A new phase of global bid growth

As the rewards of hosting become more diverse, a growing number of cities and regions around the world are vying to host major events

Speaking at the Legacy Lives conference in London in March 2010, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) major events expert, Greg Clark, said the world's cities occupy "a crowded global system that is increasingly in competition between the biggest and the best."

To demonstrate this surge in bidding activity, he cited an observation by the Mayor of Barcelona, who said that hosting the Olympics in 1992 was a great thing, but Barcelona did not have to beat Paris, New York, Rio, Madrid, Tokyo and Moscow to get there.

"Something has happened in the 20 years that intervened," said Clark. "And that something is a new phase in the process of global economic integration. Different kinds of places are bidding for major events and they are doing it for rather different reasons."

Who is bidding and why?
The main drivers of this growth are new markets such as China, South Africa, India, Russia, Brazil and Turkey. "It is much more important for emerging economies to use events as positioning activities," Clark said. "China wants to position itself as global partner, a key player in the global system."

But the less developed the economy, the higher the risk of hosting. "Developing countries have to match the event to what they need much more clearly," he warned.

While emerging markets are the most prominent feature of the changing face of global bidding, cities from more advanced economies are also using events as development mechanisms. "Glasgow and Manchester are regeneration cities that are shifting from an industrial mode, to knowledge or service modes," Clark said.

Established world cities such as London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Madrid and Hong Kong are also competing fiercely to host mega-events. "The competition to be the world's premier world city is being played out in the process of trying to host the world's most important events."

This competition to host is not restricted to the world's largest populations. Capital cities of smaller nations, such as Vilnius and Prague, are using events to reinvent themselves. Meanwhile, small nations that are more stable in terms of population and GDP, such as Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland, are also bidding for major events in order to remain visible on the world stage.

"For a country like New Zealand, hosting the America's cup, then hosting the Rugby World Cup, then bidding to host the Commonwealth Games makes complete sense, because for a small country in that kind of geographical location, you've got to regularly create reasons for people to visit."

Many other cities, including Barcelona, Turin, Brisbane, Melbourne and Rio, are bidding for events repeatedly. "Serial hosters use events as a pacing device, or as a catalyst for their long-term development," said Clark.