012). Dubaiâs approach has been described as one of âbigger, better, brasherâ (Stephenson & Ali-Knight, 2010, p. 280) evidenced by large-scale purpose-built attractions such as shopping malls and theme parks. The Mall of the World is one of several ongoing projects and slated to have the âworldâs largest mall, largest indoor park, cultural theatres and wellness resortsâ with over 100 hotels in an area of 740,000 square metres (Dubai Holding, 2014). The staging of the 2020 World Expo is stimulating new development, the government allotting $8 million to related infrastructure (HSBC Global Connections, 2014), in pursuit of a targeted 20 million tourists that year (Euromonitor International, 2015).
The Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) was founded in 2007 to promote the country as a âquality tourism destination for leisure, business, education and sportsâ (QTA, 2015b). These markets are referred to in a 2004 tourism master plan which highlights the importance of luxury travellers (Akkawi, 2010). Spending has correspondingly taken place and the government is reported to have allocated $20 billion to the tourism sector in the period 2008â2014 (Khodr, 2012). Qatar is eager to stress its role as a centre of learning and diplomacy as well as business (Rizzo, 2013), investing in conference facilities and attracting foreign universities. Attention has also been given to cultural amenities and regional and global marketing (Euromonitor International, 2012, 2013). Projects worth $8.48 million are currently in progress and include a convention centre, shopping mall, museum and marina (Bqdoha, 2015). The industry is acknowledged to play a part in economic diversification and thereby attainment of the National Vision.
The pro-tourism stances of governments and their willingness and ability to spend on physical plants are major factors underlying the recent expansion in tourism in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar (Euromonitor International, 2014). Limitations of climate and inhospitable terrain have been partially overcome and cities have been erected which are âmonuments of modernity, progress and national prestigeâ (Khalaf, 2006, p. 257), the outcome of what Adham (2009, p. 218) terms a âconfluence of strategies of consumerism, entertainment and global tourism....
