Sporting events have always been leveraged as a chance to boost tourism, but how best to accomplish this task can be challenging. The hosting of major events is often subject to intense competition among nations, but there tends to be little evidence hosting actually pays off and the economic impact of the large financial commitment is often very limited.
One notable exception, however, was the Australian Olympic Games held in Sydney in 2000. These Games, along with the associated positive tourist impacts, have been deemed a great success. John Morse concludes that the pre-Games strategy and tactics developed by the Australian Tourism Commission were the most important contributing factors. They have been recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a benchmark on how to maximize benefits for both the Games and the host country.