An Empirical Test of the Olympic Tourism Legacy

International tourism legacies are a key justification for hosting the Olympics. Although strong theoretical arguments have been made to support the tourism legacy, empirically measuring the effect has been problematic. Strong arguments for enhancing the legacy effect through the proper leveraging of the Olympics by means such as positive media coverage exist. This research empirically tests for the legacy effect and whether leveraging the Olympics by exposing potential tourists to more media enhances the legacy effect. The data used in this research are monthly international air passenger arrivals for nine Olympic host cities. A time series methodology that controls for problems noted in prior studies such as pre-existing trends, external events, seasonality, and crowding out is incorporated. The results show little evidence to support the legacy effect in the short run