In contemporary society, festival tourism is becoming increasingly popular. As a new form of tourism activity, festival tourism had been adopted in many places. However, some have not received the expected results. Since some factors, affect directly the development of festival tourism, they therefore need to be considered for marketing and operating.
In this essay, development of festival tourism will be introduced firstly. Then it will focus on analyzing the four main factors accompanying it with some examples. At the end, the main weakness of festival tourism operation by blind market selection will be identified.
Festival tourism is a powerful economic force providing employment, foreign exchange, income, and tax revenue. The festival tourism market reflects the demands of consumers for a very wide range of travel and hospitality products, and it is widely claimed that this market is now being serviced by the world’s largest industry. In contemporary society, festival tourism is becoming increasingly popular (in China). As a new form tourism activity, festival tourism had been adopted in many places.
However, some festivals have not received the expected results. Since some factors, affect directly the development of festival tourism, they therefore need to be considered for marketing and operating. For example, with the development of festival tourism, many areas formed their working systems; they clearly understanding of how to use festival tourism to operate a successful market. But some areas just failed. They didn’t find accurate market positioning and undertake reasonable planning. Everyone knows that, festival tourism is a condition of to be operation successful market.
In this essay, the development of festival tourism will be introduced firstly. And then it will focus on analyzing the five main factors involved in its success, accompanied by some examples. At the end, the main weakness of festival tourism operation by blind market selection will be identified.
Body
1. Development of festival tourism
As know to all, productions play an important role in establishing and developing a destination. “ The tourism product is consumed at the point of production and brings the consumer into direct contact with the producer” (Hope, 1980, p. 182). For the same reason, to the festival tourism, the festivals are the main functions as tourism attractions (Quinn, 2006). Tourists are invariably attracted to festivals and there is a strong relationship between the growth of festivals and tourist demand (Quinn, 2006). Undoubtedly, there is a strong connection between festivals and tourism (Quinn, 2006, p289). “ It is shown by abundant evidence that countless festivals are marketed as tourist attractions and draw definable tourist flows” (Quinn, 2006). However, festivals have a social and cultural complexity. Furthermore, if there were no host community, there could be no festival (Getz as cited in Quinn, 2006). Therefore, cultural and social are the leading attractions in the development of festival tourism. Since centuries ago, people have the motivations to experience the different culture and traditions in the different environments and escape from the normal surroundings where they lived. The situation is rising continuously. Due to increasing tendency, festival culture is the key to attract to tourists. For example, Wexford Festival Opera is a successful tourist attraction (Quinn, 2006). “ It employs five staff year-round, attracts audience flows of some 20, 000 during three weeks in October-November every year, and in 2005 received grant-in-aid of 950, 000 from the state’s Arts Council” (Quinn, 2006, p292). From a tourist perspective, festival create “ product”, enliven a destination, and promise a glimpse into the authentic culture of a place which are the main factor in the festival tourism (Quinn, 2006, p301)
2. Target market
Search for the correct target market is guarantees successful marketing. The cornerstone of marketing theory is the demand of the consumer. Therefore, the marketer needs to understand three related aspects of consumer behavior analysis: consumer motivation, consumer typologies, and the consumer purchasing process. Most tourism organizations have an imperfect picture of their customers, and few monitor patterns of consumer behavior at a level of detail necessary to remain competitive (Simon, 2005). About the choice of correct target market, Trinidad and Tobago is a typical example. Tourism has developed into one of the key emerging sectors and an important element in the diversification of this energy-based economy.
The concept of a carnival visitor is defined as a vacation visitor during the carnival period. There are different ways of determining the carnival period, but the working definition used by the Central Statistical Office is related to the start of the program of official carnival activities, approximately 19 days prior to Ash Wednesday. Based upon this definition, the number of carnival visitors for 1997 and 1998 was 24, 947 and 32, 071, respectively, and by 2001, carnival visitors had increased to 41, 495 (Fig. 2). (Keith Nurse, 2004)
Figure 1. Seasonal variation of visitor arrivals (here 2001).
