Abstract
The paper provides an analytical review of the social, economic, and political cost and benefits of the Beijing Olympic 2008 Games. The Olympics is a global event that brings the attention of the world on the host country and especially in the host city. As a result, it brings massive opportunities for growth, development, and regeneration of such a city in many aspects such as the environment, housing, infrastructure, investments, and the overall economic growth. Seeing as the global attention descends on the host city like Beijing, it also means that thousands of people get to visit the city. In this regard, the Olympics had massive social and political ramifications for the local and national leadership of China. Studies indicate that the excitement and surge of benefits during the Olympics subside after the games are over; however, it is crucial to note that the lasting effects of such a massive event linger and might provide a platform for regeneration and redevelopment of targeted areas and projects within the city. Beijing benefited from such regeneration in the aftermath of the Beijing Olympic 2008 Games. This paper aims to evaluate these changes with its principal target on the socioeconomic development and regeneration; it will focus on the inbound investment and the development of wider infrastructure in Beijing, and not just the parts that were utilized by the sporting events.
Literature Review
According to Bowman (1997), the Olympic Games command the prestige and admiration of many people in the world; as a result, hosting such a momentous event has become the envy of many cities throughout the world. The core story of the Olympic Games is “the fulfillment of the dreams of young athletes”. They also capture the imagination of millions across the world because they represent the culmination of hard work, talent, determination, and global social, environmental, and cultural diversity and legacy. Overall, the Games command the attention of the world whenever they are held (Su, 2001). As a result, it has become massively desirable and competitive to host the games. Aside from the prestigious honor accorded on the host cities, many local governments or city leaderships seek to be hosts because of other equally massive aspects. Examples of these factors include the socioeconomic benefits infrastructural regeneration that benefit not only the leadership but also the ordinary residents of the city in the aftermath of the Games and when the glare of the world moves elsewhere.
In the past, the Games were considered a primary source of entertainment for hoards of people watching. However, this stance has markedly shifted in recent years. The Olympic Games and other global major sporting events such as the Football World Cup have become increasingly commercialized (Chen, Li & Zhao, 2008). Therein is the massive attraction or allure of hosting the Games; this is the reason why the choice of Beijing to host the Games was termed as “momentous” and a “game-changer” for the city and China overall. China had faced massive challenges in the bidding process with the Olympics Committee as well as other concerns regarding its human rights record and issue surrounding Climate Change.
However, the successful hosting of the Olympic Games 2008 has established many gains for Beijing and China as a whole in areas such as the environment, politics as well as economics as well. The concern on Beijing’s air quality because of the massive industrial emissions in the city was a major concern going into the Games. However, the city cooperated with the Chinese national authorities to clean the air for the duration of the Games (Li, 2008). This was a significant recognition of the perils of the unsustainable industrialization policy pursued by China. The development of stadia, infrastructure housing, and the hospitality infrastructure had massive economic effects on the city and its residents. The major infrastructural projects created many jobs during the lead-up and the Games (Wu, 2008). However, the roads and housing properties that were developed are beneficial to the residents of the City in the aftermath of the Games. Facilities such as the Bird’s Nest became a national treasure that allows sportswomen and men to access the best training facilities in the world. Politically, the city experienced protests during the Games against environmental issues and political heavy-handedness of the government; this also included the issue of free speech (Chen, Li & Zhao, 2008). However, the government learned ways to address these problems without causing international outrage when the global attention and glare was on its capital.
China’s tourism sector was significantly affected by the Olympic Games 2008 because of the apparent influx of people into Beijing. Additionally, the Games continued a massive infomercial for Beijing and the country as a whole in the lead up, during, and the aftermath of the event. In this case, the “China’s inbound tourism” statistics are a good indicator of the direct impact of Beijing Olympics 2008 on this service sector and the legacy of the event in the country as well (Tosun, 2001; Shaalan, 2005). In 2008, the US financial crisis affected many economies around the world; the service sector was strongly affected including the tourism industry. Tourism is driven primarily by surplus income, which dries up during economic hardships such as this crisis that started in the US and spread to other major economies in the world. Despite this, the tourism sector in China remained steady. In 2009, the sector contracted by 2.7 percent; this can be expected because of the aftermath effect of the Olympic Games 2008. In 2010, the sector expanded significantly as the total tourist arrivals in the country grew by 5.8 percent. These statistics indicates that sector fought through the global financial crisis to remain steady in the region during the Olympic year, it dipped in the following year because of the mass exits of people responsible for organizing and witnessing the games (Chen, 2007). However, the infrastructure developed in the country and the global infomercial established a framework that has helped develop the Chinese tourism industry in subsequent years as it has seen an uptick and growth. It recorded growth in 2015 as it kept with the upward trend; additionally, the economic recovery in the West and China’s robust growth figures have buoyed the travel and tourism sector in remarkable growth (Aguiloe, Egre & Sard, 2005).
