Producing a sense of meaningful place: evidence from a cultural festival in Hong Kong

Festivals are social and cultural phenomena that represent the living culture of a local community. However, studies on festivals have mainly focused on the economic contributions to the community and place. Relevant studies that probe into the intertwined relationship between festivals and uniqueness of place and locale are lacking. To fill this gap, this study explores the extent to which festivals contribute to the construction of a sense of place and its respective locality. Based on a case study of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, a community-based local festival in Hong Kong, this study examines place-related conceptions associated with community festivals. In-depth interviews were conducted to investigate local residents' perceptions of festival meanings and the underlying relationships with the construction of place uniqueness. Findings suggest that festivals are among the possible elements that can contribute to the ontological construction of the place. Three underlying themes of festival meanings, namely, religion and heritage, social bonding, and imagined locality, are crucial elements attributing to the sense of place that eventually shape the identification of a unique place. Therefore, festivals are a potential channel through which the history of a community can be narrated and a sense of place uniqueness can be established.     

‘All that jazz’: the relationship between music festival visitors’ motives and behavioural intentions

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study investigated the relationship between visitors’ behavioural intentions (ex-post) and their motives (ex-ante) for attending a jazz festival. The aim was to discover whether a music festival brings additional intangible benefits. The research followed a quantitative approach by conducting a visitor survey at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in South Africa. Structural Equation Modelling showed that music festivals have the potential to create benefits beyond the festival itself or the host destination, particularly fostering an appreciation of a music genre, increasing purchasing of music, and boosting music tourism. The findings showed that a music festival could have far-reaching benefits that can contribute to its legacy. It also showed that visitors’ motives have a unique relationship with their behavioural intentions, which emphasizes the need to market the festival accordingly.     

Naked and dirty: rethinking (not) attending festivals

This article draws together critical tourism studies and events tourism literature offering insights into the diverse motivations for, and barriers to, attending the predominantly lesbian and separatist feminist festival, Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. Augmenting the literature on lesbian tourism, the article deploys a conceptualisation of festivals, such as gay pride, that seeks to contest dominant codes and norms as parties with politics. Using the data gathered from 222 qualitative questions, 10 interviews and 1 focus group, it explores the intertwining of music, feminist politics and temporality in understanding womyn's motivations in attending a separatist festival. Distinctively, it demonstrates how barriers to, and motivations for, attending festivals can be paradoxically mutually formative. In this way, it becomes possible both to question tick-box motivational frameworks and to explore festival times and spaces as (re)making tourist encounters. Thus, the article opens up considerations and theorisations of festival attendee' motivations looking to the complexities of experiences, motivations and time–space interactions.     

Why Huddersfield? Media representations of a festival of contemporary music in the ‘unlikeliest’ of places

A festival of contemporary music was established in 1978 in Huddersfield, an industrial town in northern England. The event acquired an international reputation, enjoyed to the present day. Yet the news media continued to report as ‘surprising’ the successful juxtaposition of avant-garde art with an industrial town. An explanation is constructed via an analytic discussion of fashionability, the avant-garde, and the nature of continuing news. This discussion is further set within the context of the generic urban transition from the industrial to the post-industrial, and the movement known as cultural regeneration. The work of Simmel, Nietzsche, and Bourdieu are deployed in these analyses. The concluding argument is that the news media are relating, simultaneously, three stories: that of the success of a festival; that of the cultural regeneration of urban centres seeking a role in a new economy; and a generic rags-to-riches narrative. The news reporting of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival is thus a multiple metaphor for a continuing cultural change.     

On commodification: volunteer experiences in festivals†

This paper is about the creation of non-commodified volunteer experiences, for tourists and local volunteers participating in festivals. How is the tourist experience created when most of the traditional tourism demands are not fulfilled? And what are the experiences and how do they relate to different ‘regimes of value’? The experience context includes tourists who work together with locals voluntarily in a festival, where the volunteers pay for their own travel, food, overnight stay, and work for free. To gain more knowledge on the volunteers is important because local cultural life becomes more festivalized, most festivals are reliant on the involvement of volunteers, and the festivals gain an important role in an economy where even small places are engaged in branding [Löfgren, O. 2003. The new economy: A cultural history. Global Networks, 3, 239–254]. This paper uses a qualitative approach. Interviews were conducted (n?=?23) and participants were observed during four festivals in Finnmark, Norway. Nothing in the experiences was facilitated, and the experience creation occurred in the work tasks together with volunteer colleagues. It was like a holiday experience, without a stream of commodified moments. It was a value creation that could be seen as authentic and real, created in the interaction between the local and visiting volunteers.     