Figure 2. Development of the number of Carnival visitors (1997-2001).
From the above example, researching the correct target market should form the basis of an ongoing system for gathering data about the company. After a clear understanding of the demands of the market, choosing a target market can be no mistake. Meanwhile the target market can guide market strategy and policy. Nowadays, festival tourism is an emerging industry; everything needs to an exploration of process.
3. Festival tourism product
Product decisions, with all their implications for the management of tourism operations, influence not only the marketing mix, but also firm’s long-term growth strategy and its policies for investment and human resources. From the standpoint of a potential customer considering any form of tourist visit, the product may be defined as a bundle or package of tangible and intangible components, based on activity at a destination. The package is perceived the tourist as an experience that is available for a price. As we know, successful market is built on the innovation festival tourism, because new things always can attract people’s attention. Developing new products is different from maintaining existing ones, and planning for both kinds of product will differ according to whether the products are targeted an existing market or new ones. 2010 FIFA World Cup will hold in South African, it is a festival for soccer fans from all over the world, whatever the cultural, language and nationality. They must be enjoying the time in South African, it is also a chance for South African’s tourism industry. This example is to illustrate new product is very important for successful marketing and festival tourism. A company must develop new products to survive. New products can be obtained through acquisition or through new product development. For example, American and Canadian tourists in Israel are being offered five-day packages of counter-terrorism training, complete with a mock terror attack. The Shiloh tour package, costing about $8000. To sum up, tourism products are a group of selected components or elements brought together in a “ bundle” to satisfy needs and wants. The most important thing is to accurate observation to the demand of the market. It relates to the direction of market operation.
4¼ŽEconomy
Festival tourism is today one of the most important economic sectors, its importance in a country’s overall growth performance (Javier Capo’s, 2007, p615). Along with the rapid development of the festival tourism, the economy is also developed rapidly. As we know, economy benefit is the basis of the market, once people clear economic goals, it is the key to be a successful market and it is also a good connect between successfully marketing and festival tourism. For economy, it includes lots of fields, such as hotel industry economy, airline economy, entrainment economy and so on. Festival tourism, the emphasis is on festival, it will become a traditional. Festival tourism in Trinidad and Tobago is a typical example for economy is basis of the market. “ Festivals have emerged to be an important contributor to the tourism industry throughout the Caribbean. In many territories the peak in tourist arrivals coincides with some event, particularly a musical or carnival festival” (Keith Nurse, 2004). So, hotel industry gets a rapid development. Carnival does create an element of destination loyalty. Hoteliers indicate that there is a strong element of event loyalty among customers. The repeat factor for carnival visitors is considered to be very high. It is also suggested that carnival visitors return to visit the destination outside of the carnival season. This is exemplified by the high satisfaction ratings that the festival. The airline economy is another area that enjoys significant benefits from Carnival. “ The airline industry is broken down into three categories: scheduled air carriers, charters, and cargo. There are 10 scheduled international air carriers that service Trinidad” (Keith Nurse, 2004). The carnival season is viewed as an important source of revenue for Airplane Company. There are no data to show the number of carnival visitors who travel to Tobago, but it is considered significant by the airlines and hoteliers in Tobago. Entrainment economy is another field which worth to discuss. The entertainment industry in Trinidad and Tobago is one of the emerging industries with potential to increase foreign exchange earnings, generate employment, and enhance a growing tourism product. “ The entertainment industry includes the music industry, film and video production, commercial theater and dance, costume design and production, sound, stage and lighting, visual arts, and cultural tourism” (Keith Nurse, 2004). It is intertwined with the national festival, as the entertainment industry is largely a product of Carnival (Nurse, 1997). Economy is not only the important for the festival tourism; it also improved visibility of tourism destination. So, to sum up, economy is the important factor of successfully and running festival tourism.
