Leveraging tourism legacies: social capital and the 2010 Games

Conflicting views exist concerning the extent to which the planning, development and delivery processes related to mega-events leave positive tangible and intangible legacies for the host destinations. This research suggest that the 2010 Tourism Consortium activities have built the foundation for a legacy of social networks and social capital that can be leveraged well beyond the Games. Growing evidence reveals that investing in social capital yields various streams of human, intellectual, and financial benefits which are the fundamental blocks for sustainable tourism development. This research examines ‘the extent to which preparations for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games acted as a catalyst in building and nurturing social networks and social capital between and within tourism organizations’. The 2010 Tourism Consortium provided a pertinent venue for examining Consortium partnership development, social networks and social capital theories in the context of mega-event legacies.