Reviving the Flame

The framework also demonstrates the struggle of
considering all kinds of legacies for all actors over a long
time. Organising a SME requires good city planning that will
match the stakeholders’ and events’ needs, to minimise
negative legacies. Simply put, the event should be
enshrined in the city’s development plan as much as
possible, to avoid useless investment that would
requisition planned funds (in the framework, field D
represents the investments for the city’s development
Figure 2 1st part of the Legacy Framework
Source: (Preuss, 2015)
inhibited by the requirements for the event).
The reader is presented in the context chapter what can already be considered a legacy for Sion 2026.
Nevertheless, the outcomes of an event never provide benefits to every people involved. Furthermore,
the notion of “new initiatives” highlights the idea that legacies are also opportunities to turn latent changes
(value in exchange) into positive outcomes (value in use). To boost positive outcomes, the preparation
phase of the event must include optional measures (Preuss, 2015). Chalip (2004) describe these measures
as “leverages”.
Studying leverage is a distinct approach by Chalip (2004), proposed to “identify and explore event
implementations that can optimise desired event outcomes”. Similarly, O’Brien (2006, p. 260) describes
events and the opportunities they offer as a “seed capital” and “what hosts do with that capital is the key
to realising sustainable longer-term legacies”. Leverage thus differs from legacy in that it is the
establishment of strategies and tactics, used to create the desired legacies (Chalip, 2014). In this optic,
Smith (2014) adds that the intention of leverage is to create a new line of thoughts and strategies, where
both the legacies and means to achieve them are planned prior to the event.
In the literature, different classifications of leveraging are found. On one side, long-term and immediate
leverage respectively focuses on destination’s image improvement over time, which can be done by
enhancing event advertising and reporting, and on instant economic impact by fostering event visitors
spending through four strategies (encouraging shopping activities, lengthening visitor stays, retaining event
expenditures, and creating and enhancing business relationships) (Chalip, 2004).
On the other side, leveraging projects can be either event-themed, which attempt to address key
concerns of the destination by using the event as a leitmotiv, or event-led, which concentrate on optimising
the event impacts through associated initiatives. It is of importance to highlight that event-led projects
would never exist without the mega-event, while event-themed interventions can survive over time (Smith,
2014).
Literature Review 10