Ian Patterson

Rethinking music festivals as a staged event: Gaining insights from understanding visitor motivations and the experiences they seek

Event managers are increasingly under pressure to develop new strategies that will optimize any competitive advantages that their event may have, while, at the same time, minimizing their operations vulnerability to external threats and emulation. Yet, for all this, little research has been done to date with respect to visitor engagement in events, such as music festivals, in the Australian setting. With this in mind, the principal aim of this study was to profile visitors who attended the Tamworth Country Music Festival to determine their main motivations for attendance and what aspects of the event have differentiated it from others of its type. Overall, over 1,500 visitor surveys were collected, with results showing that there was a significant difference among festival visitors with respect to their activity engagement, reasons for attending the festival, and assessment of it when comparisons across key study variables were determined. These findings provide clear insights into the changing nature of visitor engagement in the experience economy and the importance of servicing the diverse needs of discrete niche groups who might congregate at a particular event.

Serious leisure and people with intellectual disabilities: benefits and opportunities

Can people with intellectual disabilities use serious leisure activities in a similar context to people without disabilities as a substitute for their paid work? In the past, western societies have tended to devalue people with disabilities, and as a consequence they were less likely to have valued social roles through paid work. However, for many people with disabilities, serious leisure should be valued as it encourages active participation in either formal group structures, or informal networks of devotees, for the sharing of common leisure interests as an amateur, hobbyist or volunteer. This study has used a qualitative methodology incorporating semi‐structured interviews with a small purposive sample of adults with disabilities who were living independently in the community. They were selected as prospective respondents by key staff in several disability service agencies in Brisbane, Australia, because of their successful participation in community‐based leisure activities that were classified as ‘serious’. The results of this study found that people with disabilities have the ability to participate in serious leisure activities and to successfully engage at such a level so as to enable them to develop increased levels of confidence, skills and self‐esteem.

Participation in leisure activities by older adults after a stressful life event : The loss of a spouse

This study aimed to establish if frequent participation in leisure activities helped widows and widowers adapt to widowhood, and to maintain lower stress levels. A small sample of sixty recently bereaved widows (n = 43) and widowers (n = 17) who were living in an Australian city were selected for the study. Their ages ranged from fifty to eight-four years with a mean age of sixty-four years. Each widow or widower was interviewed and provided responses to three scales measuring participation in leisure activities, adaptation to widowhood, and stress. Quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used to interpret the data. The leisure activities most frequently participated in by widows and widowers were found to be home based activities, involving social activities with family and friends. Greater participation in leisure activities was found to be negatively correlated with stress scores, suggesting an association between leisure participation and stress reduction for recently bereaved widows and widowers. However, the study failed to find any association between participation in leisure activities and adaptation after the death of a spouse. In addition, no significant differences were found in the age, gender, income, and type of employment of widows and widowers, although perceived health status was found to be a significant factor in helping to determine future participation in leisure activities.

Marketing the Leisure Experience to Baby Boomers and Older Tourists

Tourism is big business, especially for the increasing numbers of baby boomers who are becoming increasingly targeted by marketers and travel companies as a growing market. This is because many baby boomers are healthier, financially well off, better educated and have a greater desire for novelty, escape and authentic experiences than previous cohorts of retirees. The baby boomer generation is a prime example of a niche market firmly embracing the notion that the next wave of successful tourism businesses will be those geared towards the experience economy. In recent years, ‘boomers’ have demonstrated that they are willing participants in new and adventurous forms of leisure and are opting for more physically challenging and ‘adrenalin driven’ experiences. Because of this emerging trend, marketing campaigns need to be tailored to emphasize the leisure experience and to include actual statements from older people based on their perceived feelings about the tourism experience. In seeking to bring greater attention to this issue, this article seeks to first detail the changing leisure interests of todays older tourists before concluding with a discussion of key marketing considerations for this growing cohort group.

Participation in leisure activities after the death of a spouse

Abstract The main purpose of this exploratory study was to establish whether frequent participation in leisure activities helped widows and widowers adapt to widowhood. The study also examined whether more frequent participation in leisure activities by widows and widowers helped them maintain higher morale. A small sample of 60 recently bereaved widows and widowers who were living independently in a state capital in Australia was selected for the study. Each widow or widower was interviewed and provided responses to three scales measuring participation in leisure activities, adaptation to widowhood, and morale. Quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used to interpret the data. The leisure activities most frequently participated in by widows and widowers were found to be home‐based activities and mainly involved social activities with family and friends. Greater participation in leisure activities, especially with family and friends, was found to be significantly related to increased morale...

