Insun Sunny Lee

Understanding cycle tourism experiences at the Tour Down Under

ABSTRACT Sport tourism experiences are subjective and emotional, laden with symbolic meaning. This study explores the experiences of participants who adopted the multiple roles of both an active participant and event spectator, within the parameters of one chosen sporting event. A professional cycling race event, the Tour Down Under in South Australia was chosen for this investigation, and 20 face-to-face individual interviews were conducted with cycle tourists. The three main themes emerging from the data were the interaction of people and temporary spaces on a sport tourism ‘stage’; the co-creation of authentic personal experiences and meanings; and identity reinforcement and the development of a sense of belonging. Consequently, a model for understanding sport event tourism experiences is proposed. The findings suggest that providing tourists with authentic and memorable experiences lies at the heart of what constitutes sport tourism. Whilst the results demonstrate that cycling events provide the individual with a sense of belonging or membership to a wider social group, they also illustrate that there is a continued need for more focused and nuanced approaches towards understanding sport tourism experiences that reflect the ever-increasing diversity and complexity of the interaction between sport, events and tourism.

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.

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...

Eventscapes and the creation of event legacies

Attention is directed to the difference in event legacies created by mega-events which often cause dramatic physical changes in urban environments and those which accompany events which leave very little imprint on the landscape where they are held. The Tour Down Under cycle race, which is held annually in South Australia, is examined as an example of the latter. The spatial pattern of the event and the range of settings which support it are presented as an eventscape by drawing on concepts such as Bales [1994. Landscapes of Modern Sport. Leicester: Leicester University Press] sportscape and Bitners [1992. “Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees.” The Journal of Marketing 56 (2): 57–71] servicescape. These interpretations are used to identify legacies. It is suggested that the creation of positive legacies requires communities that are part of the eventscape to engage in imaginative leveraging that is consistent with long-term strategic objectives. The paper offers a new definition of eventscape.

Key characteristics of multicultural festivals: A critical review of the literature

While multicultural festivals have become a significant feature of multicultural societies, offering a distinct and valuable experience for visitors, few studies have considered their role in contemporary social settings. This article outlines the key characteristics of multicultural festivals by drawing upon literature from a range of disciplines to clearly conceptualize their role. The article concludes that such festivals play a particularly significant role engendering multiculturalism in outwardly diverse social contexts. It contributes, in turn, to further comprehension of the importance of such festivals in contemporary social contexts characterized by growing ethnic diversity.

On positive psychology of events.

Although contributions from the disciplines of sociology and anthropology have shaped the foundations of event studies as an academic field of inquiry, contributions from the discipline of psychology have played a minor role in the development of events scholarship. There is an opportunity for a further development of psychology of events as part of the discipline-based discourse in the event studies field. In this conceptual article, an overview of positive psychology, a study of what makes life worth living, is first presented and the field is critically evaluated. A research agenda, based on positive psychology theories and approaches, is then presented to the events reader. It is argued that the theories and approaches from this field could enhance understandings of how people anticipate events, enjoy events, and how they acquire psychological rewards and benefits from event experiences. New directions for research about visitor motivations, humor, and cocreation of events as well as visitor well-being are proposed in the article. The role and the value of appreciative inquiry, a strength-based methodological approach, to inform future event planning and design is also discussed. It is argued that the contributions from positive psychology could help develop psychology of events scholarship in a meaningful and theoretically informed manner.

