Michelle Whitford

An exploration of events research: event topics, themes and emerging trends

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine emerging trends in event and festival research and also in the themes and topics being studied in this area.Design/methodology/approach – Taking an innovative approach, this paper used an abridged version of Q methodology to seek the opinions of events experts on the topics and themes that will underpin the future development of an events and festivals research agenda.Findings – The results of this research revealed that events experts feel that there are several areas that have been comprehensively researched and where further research is unlikely to provide any new information. These include definitions and types of events, and events logistics and staging. Directions for future events and festivals research include the need for studies on the socio‐cultural and environmental impacts of events along with a better understanding of the relationship between events and public policy agendas. This research has also highlighted a lack of research ...

Event tourism governance and the public sphere

Political and sociological shifts have profoundly affected state, business and civil society relationships. This paper explores governance as a new form of public–private policymaking wherein stakeholders deliberate on and take action to achieve common goals. It examines how different public spheres facilitate (or not) sustainability debates, and specifically facilitate (or not) discussion about sustainable tourism. Using a case study of the 2009 Australian World Rally Championship, the paper explores the development of the public sphere. Tuckmans group development process – forming, storming, norming and performing – is employed as a lens to understand these processes. Key findings include: the way the public sphere is constituted has a major influence on the dialogue that takes place; citizens are currently reactive, rather than strategic and creative in their engagement; the “third way” project, seeking to empower communities, requires government commitment; there is a blurring of public–private interests; control of knowledge and expertise within the public sphere is largely controlled by corporate and state interests; fast action to secure events prevents debate and engagement; and a discursive public sphere is essential for transparent and accountable governance, and sustainable development, and to move beyond government by powerful corporate interests and extra-local rule systems.

Policy for sustainable and responsible festivals and events: institutionalisation of a new paradigm – a response

There are increasing calls for the assumptions and values that underpin research in the social sciences to be made explicit and for more critical attention being given to the way in which knowledge is generated and validated. Inspired by such requests, this paper challenges some propositions made by Donald Getz in the paper he wrote for the inaugural volume of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events. In this paper Getz presents a vision for events policy and proposes the development of events policy that embodies a ‘sustainable and responsible approach’ to public sector involvement in events. In the spirit of critical, engaged academic debate, this paper challenges the following four propositions that emerge from Getz’s paper: (1) the state of existing event policy research is underdeveloped; (2) that it is possible to delimit the scope and substance of policy concerns within event studies; (3) neoliberalism has influenced governments to take a predominantly interventionist role in events, principally to secure economic development and prosperity; (4) it is possible for governments to institutionalise an event policy paradigm. Importantly, we recognise that Getz has made significant contributions to the events policy literature, but arguably, it is important to engage more thoroughly with some of his ideas and claims. Our contribution in this paper has been to argue that significant aspects, such as paradigm shifts in events policy, the role of government in events and the role of event policy research require more nuanced understandings in order to account for, and accommodate, the intricacies of event planning, management and policy. Our aim is to establish a broader agenda on events policy research that embraces a wider range of epistemologies, ontologies and methodologies than Getz proposes in his sustainable and responsible approach.

Indigenous peoples and tourism: the challenges and opportunities for sustainable tourism

ABSTRACT The Indigenous tourism focus of the 16 papers in this special issue provides readers with an opportunity to explore the dynamics behind an array of issues pertaining to sustainable Indigenous tourism. These papers not only provide a long overdue balance to the far too common, negatively biased media reports about Indigenous peoples and their communities but also highlight the capacity of tourism as an effective tool for realizing sustainable Indigenous development. Throughout the papers reviewed in detail here, readers are reminded of the positive (capacity building) and negative (commodification) realities of Indigenous tourism development. Concomitantly, readers are privy to the practical and theoretical contributions pertaining to the management of cultural values and Indigenous businesses and the social and economic empowerment of Indigenous groups. The main contribution of this special issue, however, is a call for increasing research by, or in collaboration with, Indigenous researchers so that Indigenous authors and editors of academic journals become the norm in academia. Ultimately, Indigenous scholars and tourism providers should be the major contributors to, and commentators about, mainstream and niche approaches to Indigenous tourism management, whilst communities gain visibility not just as the visited “Other”, but as global leaders within tourism and related sectors.

Managing local tourism: Building sustainable tourism management practices across local government divides

Increasingly, the challenge for local government in managing tourism is not in preparing plans and policies or undertaking new initiatives but in collaborating across internal organisational silos and across artificial administrative boundaries to provide a more integrated approach. The Managing Local Government Master Class was a programme designed to develop a ‘joined-up’ integrated approach to local government tourism management. This article outlines the Master Class approach within the increasingly complex context facing Australian local governments, and discusses two applications in Northern Rivers, NSW and Perths Eastern Metropolitan Region. It was found that while the Master Class offers a mechanism to increase collaboration and leverage the benefits of working more effectively within and across councils, there remain political and administrative impediments to improved collaboration.

Indigenous tourism research, past and present: where to from here?