Not a ‘museum town’: discussions of authenticity in coastal Denmark

ABSTRACT

This article investigates community perceptions of authenticity in connection to the fishing and tourism sectors and the relationships therein. Inspired by fieldwork in three Danish coastal communities, the article attends to discussions on fishing, tourism, and change, in which residents referred to ‘museum’ or ‘museum town’ as shorthand for an undesirable transformation. The article answers: (1) what are the underlying concerns of becoming a ‘museum town?’ and (2) how is authenticity employed by community members in connection to desirable and undesirable outcomes of transition? The analysis probes the ‘museum town’ expression as a means to understand host communities’ relationship to the fishing and tourism sectors and their expressed interest toward authenticity. Empirical material from semistructured interviews and ethnographic field observations initiates the thematic analysis, which then continues with a theoretical reflection on authenticity. Coastal community members understood authenticity through demonstrations of realness, waterfront and community activity, and a desired independence for the fishing industry. Being authentic required a working fleet, which carried deeper implications for transformation and the complementarity of tourism, as opposed to its suitability as a substitute for the fishing industry. Calls for the fishing industry to remain independent highlight the importance for cross-sector dialogue for local development.     

The loyalty process of residents and tourists in the festival context

Few attempts have been made to find out if the loyalty process for residents and tourists in the context of cultural festivals is the same. This study investigated the influence of involvement on satisfaction as factors contributing to the likelihood of returning to an annual festival for residents and tourists. A sample of 412 attendees of a cultural and historic festival in the Midwest region of the USA was surveyed. The results showed that both residents and tourists who were more involved with the festival had higher satisfaction levels. However, only residents who were highly satisfied with the festival were more likely to attend again, whereas tourists' satisfaction level did not significantly influence their likelihood of returning. For tourists, it is likely that their quest for novelty is influential in shaping their future intentions. Implications of this result for the sustainability of cultural festivals are discussed.     

An Empirical Analysis of Synthesizing the Effects of Festival Quality,Emotion, Festival Image and Festival Satisfaction on Festival Loyalty: A Case Study of Macau Food Festival

This study aims to examine the interrelationships among the festival quality dimensions, festival quality, emotion, festival image, festival satisfaction and festival loyalty. Analysis of data from 454 attendees in the 12^th Macau Food Festival indicates that the proposed model fits the data. The result of this study will assist festival management in developing and implementing market‐orientated service strategies to increase quality and image, and enhance the emotion and satisfaction of attendees in order to attain their loyalty toward food festivals. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Factors that Affect the Levels of Tourists' Satisfaction and Loyalty towards Food Festivals: a Case Study of Macau

The present study investigates the factors that affect tourists' satisfaction towards food festivals and explores whether tourists intend to revisit and/or recommend food festivals to others. Based on personal interviews with 40 study subjects, eight factors that affect their satisfaction levels were identified: location and accessibility, food, venue facility, environment/ambiance, service, entertainment, timing and festival size. The majority of tourists were satisfied with the Macau Food Festival and intended to revisit and recommend it to others. The presented findings have practical implications for food festival organizers to further attract food tourists. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Segmentation by genres: the case of the Aardklop national arts festival

The purpose of this study was to distinguish between genre supporters and non‐genre supporters at the Aardklop National Arts Festival. This was done to determine genre supporters' individual needs and wants so that effective marketing strategies can be developed and the festival programme can be designed to attract more genre supporters. Previous research indicated that the future of festivals is dependent on the number of show tickets sold and festivals therefore need to attract more genre supporters. To achieve this goal, a questionnaire survey (N = 495) was conducted, where afterwards independent t‐tests were used to determine the differences between visitors who attend the different ticketed shows/productions and those who do not. Results showed that genre attendees and non‐attendees differ significantly based on socio‐demographic and behaviour characteristics, which gave a comprehensive profile of the two types of visitors at the festival. This method proved to be successful especially in increasing ticket sales. Marketing and management implications for effectively targeting genre supporters were also indicated. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of community attachment on cultural festival visitors' satisfaction and future intentions

