Analysis of spending patterns of visitors of three World Cup Cricket matches in Potchefstroom, South Africa

Abstract

Sport events are big business and countries are competing fiercely to host major events. This is done because of the money that events generate as well as the marketing value of major events. Money generated by sport events are primarily determined by the spending patterns of visitors to an event. The purpose of this article is to analyse the spending patterns of visitors to three World Cup Cricket matches held in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The surveys consisted of 1,000 questionnaires that were completed during the three matches of which 965 were used. Findings of the survey indicated that the different methods of determining the total spent by visitors resulted in different amounts. The contribution of this research lies in the fact that not one method can be singled out as the only method of determining total economic impact. There are too many factors influencing spending patterns, for example, age, income, nationality, number of visitors, to name but a few. These methods do, however, give a good indication of the value and amounts generated by an event.