At the height of the summer, young people with ball skills flock to Gothenburg from all over the world. The Partille Cup handball tournament comes first, and the dust has scarcely settled before the Gothia Cup football tournament starts up two weeks later. Over an intensive period, matches are played from early morning until late evening all over the city.
But these tournaments are about so much more than just handball and football.
While the sports stars of tomorrow are being born and life-long memories created, a massive logistical apparatus and organisation have to function.
It means that schools that are closed for the summer holidays are filled with mattresses, empty stomachs have to be filled and transportation between matches and accommodation has to run smoothly. And in the evenings there are discos or visits to Liseberg, the biggest leisure park in the Nordic region.
“The success concept for a tournament is to create a total experience for both players and leaders. Of course, the matches are the main priority, but alongside them activities such as travel, food and accommodation must be top notch and run smoothly,” says Fredrik Andersson, Tournament Director for the Partille Cup.
Collaboration strengthens the whole
For many different reasons, the tournaments collaborate to create this total experience. Both tournaments are based at Heden, just a stone’s throw from Gothenburg’s central avenue Kungsportsavenyn, and with only two weeks separating them it’s only natural to make use of the same equipment and premises in order to save costs. The popular leaders’ party at Scandinavium is also a joint event. They also collaborate when purchasing the so-called participant cards.
“The participant card is a plastic card with a magnetic strip. We collaborate with Liseberg, which means that our participants have free entry, and it was a requirement from them that led to our starting to use plastic cards. The magnetic strip in the card allows them to pass through the gates at Liseberg and at the same time registers their presence,” says Fredrik Andersson.
The Partille Cup has three different cards, which are issued to players, leaders and family members. As well as the magnetic strip, there are fields on the back of the card that are filled in when you eat lunch and dinner, and you travel free on Västtrafik’s buses and trams when you present the card. They are responsible for the design, but Stralfors takes care of the rest: printing, packaging, technical solution and delivery.
“There are really big numbers involved, together with the Gothia Cup there are 80,000 cards. The cards are crucial for us, it wouldn’t have worked otherwise and we must be able to trust our supplier and feel confidence. Stralfors is a big company, and they really took care of us throughout the whole process,” says Fredrik Andersson.
The cards used in the Gothia Cup include another technical solution: a barcode. The barcode enables the plastic cards also to be used to gain entrance to Nya Ullevi, which is the venue for both the opening ceremony and the final. Niclas Andersson is Marketing Manager for the Gothia Cup, and he emphasises the value of the services they buy from Stralfors.
“Being able to use this barcode solution makes us far more digital. It also becomes a kind of ID card, as you can see who is entitled to what,” he says.
The plastic cards also provide entitlement to a number of discounts all over Gothenburg, as well as free public transport and entry to the Liseberg leisure park.
“This makes them popular even among young people who aren’t involved in the actual tournament. We sell a lot of the cards too,” says Niclas Andersson.
There are also plans to make the cards even smarter in due course, by finding more areas of application such as making them more personal so that they can also serve as seat tickets.
Aside from the practical value of the cards, there are other benefits of a different nature.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of people collect the cards, they become a memento of the tournament. That’s a value that shouldn’t be underestimated,” says Fredrik Andersson.
The 2011 tournaments have drawn to a close, and work is already under way ahead of next year. Discussions are also being conducted with Stralfors about extending the collaboration in other ways in future.
“There are lots of printed items that could be produced. We’ve known each other for a year now, so it’s up to Stralfors to show what they can do.” says Fredrik Andersson.