Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how the city of Dubai branded itself as a major event holder for sustainable sporting events in the Gulf Region.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses both academic and trade literature as well as key informant interviews to demonstrate how Dubai can sustain its position as a choice for sustainable sporting events. The study evaluates the use of a portfolio of major sport events for place event marketing of Dubai. Both primary and secondary data were used. The secondary data was collected from a range of event reports, media and journal articles. The primary data featured a qualitative design of key informant interviews with sport, tourism and event stakeholders in Dubai.

Findings

Dubai hosts a wide array of major international sport events, with many of them recurring annually. The key success factors that have positioned Dubai as a globally competitive sport destination are tourism attractiveness, good event management and the diversity of events hosted in the region. However, the sustainability aspects are considered to be a contemporary topic to promote these events and are sometimes neglected from the perspective of event organisation. Some of the challenges experienced in supporting such a wide portfolio of major sport events are examined.

Research limitations/implications

Insufficient key informant interviews were a major limitation for the data collection process. The key informant interviews were sent out to more than 30 key stakeholders however it was not possible to get their responses in time for our paper. A second limitation was the lack of first-hand observation on the sporting events’ sustainability practices. This study could be extended in future by incorporating a bigger set of primary data, event observations and a cross comparison between other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Practical implications

It is recommended that empirical insights on social and commercial aspects of sustainability are sought in future studies. It is also recommended that investigations be conducted with the residents of Dubai concerning their perceptions of sustainability practices of sport events.

Social implications

The paper also highlighted the importance of key success factors that have helped to position Dubai as a globally competitive sustainable sport destination as well as some of the challenges experienced in supporting such a wide portfolio of major sport events.

Originality/value

This study takes a closer look at the challenges of communication as well as the sustainability of sport events in branding of Dubai.

中文翻译：

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从沙漠到城市：迪拜如何通过可持续的体育赛事打造自己的品牌？

目的

本文的目的是概述迪拜市如何将自己打造成海湾地区可持续体育赛事的主要赛事举办者。

设计/方法/方法

该论文使用学术和贸易文献以及关键知情人访谈来展示迪拜如何保持其作为可持续体育赛事选择的地位。该研究评估了大型体育赛事组合在迪拜场所事件营销中的使用情况。使用了主要和次要数据。辅助数据是从一系列事件报告、媒体和期刊文章中收集的。主要数据的特点是对迪拜体育、旅游和活动利益相关者的关键知情人访谈进行了定性设计。

发现

迪拜举办各种大型国际体育赛事，其中许多每年都会举办。将迪拜定位为具有全球竞争力的体育目的地的关键成功因素是旅游吸引力、良好的活动管理以及该地区举办的活动的多样性。然而，可持续性方面被认为是促进这些活动的当代话题，有时从活动组织的角度被忽视。研究了支持如此广泛的重大体育赛事所面临的一些挑战。

研究限制/影响

关键知情人访谈不足是数据收集过程的主要限制。关键知情人访谈已发送给 30 多个关键利益相关者，但无法及时获得他们对我们论文的回应。第二个限制是缺乏对体育赛事可持续性实践的第一手观察。未来可以通过纳入更大的原始数据、事件观察和其他海湾合作委员会国家之间的交叉比较来扩展这项研究。

实际影响

建议在未来的研究中寻求关于可持续性的社会和商业方面的经验见解。还建议就迪拜居民对体育赛事可持续性实践的看法进行调查。

社会影响

该文件还强调了有助于将迪拜定位为具有全球竞争力的可持续体育目的地的关键成功因素的重要性，以及在支持如此广泛的重大体育赛事方面所遇到的一些挑战。

原创性/价值

本研究仔细研究了迪拜品牌塑造中传播的挑战以及体育赛事的可持续性。