This timely volume brings theory and practice together in one place to produce a critical appraisal of a phenomenon with a relatively recent history and is particularly suitable for students, researchers and academics of sports, events, tourism, and related subject fields focusing on the strategic and political dimensions of major events.
When we watch the Olympic Games, we are often not aware that their success or failure has been decided years before: in the bid phase. McGillivray and Turner examine those formative few years that can make or break an event. Their book brings a much-needed critical edge to event bidding and sends a resounding message: "If we want to have better events, we need to rethink the bidding." Time to listen up, not just for event researchers, but also for aspiring host cities and countries of the world. Martin Müller, Professor at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland
There are now more cities than ever before bidding to host events, and destinations bidding for events need to get smarter about the bidding process. This book not only discusses strategies to develop successful event bids with rich case studies and examples but also provides insights into the theoretical underpinnings of current practice which is useful to understand other aspects on event bidding. It is important reading for all students studying events and destination management and current industry practitioners. Insun Sunny Lee, Senior Lecturer in Event and Tourism Management, University of South Australia, Australia
The Bid process and related politics remains an underrepresented area in the events literature and thus this book is a welcome addition to the event studies landscape. The authors offer a unique critical cultural studies perspective on the bid process, reflecting the contemporary issues associated with capital outlay of the bid as spectacle as well as the resistance to such costly urban entrepreneurial endeavours. The cases presented offer valuable ?perspectives from both the mega-event realm emphasising the nation building approach to the cultural politicking played by a city to secure a historical mythology of urban transformation. Laura Misener, Associate Professor of Sport Management, School of Kinesiology, Western University, Canada
"The last line of this long-overdue addition to the event management literature acknowledges the co-author's desire to see further/future research on this discrete area of study. McGillivray and Turner conclude with four closely-related thoughts on the future, three of which focus on the need for structured and strategic reform (the other focuses on the predicted rise of social resistance). They're not presented as recommendations, but observations and predictions based on everything that they have uncovered as a direct consequence of producting this excellent, equally thought-provoking, read. The final thoughts, much like the insightful content that precedes them, are presented in a manner that effectively forces the reader to reflect upon the theories, arguments and evidence found within Parts I, II and III, if not the two case studies presented in Part IV." D. McGillivray and D. Turner, Oxon, Routledge
