DESTINATIONS SHOULD STOP BUYING EVENTS — AND START BUILDING THEM

Too many destinations still treat major events as one-off marketing opportunities. A tournament arrives, creates attention for a few days, fills hotels, generates media coverage and then disappears. The following year, the destination starts again with a new campaign, a new event or a new idea. That is not how long-term value is created. The strongest destination strategy is not to host more events, but to build fewer, stronger and recurring international platforms.

A recurring event creates something a one-off event cannot: continuity. It gives the destination an annual reason to communicate internationally, reconnect with partners, invite investors, bring back business leaders, develop hospitality programmes and build recognition over time. The value compounds. In year one, the event creates awareness. In year two, it creates familiarity. In year three, it begins to create tradition, relationships and international ownership. That is where the real strategic value starts.

This is why I believe destinations should actively prioritise recurring concepts such as Legends Team Cup. The opportunity is not simply to host tennis, but to create an annual international platform built around sport, entertainment, business, hospitality and relationships. For the destination, that means much more than visitor numbers. It creates a recurring meeting point for global brands, investors, entrepreneurs, celebrities, media and international guests, while giving local businesses the opportunity to build relationships over several years rather than during a single weekend.

A one-off event is an activation. A recurring event can become part of the destination’s identity. The world’s most successful sports and cultural destinations understand this well. Their strongest events are not temporary campaigns; they are institutions. People know when they take place, companies build their calendars around them, guests return year after year and the destination becomes closely associated with the event itself.

That should be the ambition. Destination leaders should not only ask, “What event can we host next year?” They should ask, “What international event can we build with a partner for the next ten years?” That is the model I would recommend: not event tourism, but long-term event ownership through partnership.

For Legends Team Cup, that is precisely the opportunity. A destination can use the platform year after year to attract international attention, strengthen hospitality, build business relationships and create a global meeting point around tennis and entertainment. The first event creates a moment. A recurring event creates an asset.