Kaplanidou K., Karadakis K., Gibson H., Thapa B., Walker M., Geldenhuys S., Coetzee W.
Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute, Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida, PO Box 118208, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States; Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH, United States; University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, United States; Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
Kaplanidou, K., Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute, Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida, PO Box 118208, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States; Karadakis, K., Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH, United States; Gibson, H., Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute, Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida, PO Box 118208, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States; Thapa, B., Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute, Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida, PO Box 118208, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa; Walker, M., University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, United States; Geldenhuys, S., Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa; Coetzee, W., Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
The purpose of the study was to explore the role of mega-event impacts on perceived satisfaction with quality of life and support among South African residents before and after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Limited research has empirically tested whether quality of life (QOL) is perceived as an exchange benefit that facilitates resident support of mega-events. Intercept data were collected from residents in five host cities three months before (March 2010) and eight months after (March 2011) the event (N = 3,789). Results indicate significant differences in perceived impacts before and after the event. Before the event, the influence of political impacts, psychological impacts, and social benefits on perceived QOL was significant, while QOL mediated the relationships between political, psychological, and social benefit impacts and resident support. After the event, economic impacts emerged as a significant predictor of QOL in contrast to the preevent sample. © 2013 SAGE Publications.