China is revamping its tourism sector through the passing of the Outline for National Tourism and Leisure, which aims to enforce the “paid leave” policy to allow more and more families to partake in tourism and leisure (Chen, 2007). This is meant to expand the internal tourism, but it is also expected to increase outbound tourism. It also aimed at enabling the development of a sustainable industry to enable the country to diversify from the manufacturing-dependent economy it has built.
Methods
The study focused primarily on the use of secondary data. In this case, it employed the mixed method that comprised of both qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data provided the meanings, explanations, descriptions, and definitions of the major aspects encountered during the study (Tosun, 2001). The data will be collected mainly from annual publications, journals, books, newspapers, and magazines.
Results
In the pre-games build up, Beijing experienced a housing boom. The government invested massive sums of money in preparing for the event in building the grand Bird’s Nest as well as other infrastructural developments. The government invested around $40 billion in developing infrastructure alone between 2002 and 2006 (Ong, 2004). The Chinese slogan of “One World, One Dream” was an indication of China embracing the world and its diversity including on issues such as environmental protection and free speech.
The tourism sector experienced massive changes. Between 2008 and 2009, the sector marginally decreased (total tourist arrivals) by 1.4 percent and 2.7 percent respectfully. However, the industry rebounded in 2010 by posting a growth of 5.8 percent (total tourist arrivals). Subsequently, the sector has experienced steady growth.
The trend from 2010 indicates an upward trend for the tourism industry in China. For example, in 2015, it recorded an increase of 3.8 percent. The surge in the tourism industry is an indication of China’s continued diversification from the manufacturing-based economy it is known for globally. In this case, the Olympics played a massive role in displaying its potential and attraction to the outside world (Jin & Zhang, 2015). The inbound tourism growth in China in recent years is illustrated below:
Sourcces: (Ong, 2004)
The country has also aimed to make targeted changes to the tourism sector in the post-Beijing Olympic 2008 to shore up the sustainability of the industry and step up the diversification of the Chinese economy that is too reliant on the manufacturing sector and exports (Chong, 2013). Part of the policy is the enactment of the “paid leave” policy that aims to build the private tourism sector by allowing or encouraging people to partake in leisure activities. The Olympics helped the development of roads within the major host cities such as Beijing and Hong Kong (Ong, 2004). Therefore, it contributed to shore up the travel, hotel, and tourism industry (hospitality) in these cities. The development of hotels and other housing projects have helped establish a framework on which the tourism sector has grown and expanded in the post-Beijing 2008 Olympics. Additionally, the country has addressed the environmental concern caused by the industrial emissions in Beijing and its suburbs. Part of the Olympics legacy in 2008 was that the Chinese authorities instituted strategic approaches to curb such emissions and thus, improve the air quality in its cities. This helped increase the inbound tourism index.
Discussion and Conclusion
According to the results, the Beijing Olympics 2008 has had a massive legacy in China. The core areas affected include the infrastructural development as well as the growth and expansion of the hospitality industry (hotels, tourism, and travel) (Ploner & Robinson, 2012). Although 2008 experienced massive international financial turmoil, and a crush of the tourism sector in Europe and North America, China kept its inbound tourism steady, and the contraction was contained to the minimum (Gage, Xie & Canrill, 2013). This can be attributed to the effect of hosting the Olympics that year. It led to a massive influx of people, investors, businesses, and a surge in government spending on infrastructural development as it sought to put on a massive show for the world. The following year (2009) also experienced a contraction because more people were leaving the country and the “high” of the Olympics was dissipating. However, the infrastructural foundation and the social framework that the Olympic helped build was ready to grow and expand the sector (Gage, Xie & Canrill, 2013). This was observed in the subsequent years as the Olympics; the sector started growing strongly as the industry expanded.
The Chinese government has made massive efforts to ensure that the gains in this sector are sustained through the Outline for National Tourism and Leisure, which aims to enforce the “paid leave” policy to allow more and more families to partake in tourism and leisure (Jin & Zhang, 2015). This builds on the exposure or marketing that the Olympics offered Chinese culture and other significant resources and attractions for the outside world.
The development of the housing sector (housing boom) and roads in the build-up to the Games was a major gain for the communities or residents of Beijing. It means that the road network is effective and helps the conducting of businesses. At the same time, the addressing of the issue of environmental protection ensured that the city and the Chinese authorities acknowledge that something needed to be done (Jin & Zhang, 2015). Policies and strategies to clean the air in the cities such as Beijing were a massive win for the residents that often struggle with respiratory disorders and other complications.
Therefore, the Beijing Olympics 2008 played a crucial role in the regeneration of the city’s major infrastructure, environmental aspects, as well as interacting with the rest of the world and selling its tourism industry.
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