My initial research showed me something that I wasn’t
expecting. I explored many articles that were after the 2014 World Cup before
the 2016 Olympics. I expected to find many reports of how the event brought stability
to the economy. But, I found out that that was not necessarily the case. The
World Cup failed to do much in the long-term (from an economic perspective) as
they predicted it was going to. I’m going to talk about what I found out about
this and then explore how it went after the 2016 Olympics, and find some
positives as well. Also, I will explore the sports culture specifically after I
touch on these issues.
Apparently, the 2016 Olympics will be no help for Brazil’s
struggling economy if last year’s World Cup is any guide. Most of the civilians
of Brazil are not excited about it. Contrary to government projections, Brazil
has failed to lure to its beaches and jungles. Many of the 3.5 billion TV
viewers that followed the tournament specifically. The flow of tourists to the
country of Brazil, which spent more to host the mega-event than any nation
before it, has remained flat from a year earlier since the final match July 13,
according to tour operators and an online search engine. Spending by foreign visitors
fell 7.4 percent from August through November, compared with a year earlier,
central bank data shows.
“Brazil has attractions; it doesn’t have competitive prices,
promotion, or infrastructure,” a man named Canteras said in a phone interview
from Sao Paulo. “The World Cup wasn’t the generator of tourists that was
expected.”
Brazil spent $11 billion on the World Cup, which was
supposed to increase the nation’s visibility and consolidate an image of
“happiness and receptivity” to boost its tourist potential, according to a
government-sponsored study on the economic benefits of the Cup published early
last year. Yet, there is no sign of that happening. “The Cup generated a lot of
interest but no lasting business,” said Salvador Saladino, head of the
Brazilian Incoming Travel Organization, an association representing travel
agencies. Reservations for 2015 showed no significant increase from recent
years, he said. Also, the number of consumers searching for trips to Brazil
went up in the months before the World Cup and then returned to “normal” levels
in the subsequent months, according to a study conducted by Skyscanner, a
travel search engine.
That could raise questions for companies that have bet on
growing tourism. For a business owner in Brazil’s perspective I did some
research as well. In 2013, Alvaro Diago, chief operations officer of
InterContinental Hotels Group Plc in Latin America, said the World Cup and the
Olympics would be an opportunity for Brazil to consolidate its tourism image
and that the company planned to triple the number of its hotels in Brazil to 39
during the next decade. He saw this, as many did, as an opportunity for a lot
of business. Not just for these events, but long-term. Unfortunately that just
has not happened.
Apparently a reason of this are the costs. Brazil is more
expensive to travel to than other global destinations. Another according to
tourism operators are that: few Brazilians speak foreign languages and not
enough are trained for the hotel or restaurant business; assaults and theft
scare off visitors; signs on roads and museums are poor in Portuguese, let
alone English; flights are expensive and scarce, burdened in part by federal
and state taxes.
The big question heading into the 2016 Olympics was would
these games help drag the economy and the country out of the hole or would it
just add to the burden. We know what the 2014 World Cup did as I just touched
on before. The country facing its worst recession in decades, with all of the
unemployment, inflation, and corruption.
Some positives did come from these games. It brought
awareness and pride to Brazilians said a female athlete who competed for Brazil
(and won gold) in the Olympics. She said her victory “brought adulation and
rare positive coverage of the community where she grew up.” She said that she
would return there as soon as her Olympic obligations are over: “I’ve received
so many messages, people are happy,” she said. “I think the Olympics are
helping the kids a lot.” She believes the Games helped Brazilians to become
aware of a greater diversity of sport beyond the usual staple of football. The
last two weeks have brought far more attention to women athletes. Some
Brazilian’s loved having the games held there. They got to attend events or go
places to watch these games (World Cup and Olympics) and see some of the best athletes
from all around the world. That’s something not many people can say.
There were differing opinions regarding the event(s). Some
called it a success and others called it a failure. For politicians and
administrators who have staked their careers on these Games, there were no
shortage of reasons to declare them a success: tourist numbers were reasonably
high (in excess of the 500,000 target, according to the government), sales
goals were reached, the infrastructure remained standing, Zika fears proved
unfounded and Brazil won more medals than at any previous Games. But there was
also plenty of evidence for critics who say the mega-event causes more harm
than good: massive spending on stadiums at a time when the government can
barely afford wages for doctors and teachers, a huge security presence that
protected rich foreigners at the expense of poor residents, and massive
inequalities.
So, as you can see, there are definitely opinions that
differ between the Brazilians. Some loved these events and others hated them. The
2014 World Cup was huge to Brazil. As a matter of fact any World Cup is huge to
them as soccer is easily the favorite and most popular sport in Brazil and it
has been for years. They are always favorites to win the whole tournament and
have had and do currently have some of the best players in the world. All the
World Cup did was let some fans or young soccer players have a taste of what it’s
like to experience this firsthand. It gives them something to aspire to, as
some of them will maybe be participating later down the road. Now what the 2016
Rio Olympics did sports-wise was give these people an opportunity to see not
only some of the best athletes in the world, but see these athletes perform in
sports that they don’t see as often. This could’ve been track and field,
basketball, swimming, gymnastics, and so much more. People getting to see these
events firsthand would then up the chances of participation and interest in
those sports. This diversifies the sports culture in Brazil by a lot.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/21/rio-olympics-residents-impact-future-legacy
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