Motivations and satisfactions of Taiwanese tourists who visit Australia: an exploratory study.

Abstract This study explores the motivations of Taiwanese visitors to Australia and investigates the satisfactions they received from their visit. The study uses a push and pull approach to find 17 push motivations and 18 pull motivations for travel. ‘Travelling around the world’ was found to be the most important push factor, while ‘sunshine and scenery’ was regarded as the most important pull factor. An importance and performance analysis (IPA) using factors of motivations was applied to investigate the differences between the importance and performance of these motivations. Most motivation factors were delivered before and after the visit. Among the negative satisfactions, Taiwanese visitors felt that the price of goods was high, the destination did not provide good value for money, and the food was not varied enough. Several recommendations were provided for both Australian and Taiwanese tourism managers and authorities.

The motivations of baby boomers to participate in adventure tourism and the implications for adventure tour providers.

Abstract One of the emerging growth areas of tourism is so‐called ‘adventure’ tourism. Adventure tourism has recently attracted the interest of older people, including a new generation of baby boomers. This trend has been attributed to the fact that many baby boomers are generally healthier, more financially well off, better educated and have a greater desire for novelty, escape and authentic experiences than previous cohorts of older people. Many baby boomer and senior adult groups are opting for more physically challenging and adrenalin‐driven activities, preferring soft adventure activities rather than passive activities such as sightseeing tours and shopping. This study investigates why older tourists want to participate in adventure tourism and makes recommendations for tour providers about how to improve services for older people. A total of 14 people who were aged 50 years and older were interviewed using a qualitative research methodology. The results found that the most significant motive for adventure travel was the need to escape from their everyday routine by interjecting it with elements of adventure. Furthermore, the experience of seeing different landscapes, wildlife and native plants as well as going to places where few people had previously ventured was also an important motive. With this in mind, adventure tour providers need to keep their prices competitive and to place greater emphasis on safety and to use experienced guides. Shorter daytrips with less intensity should also be provided for older travellers.

Mixed Serious Leisure and Grassroots Organizational Capacity: A Study of Amateur Artist Groups in a Regional Australian City

This exploratory research used qualitative data from semi-structured interviews conducted with spokespeople from grassroots associations of artists who described their role, personal rewards and costs involved from fulfilling a leadership role within their group. By becoming leaders in their groups, they enjoyed community and individual benefits, accepted costs on their time and finances and persevered with demands based on their people skills. By combining the role of a participant and a helper, they became amateur-volunteers with mixed serious leisure careers. The findings identified facets of mixed serious leisure that met needs for leadership, and several successful groups were encouraged to blend amateur-volunteer careers for some members.

An Analysis of the Influence That Leisure Experiences Have on a Person's Mood State, Health and Wellbeing

Abstract The relationship between leisure, health, and wellbeing has had a longstanding connection; however, the processes that explain this association have been under‐researched and are still relatively unclear. Experiencing pleasant mood states through leisure participation has been found to be one of the most important benefits of leisure, and this has been shown to contribute to a persons quality of life. This paper explores the relationship between leisure and positive mood states, and the effect of a positive mood state on health. In addition this paper reviews the related literature and proposes a theoretical model to explain the relationship between leisure, positive affect, and good health. The impact that leisure provides on health is explained in two ways: as a means of moderating stress and/or stress effects; and by direct strengthening of a persons health and wellbeing.

Baby boomers and adventure tourism: the importance of marketing the leisure experience.

Abstract Tourism is big business, especially for older people, and they are becoming increasingly targeted by the marketers and travel companies who see this niche market as a growing field. One of the areas of tourism that is regarded as a developing market and is predicted to grow by at least 10 to 15% every year in the next decade is adventure tourism. This paper looks at the demographic characteristics of “baby boomers” and their growing interest in adventure tourism as they age. This trend is attributed to the fact that many baby boomers are generally healthier, financially well off, better educated and have a greater desire for novelty, escape and authentic experiences than previous cohorts of older people. Recently, many baby boomer and senior adult groups are opting for more physically challenging and “adrenalin driven” activities. The writings of a number of leisure researchers were analyzed to ascertain if there were any major differences with the tourism literature. Tourism researchers generally use a consumer behaviour theoretical approach to emphasise the perceived benefits or constraints of the adventure experience. However, marketing campaigns should attempt to include statements from older people from a social-psychological perspective that are based on their actual feelings about the adventure experience. Terms such as enjoyment, flow, optimum arousal, and meeting new friends should be used to emphasise a sense of freedom and fun, rather than concentrating on the consumer behaviour research that often emphasises negative.