^Fool^s Gold^ or a ^Lottery Jackpot^? The Impact of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on China^s Economy Yuting Zhong
School of Human and Behavioural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK
Abstract
The Olympic Games are the largest, most visible and most expensive major events hosted by cities and countries. The reasons for bidding to host Olympic Games vary from city to city, in the past, the most compelling has been the huge economic benefits of the event as predicted by the economic impact studies. As a result, lots of developing economies have joined the bidding queue, insisting that they are entitled to share in the economic dividends and hopefully the Games to be a boost to the host city and country. Numerous economic impact studies before the Games often provide substantial estimates of the economic benefits. But it is often these estimates that contain such wide variations that one cannot help but worry about the accuracy of the estimates- and it is also true that cities hosting Olympic Games must invest heavily in sporting venues and other infrastructure. As a result, when these data are revisited several years later, these pre-Games projections rarely match reality. In this study, it shows that: 1. Beijing 2008 exceeded its budget- however, it did lead to a short-term increase in economic activity in the run-up to the opening. And economic issues played only a small role in China^s decision to host the Games. 2. Beijing 2008 was very successful in terms of Olympic merchandise sales. The BOCOG generated 66% more revenue than expected during the bid period and realised 382% through state sponsorship. 3. Non-sports related costs were typically several times higher than sports related costs during the Beijing 2008, so the Games bring the long term benefits such as general infrastructure, sports facilities and future sport tourism, it had a significant impact on China^s urban development.
