Scotland’s 2020 vision for event hosting

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events at VisitScotland, shares his strategic vision of the next two years

Host City: Scotland has a great programme of major events coming up over the next two years – what are your expectations of these events?

Paul Bush OBE: There are a lot of great events taking place in Scotland in the next couple of years, and it comes off the back of a very successful 10-15 years where we’ve hosted some of the biggest and the finest events in the world, including the 2014 Commonwealth Games, The Ryder Cup, the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Champions, and the 2017 World Badminton Championships.

Over the coming years we will continue this trend with the Glasgow 2018 European Championships, The 2019 Solheim Cup, the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships, the LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 and UEFA EURO 2020.

With events playing a significant role in our visitor economy, this supply of events will ensure we continue to sustain and grow the sector while also delivering a positive impact both economically and socially for Scotland.

Host City: What kind of national assets will be used and developed over the next two years?

Paul Bush OBE: Through our national events strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage, we try to maximise our assets for events, whether it’s our natural environment, our people or our built facilities. The events we have coming up over the next two years will really take advantage of these and ensure they continue to deliver a legacy for Scotland. For instance, the Glasgow 2018 European Championships and the European Athletics Indoor Championships will make use of a facilities built for 2014 Commonwealth Games including Emirates Arena and the SSE Hydro, while at Hampden Park we’ve seen the installation of new LED screens in the East and West Stands as part of the development work being done in preparation for EURO 2020.

We’ll also see the addition of new assets like the Olympic standard BMX track being built at Knightswood Park for the European Championships as well as the opening of the new V&A Dundee this summer. Both of these new facilities will be a fantastic addition to our existing facilities and present great opportunities for future events in Scotland.

Host City: What does the events and festivals sector bring to Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018?

Paul Bush OBE: The Year of Young People 2018 is putting Scotland’s young people in the spotlight, celebrating their talents, contributions and creating new opportunities for them to express themselves through a wide range of activity.

As part of the year, we’ve developed a nation-wide programme which, for the first time, is entirely co-designed by young people and the events and festivals sector. The programme includes both new events and new programme strands for annual events – all of which reinforce Scotland's position as the perfect stage for events.  

Collaboration and co-production with young people is at the heart of the year, and the events and festivals sector are playing a crucial role in providing a wealth of opportunities and valuable experiences for young people to express themselves through culture, sport and a range of other activities. From music festivals to science takeovers, film festivals to touring theatre productions, the sector is putting young people in the driving seat – putting the power into their hands and giving them a wonderful opportunity to bring different generations together as well as showing the world what they are made of throughout 2018.

Host City: How does hosting important conferences such as Host City and your own National Events Conference help EventScotland to achieve its objectives?

Paul Bush OBE: Hosting conferences like Host City and our own National Events conference are extremely important to us as it is an opportunity to bring the industry together to share best practice and look at the challenges and opportunities we’re facing, both on a local and global scale. Doing this helps us achieve our aim of developing a strong and dynamic events industry that is producing a portfolio of events and festivals that delivers sustainable impact and international profile for Scotland.

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In 2015, Beijing and Zhangjiakou jointly won the bid for 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Beijing therefore became the first city that will hold both the summer and winter Olympic Games.

As the biggest, most influential and comprehensive sports event in the world, the Olympic Games has great importance for development. The Olympic legacies have provided resources and momentum for the city’s development.

In order to continue the success after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, we specifically established Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and a specific fund to develop of the city and our facilities.

Physical Games legacies

The broadcasting centre from the 2008 Olympic Games was converted into the China National Convention Centre after the Olympic Games, hosting more than 7,000 conferences including the Belt and Road Forum and the APEC summit. This conference centre is one of the Olympic Games legacies.

Other facilities like the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube have become landmarks of Beijing; these places are also hosting other major events. Eight facilities in Beijing will serve as venues for the Winter Olympic Games.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games also brought forward the construction of our metro system. Carrying more than 10 million people every day, it is the city’s biggest transportation system. During the organising of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games we did a lot to control pollution and traffic; we have made this a long-term effort in Beijing.

We continue to work on the sustainability of our facilities. We plan to use 25 facilities [in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou] for the Winter Olympic Games and are working with other organisations to comprehensively utilise these facilities, both for the Games and for future functions.

Our design and construction teams are all engaged in this process of making plans for legacy. For example, the Wukesong Arena can be transformed into the venue for ice hockey from basketball within six hours.

We will also promote the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei area. The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and Zhangjiakou will become very important drivers for economic development in the region. The coordinated development in this region will be closely related to the Olympic Games and they will be mutually beneficial. They will have better transportation and industries will also be boosted.

We will also work on environmental protection; public services will also be further enhanced and this will be a pilot project for the coordination of this region. More benefit to welfare will be brought to this region and its people.

The Olympic spirit

The Olympic Games influence people to participate in sports activities as part of the daily routine. In Beijing, people benefited greatly from the spirit of the Olympic Games. More than half of our citizens are frequent participants in sports activities. Our people are constantly improving their health.

We’ve also got the legacy of talent from the Olympic Games. Beijing 2008 cultivated a large number of high quality organisers of sporting events who have gone one to work on, for example, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games; and in 2019 we are hosting the Military World Games and other major international events, all reflecting the talent.

More than half of our staff for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games will be from the 2008 summer Olympic Games organising committee.

We place great importance on legacy, making a very inclusive model for our organising work so that all people can engage in the Olympic Games and share its benefits.

We will also continue to work on education, volunteering and spreading the Olympic spirit, so that the general public will be more active and healthy in their lifestyle.

