On the eve of the world’s biggest sporting event, a tourism expert has issued a warning about what tourism is meant to achieve and who benefits from it.
Professor Sally Everett says that soaring costs associated with the FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico revealed deeper questions about who global sporting events are really designed for.
She believes the World Cup risks becoming a tournament designed around “high-value visitors” rather than ordinary football fans.
Professor Everett, author of Decolonising Tourism Education, argues that modern mega-events increasingly prioritise visitors with the economic means to absorb fluctuating prices, hospitality packages and cross-country travel costs.
“There is something problematic here in the idea of value. You are actually shifting from fans of a World Cup to high value visitors that the destination is after,” Professor Everett said on the Office Hours podcast.
“It is about how the system is designed for most mega events. This is not your average fan.”
Drawing on her research into previous mega-events including the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and London, Professor Everett questioned whether the economic benefits promised by host cities genuinely reach local communities:
“We still have this default about revenue and viewership and how we create international prestige. But actually, often the revenue is diverted away from health, away from education.”
She added that host destinations often struggle to create meaningful long-term local benefit once the event itself has ended.
“I’d love to see greater engagement with host communities that actually do gain.”
She added that future organisers of large events should move beyond revenue and prestige as the main measures of success.
“If we can redefine the metrics that we use to actually look at social impact, accessibility, community welfare, and wellbeing, then at least we’re moving towards something that is a little bit more successful.”
The World Cup begins on June 11.
