The organisation of festivals and major events of various kinds has become more important in recent years, not only by focusing on the short-term increase in tourism demand, but also as an element of urban development policy with hoped-for effects on politics, economy and society. The aim of this study is to make a comprehensive inventory of the structures of event management and marketing in tourism in order to create recommendations for action. The method used in this study was a review of the relevant literature. In the analysis of various research results, it was discovered that the communication instrument of event marketing is characterised by its constitutive features as well as the goals that can be achieved through the use of event marketing. The core task of event marketing is considered to be the experience-oriented presentation of a product, a service or a company as well as the strategic use of events within communication. On the other hand, the goal of an event, when classified in the field of marketing events, is to create an experience for a special target group. Accordingly, the focus is not on the sales character as in event marketing, but on the consumer himself and the improvement of the subjective quality of life of the individual by strongly emphasising the experience. In this respect, a marketing event embodies the actual event, by virtue of which the customer is also encouraged to participate. The attractiveness of such events results from the assumption that by generating emotions in potential customers, product-related messages can be conveyed in an experience-oriented manner and thus positively influences the buying attitude towards the products of the organising company. Above all, collective emotions play a decisive role regarding both the effects of the experience and the realisation of strategically important communication goals of the company. Sports events emotionalise the audience in a special way. Therefore, the central objectives of sports event management and marketing are the changes in attitude or image improvements. However, sport alone as a programme item does not guarantee a successful event. Furthermore, optimal planning, implementation and control are also required. It is also clear that the areas of ecology and social issues have become much more important in recent years. Whereas economic aspects used to be the focus of attention in the past, today the ecological and social areas form an increasingly important basis for exploiting the opportunities offered by events.