This paper explores the characteristics of multicultural festival visitors on the basis of their attachment to a certain culture or a cultural community, and examines the influences of this attachment on levels of overall satisfaction and future intentions. Two distinctive types of visitors to cultural festivals are recognised based on their attachment to the culture of the festival. A total of 420 valid questionnaires from three multicultural festivals in Korea were collected. This study found that community attachment, defined as an attachment to a certain culture or a cultural community, had significant impacts on intention to revisit and positive word-of-mouth (WOM). Visitors who are attached to an ethnic culture or a cultural community are more likely to revisit and spread positive WOM than people who are not attached. The paper concludes that community attachment influences cultural festival visitors' future intentions, and can be used as a predictor of the relationship between satisfaction and future intentions. From the results of the study, strategic marketing and management implications, based on community attachment, are suggested to increase repeat visitation and attract more visitors through positive WOM.     

Understanding the residents’ social impact perceptions of an African Cultural Festival: the case of Macufe

ABSTRACT

The Macufe is one of the Africa’s largest cultural festivals, and takes place annually in Bloemfontein, South Africa. This 10-day event attracts approximately 140,000 attendees, meaning that the residents have to share facilities and services with tourists. The effects of such interactions can be both positive and negative. Community members are stakeholders in any tourism ventures that take place in their area, meaning that their goodwill is of utmost importance. Therefore, the social impacts of this event should be well managed to foster community support. For this reason, a quantitative study was done to determine residents’ social impact perceptions towards the event. A total of 425 questionnaires were completed by willing residents who lived in proximity to festival activities. From an exploratory factor analysis, four factors were extracted, namely community enhancement, community degradation, tourism growth and increased public spending and interaction. It was found that the event does not generate significant levels of positive social impacts, and that the negative social impacts are viewed almost equal to the positive social impacts. This was one of the first social impact perception studies done on an African arts festival, which contributes to the sustainable management of such crucial events.     

Journeys into lost memories: migration,tourism, and historical choreographies in an Alpine valley

In some villages in the Piedmontese Alps festive rituals with medieval roots are designated by the term ‘abbeys’. In the nineteenth century these ‘abbeys’ saw a contraction of their sphere of activity that was reduced to performances during the local festivals, either religious or secular. This paper will follow the vicissitudes of one of those abbeys over several centuries. This will permit to address the issues of authenticity, performance and cultural commodification in the context of the encounter between outsiders and residents. We will see the stratified construction of a ritual tradition that is attributed to a past ‘authentic’ and stable community, and in fact is elaborated in the framework of (and in response to) a radical transformation of the local life starting from the nineteenth century (economic crisis, demographic decline). Such a ‘tradition-freezing’ process is a multivocal endeavour, in which both internal and external actors (including tourists) are involved along several generations. Moreover, beneath the surface of cultural immobility ascribed to this ritual activity, it is possible to perceive the long-lasting incorporation of new elements, through a subtle imaginative ‘bricolage’. This abbey could be read as a backward-looking transformation, as a sort of willingness to transform, in a positive way, towards the past. It is a display of energy and vitality, as opposed to some negative transformations experienced by the village. During the last years, the ‘dying’ trend, the socio-economic decline and the demographic haemorrhage seem to be at least partially countered by cultural revival.     

Death of a Backpacker: Incidental but Not Random

This case study of the fatal shooting of a backpacker by a policeman in the otherwise peaceful town of Pai in northern Thailand aims to show that, though incidental, it was not just a random occurrence. Rather, the event can be interpreted in terms of wider social structural processes and personal agency. The growing tension between the police and the backpackers in town, partly resulting from pressures to upgrade the community for more up-market domestic tourism, created the conditions for the occurrence of the event; but the personal predispositions of the main antagonists exacerbated these tensions, eventuating in tragic consequences. The article examines the contrasting versions of the event, and the ‘ethno-victimology’, implicit in the manner various groups of foreigners allocated the responsibility for the shooting between the antagonists. The article concludes that the event may have a negative effect on backpackers’ image of Pai (but not on the domestic tourists’ image), while the growth in the number of foreigners killed in Thailand may have an accumulative effect on the touristic image of the country as a whole. Some ideas for the further study of events in tourism are suggested.     

