ABSTRACT
This chapter profiles the multiple contributions of the private sector to event planning and policy making, funding, management and marketing. Event stakeholders from the commercial world are diverse and range from corporate leaders and entrepreneurs to small and medium-sized businesses whose services make up the numerous links in the event supply chain. The chapter examines the following key themes: Private sector engagement with events; the commercial involvement of the private sector in different event sectors; stakeholder roles and relationships; strategic and enabling roles of the private sector; destination level-inputs; event-specific inputs of the private sector; event vision and concept creation; event planning, organisation and management; sponsorship, merchandising and licensing; recent trends in event sponsorship; event support services; event impact management and sustainability.
