Podcast blurb: An event portfolio is a strategic patterning of multiple events in an annual program intended to obtain multiple benefits. It represents a paradigm shift from ad hoc hosting of major one-off events to creating permanent structures of periodic event hosting that responds to the key challenge of making events more sustainable and resilient. While in practice more and more cities are developing event portfolios, event scholarship lags behind with limited empirical attention. A generalist tradition to focus on single events hinders the systematic study of event portfolios. Nevertheless, sound theoretical underpinnings have been developed that can accelerate knowledge creation on this complex phenomenon.

Vassilios’s bio: Dr Vassilios Ziakas is Consultant in Leisure Services and Honorary Faculty at the University of Liverpool. His research is interdisciplinary cutting across sport and leisure policy with emphasis on strategic planning, community development and sustainability. He has published extensively, and his work is widely cited. His most well-known work is on conceptualizing event portfolios as a means for multipurpose development. Along these lines, his research explores linkages among the sectors of sport, recreation, leisure, events, tourism, and culture. His main books are Event Portfolio Planning and Management: A Holistic Approach (2014, Routledge), and Strategic Event Leveraging: Models, Practices and Prospects (2022, CABI).

Further readings and resources:

1. Ziakas, V. (2022). Strategic Event Leveraging: Models, Practices and Prospects. Wallingford: CABI.

2. Antchak, V., Ziakas, V., & Getz, D. (2019). Event Portfolio Management: Theory and Practice for Event Management and Tourism. Oxford: Goodfellow.

3. Ziakas, V. (2014). Event Portfolio Planning and Management: A Holistic Approach. Abingdon: Routledge.

4. Ziakas, V., Antchak, V., & Getz, D. (Eds.) (2021). Crisis Management and Recovery for Events: Impacts and Strategies. Oxford: Goodfellow.

5. Ziakas, V. (2022). Building sport and leisure into event portfolios. In V. Ziakas (Ed.), Trends and Advances in Sport and Leisure Management: Expanding the Frontiers (pp. 168-185). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

6. Ziakas, V. (2023). Leveraging sport events for tourism development: The event portfolio perspective. Journal of Global Sport Management, 8(1), 43-72.

7. Ziakas, V. (2022). The morphosynthesis of event portfolios: Connecting networks and the community. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living: Sport, Leisure and Tourism, 3, 785018.

8. Ziakas, V., & Getz, D. (2021). Event portfolio management: An emerging transdisciplinary field of theory and praxis. Tourism Management, 83, 104233.

9. Ziakas, V., & Getz, D. (2020). Shaping the event portfolio management field: Premises and integration. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(11), 3523-3544.

10. Ziakas, V. (2019). Issues, patterns and strategies in the development of event portfolios: Configuring models, design and policy. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 11(1), 121-158.

11. Ziakas, V. (2019). Embracing the event portfolio paradigm in academic discourse and scholarship. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 11(sup1), s27-s33.

12. Ziakas, V. (2015). For the benefit of all? Developing a critical perspective in mega-event leverage. Leisure Studies, 34(6), 689-702.

13. Ziakas, V. (2014). Planning and leveraging event portfolios: Towards a holistic theory. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, 23(3), 327-356.

14. Ziakas, V. (2013). A multidimensional investigation of a regional event portfolio: Advancing theory and praxis. Event Management, 17(1), 27-48.

15. Ziakas, V., & Costa, C.A. (2011). Event portfolio and multi-purpose development: Establishing the conceptual grounds. Sport Management Review, 14(4), 409-423.

16. Ziakas, V., & Costa, C.A. (2011). The use of an event portfolio in regional community and tourism development: Creating synergy between sport and cultural events. Journal of Sport and Tourism, 16(2), 149-175.

17. Ziakas, V. (2010). Understanding an event portfolio: The uncovering of interrelationships, synergies, and leveraging opportunities. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 2(2), 144-164.

18. Ziakas, V., & Costa, C.A. (2010). Explicating inter-organizational linkages of a host community’s events network. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 1(2), 132-147.

19. Ziakas, V., & Getz, D. (2022). Event Portfolio. In D. Buhalis (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Vol. 2 (pp. 152–155). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

20. Ziakas, V., & Trendafilova, S. (2018). Event planning and leveraging for sport tourism development: The case of a rural motorcycle event. Case Studies in Sport Management, 7(1), 11-16.