Who Pays More for a Cultural Festival,Tourists or Locals? A Certainty Analysis of a Contingent Valuation Application

Cultural festivals are one of the most common representations of diversification strategies in tourist demand in cities boasting abundant historical heritage. The goal of this work is to estimate the economic value allocated by tourists and local residents to a classical music festival in the emblematic city of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). The contingent valuation method is used to ascertain whether there are any significant differences between the value declared and to study the sensitivity of the findings in a range of socio‐economic variables. Finally, the problems of hypothetical bias are explored, as are the possible implications for management of pricing policies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism: a sacred journey? The case of ashram tourism,India

Religious tourism — tourism that is motivated by faith or religious reasons — has been in evidence for centuries. In more recent times, however, it has been suggested that modern tourism has become the functional and symbolic equivalent of more traditional religious practices, such as festivals and pilgrimages. In other words, it is claimed by some that tourism is a sacred journey. To date, however, little work has been undertaken to explore this position; the purpose of this paper, therefore, is to contribute to this debate. Based on an exploratory study, it considers the motivations and experiences of Western tourists visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the nearby utopian township of Auroville in Pondicherry, south east India. It identifies two principal groups of visitors, namely ‘permanent tourists’ who have immersed themselves indefinitely in a spiritual ‘Other’, and temporary visitors. The latter are categorised into sub‐groups which point to a variety of spiritual and non‐spiritual motives. The paper concludes that there is a continuum of spirituality inherent in tourism, though this is related to tourists' experience rather than initial motivation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring tourists' nostalgic experiences during culture festivals: the case of the Sung Chiang Battle Array

This study uses the means-end chain (MEC) approach with fuzzy conceptualization and incorporates Kano's model to elicit perceptions of nostalgic experiences and to explore preferences for Sung Chiang Battle Array (SCBA) cultural festivals. We provide a hierarchical value map that fuses attribute–consequence–value chains and Kano's model to distinguish the relationships between the factors of nostalgic experience and tourist satisfaction. Fuzzy linguistics is adopted to address the ill-defined nature of tourists' linguistic judgements so that they can be interpreted for the proposed MEC. By applying the ‘laddering' technique to interviews with 178 tourists, the resulting linkages strengthen the ability to probe outcomes and values and to derive a cognitive representation of nostalgic meanings. The findings of this research imply that, overall, tourists experience three different dominant perceptual orientations for nostalgic experiences in SCBA cultural festivals: ‘Learning and the challenge of a new experience', ‘Culture and art appreciation', and ‘The link between history and emotion'. The study's findings have implications for researchers and practitioners interested in nostalgic tourism.     

Imagining the Scottish nation: tourism and homeland nationalism in Scotland

Genealogical tourism is one of the fastest growing sub-segments of heritage tourism. The travel motivation for genealogical visit stems from the search for familiarisation and identification with ‘the native other’ through which tourists seek to reaffirm their cultural affinity and commonness. The purpose of this article is to see how renewed cultural affinity with the homeland constructs a form of nationalism. Qualitative data collected through field surveys, interviews and questionnaires with genealogical tourists showed that such travel bestows a renewed sense of self-identity, enhances cultural affinity to their ‘homeland’ nation and plays a role in articulating ‘homeland’ nationalism. The article contributes in understanding the articulation of root, identity and ancestral belonging in the context of genealogical tourism and the way it can be linked with the ‘Nationalist’ sentiment in Scotland.     

Formation of festival visitors’ environmentally friendly attitudes: cognitive,affective, and conative components

This study aims to understand the formation of festival visitors’ environmentally friendly attitudes. Results reveal that environmental knowledge and concern influence environmental emotion, which, in turn, affects four environmentally friendly behavioural intentions. Results also show that environmentally friendly tourism behavioural intention is most influenced by environmental emotion. The findings offer a new framework for theory development on environmentally friendly behavioural intention as well as important practical implications for festival marketing managers.     

Transport and tourism: roadmap to integrated planning developing and assessing integrated travel chains

The article reviews planning strategies in tourism and transport based on experiences from a German project on event travel. Firstly, the concept of ‘travel chains’ is introduced as a way to create sustainable tourism products. These ‘travel chains’ combine travel and tourism activities, with particular attention to the ‘transit region’. Secondly, an assessment tool has been developed which aims to offer a practical approach to assessing the sustainability of transport services and packages. The concept of the measurement tool and the selection of indicators are presented and illustrated by the assessment of a ‘travel chain’ tested in the summer of 2003.