The UK has staged 130 major international events since 2012 and has identified a further 97 similar opportunities over the decade from 2021, with football’s 2028 men’s European Championship the highest-profile of these. The 11 major events other than the Commonwealth Games staged in the country during 2022 have been assessed as generating a combined £132 million in direct economic impact (Mintel, 2023).
While price has been, and still is, the most prominent purchase driver for many consumers over the past 18 months, sustainability is still high up on the agenda. 40% of consumers most want brands to prioritise sustainable practices while trying to keep prices low, and the majority say the environment has remained the same level of priority to them (Mintel, 2023)
Points to consider:
Although events are not necessarily the same as retail purchases, do attendees want events they attend to be sustainable?
Does the events sector have an obligation to contribute towards the SDGs and sustainability/climate change agenda and engendering positive change?
Are events a visitor attraction?
What can events do to move towards more sustainable practices and what are the benefits for the asscoiated stakeholders?
The Attraction 
Events aren’t primarily the visitor attraction, however they draw in a large number of tourists and attendees. The venue in which the events are held would be the aspect that is considered the tourist attraction, as well as this, tourists would also explore the city or town in which the event is held in. This has a significant boost on the economy for the city/town but can have major negative impacts towards the environmental and social impacts. Buying behaviours have adapted towards the economic crisis’s that have built up over the UK and the world. The UK population are facing major increases in the price for everyday essentials which means sustainability isn’t their main priority when buying items. When booking tickets for an event, the customer is going to be persuaded more by the price rather than their sustainable impact. Therefore, with the main concern from customers being the price. It is crucial that events take it upon themselves to adapt sustainable practice in their operations. The global events industry was valued at £800 million in 2021 and is expected to grow to £2 trillion by 2028 (Jenkins, 2022). With the sector holding a major economic value, it is important for events to contribute towards the SDGs and promoting a positive change for all events worldwide.
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Significant attention was given to sustainability as a global issue in the late 20th century, specifically, sometime in 1987 (Asian Development Bank, 2012). Since then, various governments, businesses, organizations and individuals have tried to implement sustainable practices into different aspects of society (Piana, 2023). As I said before, popular mega-events or just large-scale events aren’t environmentally and socially sustainable in most cases. organizers and event attendees have noticed that mega-events are contributing to issues regarding the environment and ecosystem protection, but still, neither event organizers, attendees and other stakeholders do much in trying to be sustainable.
In theory, everyone should contribute towards SDGs, because the goals set up by the United Nation are ethical, to say the least, so events, with their popularity and influence could, in theory, spread awareness about SDG through different mediums, however, two of the goals set up by the UN have very little to do with events organizing. Events should be obligated to contribute towards the goals that they can actually have direct involvement into like promoting equality, equity, sustainability, and growth.
If attraction means any place of interest that attracts visitors, typically for cultural value, history or entertainment, then yes, some events can be considered attractions. It is more likely for an event to be considered an attraction if it takes place yearly and in the same location as previous years, music festivals are more likely to become “attractions”. When visiting certain countries, tourists might choose to attend music events that are recognised globally just for the experience of being there and not necessarily enjoying the type of music being played at said festival. One example of an event that is not music related but still attracts millions of people from around the world is Notting Hill Carnival in London (Altenberg, 2023).
Event managers can contribute towards environmental sustaiablity by trying to reduce waste at events by recycling, reusing and composting. the use of green energy can aso be implemented by using energy from renewable resuerces (water, wind, sun).
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