ABSTRACT
Programming is one of the most important functions of leisure managers. Everything that a service or department is concerned with – facilities, equipment, supplies, personnel, budgets, marketing, public relations, activities, timetabling and administration – is solely to ensure that opportunities exist for people to enjoy or experience leisure in ways satisfying to them. Studies of various leisure activities, particularly the arts, have indicated that the most important element in people’s decision on whether or not to visit is the programme. It is not the only means by which opportunities are provided for people to enjoy their leisure time – natural amenities, for example, are typically provided without a set programme to adhere to – but for many types of leisure provision it is the mechanism by which the objectives of an organisation are realised. Programming is equally important to sport and leisure managers in the public, commercial and voluntary sectors – all have to attract the public or they fail. A commercial fitness club manager has to programme the right activities at the right times to generate and retain a maximum number of members willing to pay the required fees. A voluntary sector club administrator has to programme sufficient playing and social opportunities to keep members satisfied. A public sector manager has to set a ‘balanced’ programme of opportunities, to reflect an array of policy objectives, from the quasi-commercial to those explicitly for community benefits. Balance is important to all providers, i.e. an appropriate balance between the competing demands for the opportunities which a supplier is capable of providing. A balanced activity
programme at a public sector leisure complex, for example, is likely to have some of the following features:
opportunities to participate in a range of leisure activities on a structured or an informal ●● basis; opportunities to take part actively (as a participant) or passively (as a spectator);●● opportunities to be involved as an individual or with a club or group;●● time set aside for a regular core programme of activities as well as time set aside for a ●● variable programme of one-off opportunities, e.g. events.
