Mega-event tourism, urban legacies, and experiential education: socio-territorial impacts of Paris 2024

This study examines how orchestrating a large-scale event – using the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a case study – can generate value for local territories and society while enhancing education and training in event management. It investigates whether Paris 2024 fostered knowledge transfer, skill development, and experiential learning. By analyzing impacts, legacies, and territorial benefits, the research highlights the pedagogical potential of mega-events as live laboratories for students, academics, and professionals. It argues that the value of such events should extend beyond social, urban, and tourism outcomes to include educational legacies that strengthen future event management capacity. Employing qualitative methods, the study drew on archival research, field observations, and semi-structured interviews conducted in Paris during the 2024 Games. These interviews provided complementary perspectives on event organization, territorial impacts, and the educational potential of mega-event experiences. Findings indicate that experiential learning outcomes were identified through participants’ reflections on field engagement, professional interactions, and observations of operational and territorial dynamics, underlining the crucial role of direct exposure in developing professional competencies. These results show that mega-events provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and career advancement.