Impact Analysis of a Tourism Festival on Tourists Destination Images

Abstract

There are few empirical studies on the contribution of tourism festivals toward destination image improvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of a planned festival, which was organized by local government to attract tourists, to the improvement of destination image. Image differences before and after the visit, between festival participants and nonparticipants, between festival recognition and non-recognition groups, between information request and nonrequest groups were analyzed. The results showed that the tourism festival in this study did not contribute to a positive image formation for festival participants. The study further found that the festival's quality and promotion were related to negative image change. Longitudinal research on the contribution of festivals toward positive image improvement is needed in the future.

A model of community-based festival image

“…These advantages of festivals and special events are demonstrated more explicitly in rural settings, particularly in boosting local economies (Long and Perdue, 1990), continuing employment (Felsenstein and Fleischer, 2003), and proandoting rural destination (Boo and Busser, 2006). Communitand-based festivals (CBFs) in rural areas, labeled ''home-grown'' festivals by O'Sullivan and Jackson (2002), are essentially small scale, bottom up, and run by one or more volunteers for the benefit of the locality.…”

“…Extant work on CBF focuses on two topics: economic benefits for local communities (e.g., Felsenstein and Fleischer, 2003;Long and Perdue, 1990;Mehmetoglu, 2002) and the effects of tourism promotion on host destinations (e.g., Boo and Busser, 2006;Felsenstein and Fleischer, 2003;Getz and Frisby, 1988;Mehmetoglu and Ellingsen, 2005). Although tourist expenditure at CBFs is the focus of many studies, increasing research attention is being directed toward the effects of festivals on destination image improvement (Boo and Busser, 2006).…”

Benefit Segmentation of Visitors to a Rural Community‐based Festival

“…The advantages of festivals and special events are demonstrated more explicitly in rural settings, particularly in boosting local 585 economies (Long & Perdue, 1990), continuing employment (Felsenstein & Fleischer, 2003), and rural destination promotion (Boo & Busser, 2006). After the World War II, many farming communities in the Western societies experienced a decline in such singular economic sectors as traditional agriculture, mining, timber, and farm-based manufacturing (Gilbert, 1989;Xie, 2004).…”

Investigating the Role of Government Policy and the Environment on Locals’ Loyalty to Spring Music Festivals

“…Research on festivals and special events has been linked to tourism from several perspectives, including generating economic benefits (Litvin & Fetter, 2006;Mckercher, Mei, & Tse, 2006), preserving local culture (Xie, 2004), and marketing targeted place (Boo & Busser, 2005;Felsenstein & Fleisvher, 2003). In Taiwan, more than 400 festivals are held each year, indicating the arrival of a culture-consumption era (Global-Views-Monthly, 2013).…”