Charles Arcodia

Understanding the role of the stakeholder in event management

Event management research has attracted increased recognition within academic literature over the last decade. Much of this research however, has been descriptive in nature and lacks a strong theoretical underpinning. Stakeholder theory emerged in the early 1960s and has been applied in the strategic management, business ethics and tourism fields. As yet however, there are no documented applications of stakeholder theory specifically in event management contexts. This paper examines the role of stakeholders in contributing to successful events. Stakeholder theory acknowledges that when the objectives of the organisation are developed, they should balance the sometimes conflicting claims of various stakeholders. Dill (1975) noted the initiatives and thoughts of stakeholders were external to the strategic planning and management processes of organizations. More recent accounts by Freeman (1984) and Clarkson (1995) have noted a change in organizational decision making over this period. The theory suggests that by understanding an organisations environment and emerging strategic issues will assist in the planning and policy development process. In the competitive business environment there are other factors that contribute to an organisations success apart from the attainment of profits. The stakeholder theory approach adopts an ethical way of dealing with not only the shareholders who have a financial interest but also the groups and individuals who are affected in different ways by their operations. By being responsive to the needs of suppliers, customers and the community with which the organisation engages, ensures loyalty and leads to their long-term success. Therefore, the organisation focuses not only on profitability levels but also on other forms of value creation and ensures that managers consider their impact on the communities to whom they should be responsible. Essentially the organisation is a system of stakeholder groups (Clarkson, 1995) and a failure to retain their participation will result in the failure of that enterprise. By adopting stakeholder theory and implementing a framework to assess the level of satisfaction amongst stakeholder groups, the organisation is able to monitor and if necessary improve the relationships with all stakeholders. The strategic management process that is involved in event management is not unlike other organisations, however the events limited time span is clearly different from an organisations context. Engaging stakeholders throughout the planning process provides a stronger likelihood that the community is satisfied with and will support the event. The emergence of numerous events in recent years has increased the competitiveness of the industry. Employing stakeholder theory and its application to the planning process has the potential of providing a competitive advantage to event organisers.

The Role of Consumer Self-Concept in Marketing Festivals

ABSTRACT Self-concept is an important yet underresearched aspect of the consumer behavior of the tourist/festivalgoer. Self-concept is explored via on-site focus groups at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, Australia. Findings suggest that “festivalgoers” actively disassociate themselves from the “tourist” tag in reaction to its perception as a less authentic participation and potentially negative impact on social self-image. This qualitative study proposes that based on the findings, further research into self-concept and festivals is justified in terms of its potential to better focus on the provision of marketing messages that more closely align with festivalgoers ideal self-image and ideal social self-image.

The Blended festivalscape and its sustainability at nonurban festivals

This article identifies the major elements of festivalscapes at nonurban festivals and their implications for sustainable site management by event organizers. While research on the need to maintain and reinvigorate the servicescapes of retail precincts (e.g., shopping malls) and hotels is well documented, the same cannot be said of event venues and sites. There is a notable absence of research that explores how nonurban festival sites can maintain their unique natural environment attributes while sustaining consumer interest through incremental changes in the overall festivalscape. Two Australian festivals, Woodford Folk Festival (Woodford, Queensland) and the national Country Music Muster (Gympie, Queensland), are used in this article to illustrate the need for management intervention to create blended festivalscapes that achieve environmental, social, and economic goals—a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) measure of success.

Measuring the Effects of Event Sponsorship: Theoretical Frameworks and Image Transfer Models

Abstract The use of event sponsorship or other types of sponsorship as a means to establish, enhance, or change brand image is a fairly common practice for a variety of organizations. This objective has been identified as one of the two most common goals for organizations to engage in sponsorship programs. The rationale behind the popularity of sponsorship as a marketing tool to achieve image goals is the general assumption that, by linking a brand to an event, the image of the event can be transferred to the image of the sponsor. Despite the increasing sophistication of event sponsorship and rising academic interest in understanding sponsorship practice, there is still a lack of in-depth understanding of how sponsorship processes work, in particular in what concerns its brand outcomes. The article addresses this issue by documenting, examining, and critically assessing the existing literature. The main explanations of brand image transfer, including theoretical frameworks and models, are presented; empirical research, divided into effectiveness of brand image transfer and the factors affecting such process, is analyzed; and two main issues found in the more recent articles—direction of brand image transfer and multiple sponsorships—are discussed. Finally, existing gaps are identified and research propositions are presented to guide future research.

ITHAS: An Experiential Education Case Study in Tourism Education

Abstract Experiential education has been well discussed in a variety of educational contexts. While there are many reports in a diversity of disciplines of examples of experiential education, there is a need to report studies that demonstrate such approaches within tourism and hospitality management education. Many educators have found experiential methods to be useful in supplementing theory with contextualized application; nevertheless, it is important to explore experiential approaches in education further so as to establish more firmly a theoretical foundation and to offer considered examples of successful experiential education experiments. Experiential education has the potential to overcome many of the limitations of traditional approaches to instruction. Firmly based in the educational philosophy of John Dewey and other pragmatists who focused on the necessity of experience in education, it can be an interesting and interactive way of reducing the distance between theory and practice. This paper offers an evaluative account of a distinctive example of experiential education. The International Tourism and Hospitality Academy at Sea (ITHAS) was an educational tour of Croatian National Parks organized for an international group of European university students. An analysis of student experiences demonstrates a high level of interest in this example of experiential education and it demonstrates how the ITHAS experience enhanced learning, encouraged peer facilitation, increased awareness of participant behaviour and ensured participant commitment.

