A FINA (2017) világbajnokság önkénteseinek szerepe Budapest sportturizmusában

Abstract

Volunteers are indispensable in the organization of international mega sport events. Their activity is really important not only during these world-level meetings, but also after the competition has ended, as they play an important role in furthering the life of the events and in maintaining interest in the host location. Although the practice of volunteering in Hungary is still in its infancy, its social status and popularity are developing dynamically. The 2017 FINA Championships in Budapest is considered to be a milestone in the evolution of Hungarian volunteer work. The volunteers took part in a variety of roles in order to facilitate the biggest international event in “water sports”. During the two-week-long competition, more than 3500 volunteers from more than 560 towns and cities provided their help enthusiastically to ensure that everything was perfect both for the athletes and the tourists. After the conclusion of the championships we conducted an online questionnaire and more than 400 volunteers filled the online form. As part of this research we were looking to answer how and in what capacity the volunteers played a role in tourism in the Hungarian capital. Our results showed that during the championships volunteers not only acted as tourists themselves, but also contributed significantly to world-of-mouth marketing, and were both the users of the different services being provided, and producers of an image of Budapest. In March of 2018 we conducted a second investigation and asked the volunteers once again to measure and compare the changes in their attitude about volunteer work.