SECURITY, PERCEIVED SAFETY, AND EVENT ATTENDEE ENJOYMENT AT THE 2003 RUGBY WORLD CUP

Abstract: International sport event organizersaroundthe world haveplaced considerations of terror-ism high on their planning and risk managementagendassince September II, ZOO I. Increased public awareness about the threat of terrorism and associatedsafety concerns have led to increased security, especially for large multicountry international events.To date there has been limited empirical re-searchon the relationship between sporteventattendanceand the impact of terrorism,with the excep-tion of the body of work on the 1972OlympicGames.In this article the authors outline the extensive antiterrorism security measures taken at the ZOO3 RugbyWorld Cup held in Australia. To determine the impact ofthese measures, event attendeeswere surveyed to determine the extent to which terror-ism influenced event attendees ' motivations,perceptionsof safety, and levelof enjoyment. The results indicate that securitymeasures were perceivedas sufficientand attendeeswere generally not deterred by the threat ofterrorism. The heightenedsecurityenhanced the event experience for some attendees, with only a small minority reporting a negative impact on satisfaction. Suggestions for further re-search and practice are discussed