A Review of Web-Based Job Advertisements for Australian Event Management Positions

Abstract Strong growths in the Australian event management industry, ongoing technological changes and the internationalization of the market place has spurred the need for appropriately educated and trained event managers and for a re-evaluation of educational and job training curriculum to meet these new challenges. In order for Australia to position itself as a world leader in event management, it is important to provide consistent high professional standards and event managers that not only meet, but exceed the demands of the industry. While there is some literature that focuses on the tourism and leisure job market (Crossley, 1992; Keung & Pine, 2000), and a small but developing literature base that focuses on event management training (Harris & Jago, 1999; Hawkins & Goldbatt, 1995) relatively little consideration has been given to a national agenda for event management skilling. To provide an indication of current employer requirements, a nationwide study of job advertisements in event management has commenced. The aims of the study are to further the understanding of the educational needs and training requirements of the industry; to ascertain the learned skills and personal attributes sought from event managers; to determine the compatibility of industry demands with current educational and vocational provisions; and to suggest post-secondary institutional avenues through which event management education and training needs can be pursued. This is an ongoing study and it is hoped that it will contribute towards a broad scale understanding of the event management job market. More importantly, however, it can be used as the basis for curriculum evaluation and training needs, and create a better understanding and compatibility between event management education and industry practice. This paper reports the preliminary results from a content analysis of approximately 100 web-based job advertisements. E-mail alert accounts were established with several search engines to gather a sample of event management related job advertisements from around Australia. An analytical framework was devised for the analysis of the advertisements themselves. The results reveal several interesting trends including the geographical concentration of the event management job market, the range of industries that require event management specialists or event management skills, and a series of required skills and key attributes of event managers. The results of this study establish a platform from which to develop a classification of event management skills required by the industry.

A narrative review of Asian female travellers: looking into the future through the past

Following the rise of tourism in Asia, a growing female travel market has been observed in the region. Nevertheless, limited research has considered the travel experience of Asian women. In response to the dearth of research on Asian female travellers, this study employs a narrative synthesis approach through a postcolonial feminist lens to review the extant literature on Asian female travellers, with the aim to contribute to a cultural understanding of the historical and contemporary travel practices of Asian women. Based on this review, it is evident that Asian women’s travel behaviour is influenced by cultural identities and gender stereotypes. However, existing literature has also demonstrated the agency of Asian women in resisting discriminatory gender practices in tourism, which is represented in the transformation of the identity of Asian female travellers. Accordingly, an agenda for future research is proposed and some implications for the industry are discussed. This study addresses the western-centric and androcentric criticisms in tourism field and provides an alternative reading of women’s travel behaviour from an Asian perspective. This study has contributed to the critical tourism scholarship in Asia and has built an important foundation for future research on Asian female travellers, an area that is not well investigated.

Destination competitiveness: what we know, what we know but shouldn't and what we don't know but should

Two decades after the seminal work of Crouch and Ritchie [(1999). Tourism, competitiveness, and societal prosperity. Journal of Business Research, 44(3), 137–152], which triggered an avalanche of research on the topic, there is an extensive and still-growing body of literature on destination competiveness. Research on competitiveness, in the context of tourism destinations and even in its parent field of economics, has been characterized by controversy and strong criticism. Given the complexity of the phenomenon, the multiplicity of perspectives taken on it and the current stage of knowledge, there is a clear need for a reflective audit that enables a careful consideration on the knowledge acquired with past research as well as a well-thought-out identification of the needs for future research. Only such meticulous process will ensure the progress of this field of enquiry. The wide-spread acknowledgement of the importance of competitiveness for a destinations long-term success in addition to the constant comments that it is still a topic not well understood, suggests that research on it still has a long future ahead. This article embraces this challenging task by documenting, examining and critically assessing the existing literature on three dimensions: definitions, theoretical models and measurement. In addition, existing gaps are identified and research propositions are presented to guide future research.

Innovation and collaboration: The role of the national government in norway

In recent years, innovation in tourism has become increasingly in focus as a strategy to gain competitive advantage. More studies in this area are still necessary as the role of the national government in such a process is still not well understood. This study focuses on the national governments role in stimulating networks and collaboration in order to encourage tourism innovation and its related activities. Based on the data gathered in Norway, the results of this study suggest that effective collaboration in terms of communication and networks is considered crucial in regard to tourism innovation at the national level. Four areas in which collaboration takes place were identified: collaboration within the government, public-private collaboration, collaboration among industry operators, and collaboration with other industries. Although its national government is keen to initiate such networks and collaboration, the results suggest that success is not solely determined by the national government. Public-private collaboration and encouraging collaboration among industry tourism operators have caught more government attention than the remaining two. Furthermore, the effectiveness of networks and collaboration as innovative processes to support tourism operators and contribute to destination development still needs to be further explored

Multicultural festivals: a niche tourism product in South Korea

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine why people visit multicultural festivals, with the overall aim being to better understand the apparent popularity of multicultural festivals. The paper aims to provide key stakeholders with a platform upon which to better manage and improve multicultural festivals as tourism attractions.Design/methodology/approach – An on‐site questionnaire survey was administered at one of the multicultural festivals in South Korea in 2010. The reasons for visit were measured using a scale based on existing benefit scales, and literature related to multiculturalism. In total, 17 items were analyzed as visitor reasons for their visit. Demographic questions included age, nationality, the reason for living in South Korea if not a Korean, and gender. Out of 203 collected questionnaires, 183 were considered usable.Findings – In total, five factors were identified as the reasons for attending a multicultural festival – family togetherness, escape, cultural exploration, socializ...