Professor Leo Jago of Victoria University and Research Director of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), observed the first hand the impact of a major international event being held in his local community fourteen years ago. The experience impressed him greatly and led him to focus his key research activities on special event evaluation.

“One of the motels that I owned received a four month booking as a result of the first international airshow at Avalon in Victoria. I saw first hand the funds that special events can inject into local communities,” says Professor Jago.

“I was commissioned to undertake an economic evaluation of that airshow and have worked in this area ever since”.

One of Professor Jago’s key accomplishments has been the development of the Encore Event Evaluation Kit, which can be used to estimate the economic contribution that an event makes to its host region. Encore uses an approach that has been approved by state treasuries and can be used by event organisers without having to employ consultants. The International Festival and Event Association (IFEA) and the European IFEA are negotiating to licence Encore in the USA and Europe, further demonstrating that Australia is at the ‘cutting edge’ in terms of event evaluation.

Professor Jago holds a PhD that focussed on special events and has published extensively in this field. The transferability and application of Professor Jago’s research is reflected in the event workshops and training programs which he has delivered in Australia, Canada, USA, Hong Kong, China, Spain and France.

With an emphasis on practical research outcomes, he is also heavily involved with the industry sector. He is on the Board of the Festival Events Association of Australia and is the International Academic Chair of DOME (Data on Meetings and Events), and is on the editorial Boards of Event Tourism and the International Journal of Event Management.