ICOM 892 Session 11

1
ICOM 892Session 11

• Sport, Culture Education

2
Introduction

• There are a number of activities which can boost
  your corporate image and make friends. Some of
  these tend to be ephemeral and others longer
  lasting
• These include cultural diplomacy, sporting events
  and education of foreign students
• Your readings cover mega-events like the Olympic
  Games and the World Cup but there are others, eg
  Commonwealth Games, international rugby, test
  cricket, tennis

3
Mega-events

• Mega-events like the Olympic Games get a lot of
  free publicity for the host country which is why
  nations spend mega-bucks to get mega-events.
• As well as the actual sporting events, foreigners
  come to visit your country and do other things so
  these events boost ordinary tourism which means
  money
• Often, foreign TV and print media do stories on
  your country as an adjunct to the actual games
  of course, something can go wrong and you may get
  negative stories but usually they are positive
• Non-sporting events can sometimes have the same
  effect even if on a lesser scale, eg Adelaide
  The Ring
• So you get a burst of world attention which goes
  wider than the actual event

4
Religious Events

• Religious events can be mega-events like sports.
  For example, The Federal Government contributed
  20 million towards the staging of a Roman
  Catholic pilgrimage in Sydney and the NSW
  Government a lot more. It is justified by noting
  that we will get large numbers of tourists
  (pilgrims) who will spend lots of money. This has
  become controversial. Did it pay off?
• The annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj) is a major
  event for Saudi Arabia and brings in tourist
  dollars as well as management challenges
• These events, and others like them, have a
  genuine religious importance for the faithful but
  they also have their secular aspects.

5
Sport

• Less spectacular sporting links can also be
  helpful as Bubalo suggests in the readings
  again, it can go wrong if the losing team hates
  you, but over a period sporting links tend to be
  positive eg. Australians know little about the
  West Indies except that they are good cricketers
• International sport also brings people together
  and travellers to your country
• While mega-events normally have only a short term
  effect, long term relationships like test cricket
  keep coming back
• Players may move from your country to play for a
  team in another country thus boosting your
  reputation

6
Sport Tourism

• If you want to follow up sport tourism in detail,
  look at Ritchie, Brent W. Daryl Adair (eds.)
  2004 Sport Tourism Channel View Publications,
  Clevedon.
• In addition to some of the points we have made,
  this book mentions the Olympic Museum in
  Lausanne and shows how some sporting tourism
  shares things in common with religious
  pilgrimages.

7
World Cup

• Australias entry into the World Cup has been an
  enormous PR coup for soccer in Australia. The
  media coverage is unprecedented. You cant buy
  that kind of publicity.
• Germany also gained as the host nation both by
  stories about Germany and by a large audience for
  its opening show.
• Are there any other gains?

8
Security

• Security is a growing concern with major events.
  Munich and Atlanta had problems and people
  sometimes remember the problems instead of the
  good things. China had tight security.
• Things like the Olympic games are an obvious
  target for terrorists and host nations must spend
  a lot of money on security measures and do things
  that may irritate participants, spectators and
  their own citizens.
• Relatively close or authoritarian societies can
  run into problems with foreign media, e.g. China.

9
Cultural Diplomacy

• Cultural Diplomacy is a well established
  practice by sending musicians, actors and
  artists to another country you hope to draw
  attention to the high quality of your culture and
  get people interested in your country
• There is a general corporate image angle but you
  may also want to influence elites
• Most countries do this and some spend a lot of
  money on it sometimes you are showing that you
  have high standards in international arts (eg
  Australian opera singers) or you may want to
  introduce people to your culture (eg Chinese
  dance troops/Peking Opera)
• The staging of plays by your countrys authors is
  useful and film festivals are a common form of
  cultural diplomacy

10
Value?

• Opinions differ on just how valuable these
  activities are. For the most part, they are aimed
  at corporate image although, as we have seen,
  some events can bring in tourist dollars as well
• Sport or the arts may provide access to a
  prominent figure who is interested in that
  activity but clearly this is not a long term
  prospect eg Boris Yeltsin loved tennis
• Mega-events like the Olympic Games are soon over
  and it is somebody elses turn.
• Sporting and cultural activities tend therefore
  to be of short term advantage but education lasts
  longer
• People back home like to feel proud of their
  athletes or performers so they are usually happy
  to see money spent on these activities.

11
Education

• People who study in your country usually learn
  something about it and you hope they will go back
  with a positive impression if they have an
  Australian degree, foreign students have a vested
  interest in boosting Australian education
• Some education is purely commercial but often it
  is wholly or partly subsidised eg Colombo Plan
  scholarships, Fulbright,
• It may be politically motivated eg USSR and USA
  during the cold war
• People trained in your methods are more likely to
  know, and therefore buy, your products
• A knowledge of your language by foreigners is
  obviously good for you, eg Alliance Française,
  Goethe Institute

12
Course Summary

• We have covered a lot of territory but I have
  tried to give you some theoretical frameworks and
  some practical hints that will enable you to
  practice public relations/diplomacy and to
  understand what others are doing.
• We have covered international public relations
  and advertising with emphasis on government
  activities like propaganda and public diplomacy.
• All these things are inter-connected.

13
Feedback

• In preparing this course, I have included some
  suggestions made by previous students.
• I would welcome any comments you may have on how
  I could improve it.

14
Payback Time

• I am handing out the evaluation forms which is
  your chance to get back at me.
• All responses are anonymous.
• Forms will be read by a scanner so please make a
  clear mark inside the circle and do not fold the
  form.
• A volunteer will collect the forms and put them
  in a sealed envelope which I will then give to
  CPD for processing

15
Discussion

• Discuss the relative merits of one off mega
  events like hosting the Olympic Games or the
  World Cup versus long term links like Test
  Cricket.
• Does the good will generated by mega-events
  translate into positive benefits in the long
  term?
• What benefits for Australia do the overseas
  students in our group see from their study here?