Volume: 13  Number: 5  Page: 504–519

The Third Force in Events Tourism: Volunteers at the XVII Commonwealth Games

Rita Ralston1, Les Lumsdon2 and Paul Downward3 1School of Food, Consumer, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, 2Department of Tourism and Leisure Management, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK and 3Institute of Sport and Leisure Policy, Loughborough University, UK

This paper explores the opportunities for developing a third force in sustainable tourism development through recruitment and involvement of volunteers at events. It takes as its focus the example of Manchester and its efforts to engage with volunteers for the XVII Commonwealth Games, held in Manchester, UK in 2002. As part of the Games legacy, Manchester also sought to encourage and develop a pool of potential future volunteers within the North West region of the UK. However, although the findings from a survey of volunteers at the Games suggests that volunteers have strengthened their level of support for the host destination there are many potential barriers to retention of volunteer interest and commitment. The study concludes that volunteers could become more important for events tourism in the North West region of the UK but that there is a case for a volunteer infrastructure that acts as a ‘broker’ of volunteering opportunities.

Keywords: community, events, volunteering, sports tourism, stakeholders

© 2005 R. Ralston et al.

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