With the leadership of the Chinese government we want to conduct a wonderful and excellent winter Olympic games and fully implement green ideas and cost reduction.

We pay special attention to winter sports in China. In China, winter sports are mainly concentrated in the northern area. With the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, we hope to ignite the torch of winter sports in China and we try to engage more than 300 million people to participate in winter sports, at the same time trying to cultivate a high professional level and give us a good legacy of winter sports talent.

We will also endeavour to promote equipment manufacturing in winter sport and create great momentum in this global industry.

We will also work hard on the cultural legacy. The world will witness the Olympic Games, which will be held during China’s Spring Festival, a very important traditional festival in China. With this integration of Chinese culture and the Olympic Games, we can provide a unique cultural experience for Chinese and global audiences.

*This article, based on a presentation by Mr Zhang Jiandong at World Winter Sports Expo (WWSE) in Beijing in September 2017, first appeared in the Winter 2017 Issue of Host City magazine. Host City was the only foreign media reporting from WWSE

This article follows our involvement on a panel discussing the topic of “Creating entertainment hubs and cultural meccas” at the Host City conference and exhibition in November 2017.

The debate at the conference emphasised the importance of location integrity and matching strategic local cultural goals to event goals in the creation of successful “go to” events, wherever they are located in the world.

Our experience in all we do proves these conclusions. First up, Cirque was formed from within the long-established Montreal creative street entertainment community. This gave us artistic credibility and sector integrity from day one for our Circus inspired shows. This allegiance to Montreal and the strong “alternative street-scene” there has been core to our offer as we expanded and grew.

Our Head Office is still based in Montreal. As an Englishman when visiting this HQ, it also helps when immigration officials ask, “reason for your visit”. When replying I always mention, “work with Cirque”, which causes the officials to visibly swell with pride and wave me through!

Cirque has definitely added to Montreal’s cultural reputation. It often appears on lists of ‘the World’s most reputable cities’, vying for top 10 positions with cities that are far larger.

All Canadians, (not just those handling immigration,) now see the city as what Forbes magazine has termed the “cultural epicentre of the country.”

This claim for culture may not be so easy to extend to our other important entertainment hub– Las Vegas!

We have over 3,000 staff located there, running up to eight shows more suited to the unique “local cultural goals” that only Vegas can deliver. Our ‘Michael Jackson One’ musical plays to packed houses twice a day at the Mandalay Resort & Casino.

In the decade we have been in Vegas, Cirque has definitely contributed to the city’s long established “Big Show” entertainment reputation, even if this may seem at odds with the more bohemian Montreal hub.

Another core part of the Cirque offer is our touring shows. We have between six and eight shows on the road, at any time, performing shows all over the globe.

According to our twitter feed today (January 2018) we have shows in Rio, Beijing, London, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Dubai and Panama City.  They will remain in a city for between one week and six months and continually tour the globe for up to eight years.

These are a mixture of arena-based shows, such as the Albert Hall when in London, and performances under the big top. We have recently added ice skating arenas to this roster with our newest show based on ice, “Crystal”.

Every show is a self-contained mini village – a mobile entertainment hub, if you will.

Most recently Cirque has added a new provision to our offer - one that builds on our ability to create, stage and sell entertainment that is relevant to today’s media savvy and entertainment hungry consumers.

We are developing partnerships with locations, entertainment organisations or rights holders who wish to develop their own experiences, whether branded or not.

The NFL X on Times Square in New York is our most recent example of this offer. We have developed, in close co-operation with the NFL a four story, 40,000sq foot, interactive and immersive series of exhibits. Check out https://www.nflexperience.com

NFL X confirms those panel discussion conclusions. Firstly, the importance of location integrity and secondly, matching strategic local cultural goals to event goals.

The NFL X adds to the Times Square integrity by adding to its status as a “must-see” destination within one of the World’s most famous cities. It also fits within New York’s unique cultural offer – being brash, loud and original.

Nick Prichard is part of the Cirque du Soleil Global Alliances team. He is currently developing the new Experiential provision with a number of Host Cities, Sports Rights Holders and Brands. To find out more please contact him on nick.prichard@cirquedusoleil.com

At the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, the presidents of the organising committee and the International Olympic Committee joined in presenting Korea’s first Winter Games as bringer of peace.

Following the procession of athletes that culminated with the combined teams of Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Lee Hee-Beom, president of the PyeongChang Olympic Committee of the Olympic Games (POCOG) said the event “ushers in the Olympics Asia era”, pointing to the upcoming 2020 and 2022 Games in Tokyo and Beijing.

“Now we are facing the historic moments in our lifetime,” he said.

“Sport has a great power to unite people.

“PyeongChang will provide a light of hope for all citizens yearning for peace.”

He described the 2018 Games as “a festival of peace and harmony”, reminding athletes that it is “not the winning but the taking part; not the triumph but the struggle”.

IOC President Thomas Bach addressed the athletes by saying “You will inspire us all to live together in peace and harmony… You can only enjoy your Olympic performance if you respect the rules and stay clean.

“While you compete with each other, you live peacefully together in the Olympic village. In sport we are all equal.

“A great example of this unifying power is the joint march of the two teams of the republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We all join and support you in your message of peace.”

“United in our diversity we are stronger than all the forces that want to divide us.

“Two years ago in Rio with the first Refugee Olympic Team, the IOC sent a powerful message of hope.

“Now we send a powerful message of peace to the world.”

The speeches were followed by a rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine featuring traditional Korean folk instruments.