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Introduction
Historically, hosting an event such as the Olympic Games is viewed by the host city as a tourism and economic industries stimulator ([4] Breton, 2003) if the event is properly leveraged. Leveraging mega-events such as the Olympic Games can offer benefits to a host city that relate to the development of collaborations, cultural insights and improved organizational networks ([29] Kellet et al. , 2008). In order to properly leverage the event, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) associated with the hosting of the event can be a valuable exercise and provide knowledge to host cities. The SWOT analysis is a management tool that allows an organization to better address their internal and external environment and prepare for effective strategic planning steps ([25] Johnson and Scholes, 1999). Given sometimes the confidentiality of the work progress of the Olympic Games that are scheduled to happen in the near future, it is difficult to acquire truthful opinions on mainly the negative issues that a host city may be facing. Moreover, input from organizers of previous Olympic Games can inform future Olympic Games organizers to better plan and leveraging mega-events such as the Olympic Games. As evident in the transfer of knowledge programs that are created and utilized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for each host city, the examination of the organization of mega-events by past host cities remains a valuable approach for future planning and management of the event with the aim to better leverage the opportunity of hosting the Olympic Games ([24] IOC, 2010). The aim of this paper is therefore, to utilize the SWOT analysis tool to diagnose the elements of proper leveraging and event capitalization. Implementing a SWOT analysis for a host city can assist with the development of leverage strategies related to strengths and opportunities associated with the event hosting but also assist with minimization or better management of weaknesses and threats associated with hosting an event such as the Olympic Games.
Literature review
In order for an organizing committee to plan for both the short- and long-term event outcomes, event leveraging strategies must be considered ([33] O'Brien and Chalip, 2007). The leveraging perspective is concerned with planning beyond the event so that a host city can maximize positive impacts...