Motivations for attending a multicultural festival: visitor ethnicity matters

Early tourism studies took travel motivation as a focus. Several theoretical frameworks (e.g., the Travel Career Patterns, the Push/Pull model, the Escaping–Seeking Dimensions model) were identified. Festival studies also attempt to understand visitors’ motivations, with some common festival motivations identified. These include “socialization”, “family togetherness”, “novelty”, “escape”, “excitement”, “cultural exploration”, “event attractions”, and “entertainment” (Lee, 2000). Many festival motivation studies have been conducted following theoretical frameworks of travel motivation as appropriate foundations (Li & Petrick, 2006); previous studies also emphasized that the type and aim of festivals needs to be considered when examining festival motivations (Nicholson & Pearce, 2001). As such, common festival motivations may not be applicable to understanding motivations of different kinds of festivals. Festivals may take a wide range of contexts, from local food and wine celebration to international cultural exhibitions. As a theorizing effort, it is important to differentiate context-free motivations (e.g., novelty) from context-specific motivations (e.g., “desire to taste new wine and food” for a food and wine festival). Researchers have noted contextual differences as a confounding factor in differentiating motivations across different festivals (Nicholson & Pearce, 2001). This study, positioning itself in the context of multicultural festivals, hereby explores both context-free and context-specific motivations. Research on multicultural festivals is limited (Lee, Arcodia, & Lee, 2012a). A multicultural festival is a public multicultural themed celebration where people of different ethnicities can have extraordinary and significant experiences (Lee et al., 2012a). Previous research has examined the characteristics of multicultural festivals, and the benefits of visiting a multicultural festival (Lee et al., 2012a, 2012b). Comparatively, single cultural theme festivals have been more extensively studied. As multicultural festivals feature a variety of ethic cultures in a society, they may attract visitors from a wider range of cultural backgrounds. Therefore, a compelling research question arises: what makes people participate in a multicultural festival? An associated question is: what are the differences of motivations between visitors whose culture is presented in a multicultural festival and those whose culture is not presented? This exploratory study aims to answer these two questions.

Social Identity in Serious Sport Event Space

Sport events offer valuable experiences in distinctive settings, and serve as settings for social identity formation. Drawing on the literature from a range of disciplines, events characteristics are seen to provide spaces for the cocreation of values, liminality, communitas, flow experiences, and authenticity. It is suggested that sport events facilitate career progression in relation to serious leisure and the development of social identification. This article provides further insight about the nature of event experiences with implications for event management.

Proximate tourists and major sport events in everyday leisure spaces

Abstract The local and the everyday provide a base resource for an individual to draw upon selectively in the reflexive construction of their leisure lifestyles. Through processes of tourism, however, these everyday spaces can become transformed into tourist products such as through the staging of major sports events. Research often recognises the social impacts sport tourism events can have on host communities yet assume homogeneity across these communities without considering the differentiated leisure lifestyles which characterise them. This paper explores the interplay between the hosting of major sports events and leisure spaces, community and practices of local established sporting communities who are connected to the event through their socio-cultural proximity to the leisure lifestyle and physical proximity to the event setting. The study draws upon qualitative data from interviews with 19 cyclists who live in Adelaide, the host city of the Tour Down Under, an annual professional cycle race and festival. The findings explore the ways in which local cyclists experience the event as proximate tourists drawing upon their knowledge of everyday sporting spaces, local resources and their insider status to inform their identities. The findings examine the ways in which they maintain connections with local places throughout the staging of the event, and highlight some of the tensions this creates in their on-going everyday leisure practices. It argues that organisers of major sports events should utilise the pool of resident participant experts offered through local sports clubs and communities and ensure they benefit from their hosting. 摘要: 地方和日常生活为个人建构休闲方式提供了一种可以选择性利用的基本资源。然而, 这些日常空间通过旅游发展 (比如举办大型体育赛事) 可以转化为旅游产品。已有研究常常认识到体育旅游活动对主办社区的社会影响, 却假定这些社区是同质的, 没有考虑到他们差异化的休闲生活方式。本文探讨了举办大型体育赛事与当地运功社区的休闲空间、休闲群体与休闲实践之间的相互作用, 这些社区由于其社会文化及实质环境赛事场景相近而与赛事联系起来。该研究基于对阿德莱德19名骑行者的访谈获得定性数据。阿德莱德是年度职业自行车赛事的举办城市。该调查探索了当地的骑自行车者作为近距离游客体验这一事件的方式。他们利用对日常运动空间、当地资源和他们内部人的地位来宣告他们的身份。研究结果分析了他们在举办赛事过程中与当地空间保持联系的方式, 并强调了在他们日常休闲活动中所产生的一些紧张关系。该研究认为, 大型体育赛事的组织者应该利用当地体育俱乐部和社区提供的常驻参与专家, 确保他们能从主办城市中受益。