ABSTRACT Indigenous tourism is a global phenomenon, encompassing a range of complex, multi-layered issues. The foci of Indigenous tourism research are multifaceted, reflecting a plethora of stakeholders with differing perspectives and values about the direction, development and sustainability of the sector. The academic literature consistently highlights the need for a more comprehensive understanding of Indigenous tourism and, specifically, one that takes into account the interests and values of its stakeholders. This paper provides a global overview of Indigenous tourism development and its international and national institutional links, concomitantly identifying and examining the trajectory of scholarly interest in Indigenous tourism from 1980 to 2014. An analysis of 403 published journal articles is supplemented with the perspectives of Indigenous tourism researchers. The results reveal that sustainability issues underpin and shape a substantive proportion of published Indigenous tourism research to date. The challenge now is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of Indigenous tourism from the perspective of Indigenous stakeholders, approaching its complexity in an iterative, adaptive and flexible style, and with affected stakeholders involved in the research process, knowledge creation and its outcomes. This is both an ethical imperative and a pragmatic approach to ensure the outcomes of research facilitate the sustainability of Indigenous tourism.

Event public policy development in the Northern Sub-regional Organisation of Councils, Queensland, Australia: Rhetoric or realisation?

ABSTRACT Over the last two decades, Australia has witnessed the emergence of a socially and economically significant event industry with an increasingly professional profile. Many governments, as stakeholders in the development of events, have produced policies designed to facilitate the growth and potential of events as a platform for industry and economic development (Burgan and Mules, 2000). Thus, events are increasingly becoming an integral and essential component of regional development. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyse and evaluate public policies pertaining to events produced from 1980 to 2002 by the Northern Sub-Regional Organisation of Councils (NORSROC) located in South East Queenslands Sunshine Coast, Australia. The seven NORSROC local governments are situated in and around the tourist region of the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. The results of analysis revealed NORSROC members, over a twenty-two year period, produced a scant number of non-specific event policies that were developed in what appeared to be a small and potentially insular event policy community. Furthermore, NORSROC public policies appeared to give little recognition to events as a vehicle to facilitate entrepreneurial enterprises and/or regional development. Arguably, the sustainability of events in the region will be severely curtailed if NORSROC members do not adopt a more whole of government, proactive entrepreneurial approach to the development of event public policy so they can ensure in future years, they have “something to offer everyone” (Touring the Sunshine Coast, 2003, p. 1).

Oaxaca’s Indigenous Guelaguetza Festival: not all that glistens is gold

Guelaguetza is one of Mexicos premiere celebrations of indigenous dance and music. The festival occurs every July in Oaxaca City where it is a premier tourist attraction providing opportunities for socioeconomic growth and development. Yet the festival also creates negative impacts such as commodifi cation and commercialization of the festival, which may lead to the bastardization of culture, including loss of indigenous authenticity and exploitation of local resources. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to critically analyze the positive and negative impacts of the 2007 Guelaguetza in order to determine the extent to which the festival focuses on becoming a tourist attraction at the expense of community celebration. A qualitative research design utilizing the case study approach was employed to analyze positive and negative impacts emerging from the real-world context of the 2007 Guelaguetza. The results of the study revealed that not all that glistens is gold at the festival. Behind the fa硤e of this visually spectacular festival, the Guelaguetza is at real risk of becoming a colorful, attractive, yet meaningless, commercialized tourist venture if tourist and commercial needs are favored at the expense of the people and their traditions. Consequently, now is the time to revisit and redefi ne the purpose of the Guelaguetza to ensure it remains a sociocultural and economically viable annual festival for everyone to enjoy, long into the future.

Principles to Practice: Indicators for measuring event governance performance

Governments are increasingly involved in public-private partnerships to attract, support, and/or stage events. This involvement often leads to governments becoming embroiled in highly politicized battles that focus on issues including community benefit, mitigation of impacts, transparency in decision making, and lack of consultation before, during, and after the event. To date, minimal attention has been paid to the public-private governance arrangements underpinning events. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting a set of indicators that can be operationalized to improve event governance. The article proposes an indicators framework for event governance designed to reflect the event policy-making process. It contributes to the literature by facilitating greater understanding of the significance and influence of event governance indicators. Future application of the framework in research and practice will provide governments with a new management tool, which will enhance democratic decision making and facilitate competitive advantage in a globalized marketplace.

Customer relationship management in the exhibition industry in China: an exploration into the critical success factors and inhibitors.

China’s exhibition industry has experienced considerable growth over the past decade; however, recent studies have identified a number of issues affecting its future growth, including an inability to retain customers. Customer relationship management (CRM) offers a potential solution to this problem. Although anecdotal evidence suggests that CRM has been widely adopted in China’s exhibition industry, there is a lack of empirical research focused on factors critical to its successful implementation. Consequently, the aim of this article is to explore the drivers and inhibitors of CRM implementation in China’s exhibition industry. Reporting on the findings from a series of semi-structured interviews with 18 senior managers from exhibition organizing companies in China, this article identifies a series of underlying drivers to successful CRM implementation, including top management commitment and support, user awareness and training programs, and providing necessary resources and funds. This research also uncovered a number of factors that inhibit CRM implementation, including path dependency, organizational structure, and institutional factors, as well as poor data quality and quantity. Future research on CRM in the exhibition industry should focus on developing a conceptual model of the facilitators and inhibitors for testing in different geographic and organizational contexts.