Tourism expert Dr Angela Benson found that factors that motivated London’s ‘Games Makers’ were also present among the 19,000 volunteers at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
The uniqueness of the event, a strong personal desire to make the games successful and an eagerness to give something back to the community were the key reasons cited by both sets.
The London volunteers were seen as an integral part of the success of the 2012 Olympics and more than 11,400 or 16.4 per cent of them answered questions for the research.
Dr Benson said the research was vital for future major sporting events: “Understanding the difference in motivations between mega-event volunteers and other event volunteers is important for event managers seeking to recruit and manage volunteers, and also for those aiming to gain a social legacy beyond the event.”
Dr Benson worked on the study with experts from the University of Canberra in Australia and Thompson Rivers University in Canada.
Their research, the first of its kind among mega multi-sport events, has been published in the International Journal of Event and Festival Management.
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