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5. Conclusion
The impacts of the Olympic Games for Australia and the Olympic Movement
are manifold. Here, only some of the biggest could be discussed.
From an economic point of view it is quite certain that SOCOG will manage
to wind up without a profit or deficit, supporting Australia's sport with US$ 113m
and paying the city of Sydney for transportation, police, water and waste. Even if
there is no positive effect in terms of business economy there is a macroeconomic
benefit. The estimated effect of the Olympics from 1994 to 2005 on NSW economic
welfare is just under AUS$ 3b, however, for Australia being almost AUS$ 3.8b.
Over these twelve years the impact of the Olympics on NSW real GDP will be
AUS$ 6.3b (Crowe 1997: 300.
Additionally, there are some intangible effects. What is the perception of
Australian culture, Australian products and Australian businesses - all the things
that went into making Sydney 2000 such a huge success? What are the changes
in the "brand Australia"? "Brand Australia" has great affinity to create a positive
perception to products and services from Australia. That's why one idea of
hosting the Games was to promote Sydney as a "global city" and to attract the
attention of the world in terms of investment opportunities (CEDA 1995: 6f),
quality of their products and tourism. All above, the effects mentioned — especially
the new structure - made Sydney offer much that appeals to a middlemanagement
view of the world. The quality of life in terms of its climate,
infrastructure, resident accommodation and recreational opportunities combined
with the brand perception of Australia after the Games may result in further
positive economic impulses. Besides that, long-term tourism is another essential
point to sustain momentum of the Games.
The social impact is difficult to measure and even extensive surveys will
probably never assign a phenomenon to the Olympics due to the fact that the
"base case" is unknown.
This paper did not focus on the negative impacts of the Sydney 2000 Olympic
Games. However, the groups affected negatively through the Olympics are rather
small and basically located in Sydney (see Preuss 2001b). The mainly positive
impacts of the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000 will motivate many cities to bid
for staging the Games in 2012. For the Australians it is to be hoped that they
will keep alive the welcoming spirit and enthusiasm so evident in the Olympic
volunteers.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics): available at www.abs.gov.au
ALOGOSKOUFIS, George: Speech at the International Conference
17 th -21 st February 2001: "The Economic Impact of Sports", PASEM, University
of Business and Economics, Athens 2001. AHLERT, G.: "The Economic Effects
of the Soccer World Cup 2006 in Germany
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