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Purpose Event portfolios promote synergies among events and stakeholders within a destination in order to maximise resources. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of relationships in the creation and maintenance of an event portfolio using the four stages of Parvatiyar and Sheth’s (2000) process model of relationship marketing: formation, management and governance, performance evaluation, and evolution. Design/methodology/approach Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourism and government stakeholders involved in the creation and maintenance of an event portfolio within a single destination. Findings The destination outlined clear strategic goals through an event strategy. An Events Board was established to bring together key stakeholders from tourism, events, and government to oversee the development of an event portfolio. The Events Board gave advice to relevant tourism and government stakeholders on which events they should provide funding. Developing relationships was not a stated objective, but the Events Board realised the importance of relationships to create and maintain the destination’s event portfolio. Long-term funding contracts were used as a mechanism to establish relationships and were an impetus for interaction. Relationships were also maintained through dedicated staff who managed the relationships between the destination stakeholders and the events. Practical implications Understanding factors that contribute to the successful creation and maintenance of event portfolios can inform destination stakeholders who are responsible for generating tourism through events. Originality/value Limited research has examined the creation and maintenance of event portfolios. This study provides insight into the central importance of relationships in creating and maintaining an event portfolio.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how non-host cities strategically plan to leverage pre-Games training for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games to maximize benefits to the city. Design/methodology/approach Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with key tourism and government stakeholders involved in developing leveraging strategies for pre-Games training in a non-host city. Interviews were conducted a little over 18 months before the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Findings A model of the strategic planning of leveraging pre-Games training is presented. Pre-Games training was positioned as a leverageable resource. The non-host city was well positioned to host pre-Games training given its existing sport focus and facilities and its proximity to the host city and its similar climate. Opportunities, objectives, means, and considerations were constantly developed. The city strategically targeted teams to maximize the use of the training facilities and make the most of the value of well-known athletes, while being cautious of overcrowding. The teams had to be secured before strategies were devised to achieve other opportunities and objectives. Short-term benefits included generating tourism through visiting teams and entourages and integrating visiting teams into the local community through education and sport programming. Long-term benefits included building the destination’s capacity and reputation as a place for elite training camps and tourism. Practical implications Understanding how to develop strategies to leverage pre-Games training can inform those responsible for developing and implementing pre-Games training strategies and lead to maximizing the benefits to a city or region. Originality/value Limited research has examined the strategic planning process used to develop tactics to leverage mega-events. This study provides insight into the strategic planning process of non-host cities to increase short- and long-term benefits by leveraging pre-Games training.

is Executive Vice President at GfK V2. She has extensive experience in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies with specifi c areas of expertise including theory and research in attitude formation and persuasion; theories of personality; jury / argumentation research; research design; and construction of explanatory models based on quantitative survey data. She has clients from among the world ' s largest pharmaceutical companies and has worked on both US and global product strategies. Michael Gibbonsis a consultant at GfK V2, one of the world ' s foremost healthcare marketing research agencies. He has more than ten years of qualitative and quantitative research experience, including interviews, ethnography, survey design and analysis. Prior to joining GfK V2, Dr Gibbons taught for more than six years at the university level. He has engaged in a broad range of social psychological and sociological research, and has presented and published internationally.Abstract Ethnography, as an observational methodology, provides specifi c benefi ts in research on medical topics that other qualitative approaches cannot. Medicine is practiced in a broader context and involves multiple players, a fact that cannot be fully captured by surveys and studio or telephone interviews. In the pharmaceutical realm, ethnography has garnered much press over the last few years. Clients are increasingly interested in ethnography and have commissioned ethnographic research studies because many medical products face tougher competition. Therefore, a more thorough understanding of the customer , versus just product features / benefi ts, is needed, and a review of ethnography is thus timely. Ethnography has particular strengths and weaknesses, and a review of our own ethnographic work suggests several key areas where it excels for us. This paper will outline the history and theoretical underpinnings of ethnography, before discussing how it is useful in medical and medical-related consumer marketing. The authors will follow this discussion with specifi c examples of how ethnography allows us to better serve our clients in the pharmaceutical marketing industry.

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