Regional Event Tourism Funding Policies: A Strategic-Relational Critique of Current Practice

Abstract

Taking a strategic-relational approach we critique a range of event tourism funding policies and practices that seek to create regional and/or national event strategies. A multiple case study method combining document analysis and key informant interviews within selected regions provides insights into the political nature of event funding, the equity of its distribution, and the decision processes involved. Programs were found to operate in a sensitive and complex context due to intertwined power relationships between policy and agency embedded within governments. We conclude that to bring about broader benefits and legacies a paradigm shift is needed to rebalance economic and social outcomes within funder objectives and governance structures. This needs to include innovation in evaluation and wider more meaningful stakeholder engagement. The study shows that without fundamental change in policy, national and regional funding programs are likely to continue to operate within their existing narrow remit.

Cultural Contestation and Masquerade Politics: The Challenge of Trying to Develop a Cultural Event in a Divided City

“…Large-scale events, in particular, are perceived as being useful in achieving the three 'Rs' of regeneration, reimaging and rebranding (Foley et al, 2012). Ormerod & Wood (2020) discuss how cultural events can generate investment and jobs whilst Richards (2017) discusses how cultural events not only make cities more dynamic and liveable places for locals but also make them more appealing to tourists.…”

Which Public Attraction Gets (and Gets More) Government Funding? The Effects of Internal and External Factors

“…For governments, funds or subsidies are usually used as a policy instrument in the tourism industry. Many studies focus on its effectiveness (Ormerod and Wood 2021; Tundis, Gabriele, and Zaninotto 2017). Specifically, government funding can help public attractions enhance their financial performance (Bernini and Pellegrini 2013), reduce the impacts of crises (Blake and Sinclair 2003), and improve employment and other social welfare (Wang, Xu, and Guo 2021).…”

“…Despite the importance and the substantial role of government funding in attraction finance, research on how government funds are allocated has remained scarce (Tundis, Gabriele, and Zaninotto 2017). To the authors' best knowledge, Rex (2020), Ormerod andWood (2021), andMaddison (2004) are three existing studies that explore government funding policies and practices in the tourism context. Rex (2020) investigates why some museums are more vulnerable to budget cuts and finds that museums with financial risks and low financial viability are less likely to get funding prioritization.…”

“…Rex (2020) investigates why some museums are more vulnerable to budget cuts and finds that museums with financial risks and low financial viability are less likely to get funding prioritization. Ormerod and Wood (2021) examine event tourism funding policies and processes and find that public funding decisions are shaped by complicated and "intertwined power relationships between policy and agency" (p. 873). Maddison (2004), which is the only quantitative study among the three, examines what impacts the levels of government grants to museums in the UK and reveals that increases in self-generated incomes lead to a decrease in future government subsidies.…”

Understanding the core elements of event portfolio strategy: lessons from Auckland and Dunedin

“…Surprisingly, research in this area is still relatively limited. The majority of recent publications have focused either on single case-studies (Clark and Misener, 2015; Antchak, 2017) or on particular issues related to event portfolio planning, such as risk assessment or the distribution of funds (Ormerod and Wood, 2020; Andersson et al , 2017). One of the main reasons of this scarcity of empirical evidence may be a lack of theoretical frameworks to be applied for an exploratory and comparative investigation of diverse event portfolio approaches and a cross-case synthesis of the emerged data.…”