Have you found what you’re looking for? Analysing tourist experiences of Wagner’s Bayreuth, ABBA’s Stockholm and U2’s Dublin

Abstract

Music tourism, the act of travelling to places associated with music, has become part of the tourism itinerary of many European cities. Although academic interest in this phenomenon is growing, little empirical research explores the experiences of music tourists-what are music tourists looking for? This study is based on participant observation and 15 in-depth interviews with tourists to Wagner's Bayreuth, ABBA's Stockholm and U2's Dublin. It is argued that music tourism experiences involve a process of identity-work on a personal, cultural and embodied level. For most of the respondents, music plays an important role in their story of self, which is one of the main motives for travel and a source of performing self through music tourism practices. Once there, tourists relate personal music memories to music histories encountered in situ. Thus, music tourism effectively connects personal memories with shared identities and social spaces created by embodied practices.

Sharing songs on Hirakata Square: On playlists and place attachment in contemporary music listening

“…For some interviewees, standing in and experiencing a landscape evoked imagining hearing music that fitted the moment. This experience of ‘involuntary musical imagery’ has also been observed in research on music tourism (Bolderman and Reijnders, 2017).…”

The Effect of Film Nostalgia on Involvement, Familiarity, and Behavioral Intentions

“…Props from the “good old days” such as books, furniture, telephones, and analogue products could further be used to evoke feelings of nostalgia. Background music could also be used to aid in the recall of film stories and backdrops, as music could add a powerful augmented means of expression to the existing visual images (Bolderman and Reijnders 2016).…”

Frequent music festival attendance: festival fandom and career development

“…Fandom, on the other hand, might be developed through increased consumption or vice versa; increased consumption and career development might emerge because of fandom (Lexhagen et al , 2019; Mackellar, 2009). Juxtaposing these concepts in the context of frequent music festival attendance helps understanding an important festival audience segment that is valuable for the festival atmosphere (Kim, 2004; Prentice and Andersen, 2003), and music tourism in general (Bolderman and Reijnders, 2017; Lashua et al , 2014).…”