Search Results (12)

As governments in various countries and regions issue tourism-friendly policies in the post-pandemic period, the voices for tourism consumption recovery and innovative transformation have attracted great attention. Many scholars, experts and industry professionals in the field of festivals are actively exploring efficient solutions for festival marketing and sustainability. It is worth rethinking tourists’ consumption psychology and perceived image regarding exiting festival products as well as the antecedents that affect festival loyalty. The Qingdao International Beer Festival, as one of the most influential festivals in China, was selected as the research case for this study. The main goal of this study was to investigate festival consumption promotion mechanisms by proposing a conceptual framework in which the associations between destination familiarity, product familiarity and loyal intentions (re-patronage and recommendation) were examined with mediators of overall festival image, perceived value and overall satisfaction. The moderating role of visitor involvement in the proposed framework was also adequately demonstrated. Moreover, the causal recipes for loyalty intentions have also been identified by employing a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a necessary condition analysis (NCA). The research findings are expected to provide a significant reference for the recovery and improvement in competitiveness of the entire festival industry. Full article

Background: Music festivals are part of the cultural industry, and have become an ever-growing phenomenon. It is essential for organisers to identify whether the marketing strategies implemented are positive and effective in generating a competitive advantage. The aim of this study is to identify the elements that make up the brand equity of an emerging music festival, and to find out whether the overall brand equity determines the satisfaction and subsequent behaviours of festival-goers. Methods: Quantitative research was used by conducting an ad hoc structured survey during the development of a live music festival in May 2022. The questionnaire collects information about dimensions that make up the global brand value and how they influence satisfaction and behavioural intentions, consisting of a total of 33 indicators.; Results: Awareness, perceived quality, and loyalty are the most influential dimensions in shaping the brand of a festival. There is a correlation between the overall brand value and the satisfaction of the attendees, and that the latter influences the subsequent loyalty and recommendation of the event. Conclusions: The causal relationships between the dimensions of brand equity and overall brand equity are shown, where three of the four hypotheses are accepted. Similarly, the three hypotheses related to the influence of overall brand image and behavioural intentions are also accepted. Full article

There are an increasing number of initiatives that recognize arable weed species as an important component of agricultural biodiversity. Such initiatives often focus on declining species that were once abundant and are still well known, but the ethnographic relevance of such species receives little recognition. We carried out an extensive literature review on the medicinal, ornamental, and cultural applications of three selected species, Papaver rhoeas, Centaurea cyanus, and Delphinium consolida, in the relevant Hungarian literature published between 1578 and 2021. We found a great diversity of medicinal usages. While P. rhoeas stands out with its sedative influence, D. consolida was mainly employed to stop bleeding, and C. cyanus was most frequently used to cure eye inflammation. The buds of P. rhoeas were sporadically eaten and its petals were used as a food dye. All species fulfilled ornamental purposes, either as garden plants or gathered in the wild for bouquets. They were essential elements of harvest festivals and religious festivities, particularly in Corpus Christi processions. P. rhoeas was also a part of several children’s games. These wildflowers were regularly depicted in traditional Hungarian folk art. In poetry, P. rhoeas was used as a symbol of burning love or impermanence; C. cyanus was frequently associated with tenderness and faithfulness; while D. consolida regularly emerged as a nostalgic remembrance of the disappearing rural lifestyle. These plants were also used as patriotic symbols in illustrations for faithfulness, loyalty, or homesickness. Our results highlight the deep and prevalent embeddedness of the three iconic weed species studied in the folk culture of the Carpathian Basin. The ethnobotanical and cultural embeddedness of arable weed species should also be considered when efforts and instruments for the conservation of arable weed communities are designed. Full article

Although urban forests are important components of the urban tourism system, research on urban forests from the perspective of tourism is limited. This is particularly true for research on cherry blossom festivals held in urban areas in the context of China. This paper, for the first time, examined the similarities and differences between locals and tourists in their past experience, motivation, attitude, satisfaction, and loyalty as well as the interrelationships among these variables as they relate to the Taihu Lake International Cherry Blossom Festival (TLICBF) in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, based on data collected onsite in 2019 from 412 usable questionnaires. Results show that responses from locals and tourists were quite similar. Moreover, TLICBF attendees’ motivation of attending the festival significantly influenced their attitudes toward the festival, which significantly predicted their overall satisfaction with the festival. It is worth noting that it is the positive comparison, not the frequency of visits, that significantly influenced TLICBF attendees’ attitudes toward and overall satisfaction with the festival. In addition, motivations and benefits were also qualitatively examined, with a measure of 21 items for the former and 25 items for the latter being developed. Research implications, research limitations, and future research needs are discussed. Full article

An emerging paradigm for festival and event management reveals that hosting theme-based festivals can foster economic growth at the local and national levels. As a case of this research, the annual Macau Food Festival was selected to explore relationships among visitors’ perceptions of festival quality, festival value, trust in the festival, visitors’ satisfaction, and behavior intention. Out of 453 questionnaires distributed, 433 questionnaires were valid for data analysis using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. The results showed that festival quality consisting of the sub-dimensions of hospitality, venue, product, convenience, and program have a positive impact on festival value, trust in festival, and festival satisfaction, which in turn affect festival loyalty. Based on these empirical findings, the current study offers practical and theoretical implications for destination management organizations and festival hosts to sustain annual theme-based festivals held at a certain destination such as Macau Food Festival. Full article

Research on food and wine tourism is recent and mostly attraction-based. Further, it is essential to understand how locally grown food and beverages allow culinary tourists to amplify their involvement experiences and lead to enhance their satisfaction and destination loyalty. This research attempts to explore the structural relationships between the variables of motivation, different types of involvement, physical/intangible service satisfaction, and loyalty in the context of a food and wine festival. Data were collected via intercept surveys on site, which were distributed to and collected from attendees of the Wine and Food Festival in Miami, Florida. The results show that novelty seeking is only positively related to pleasure experience, whereas socialization motivation has an impact on pleasure experience, risk probability, and risk importance. Pleasure experience, in turn, has a positive influence on both physical and intangible service satisfaction; however, risk probability is only related to physical service, and risk importance is related to intangible service satisfaction. Finally, only the satisfaction with an intangible service has a positive impact on loyalty. Findings from this study suggest that developing a marketing strategy for attendees based on the characteristic of their cognitive mode can be effective in increasing their satisfaction and willingness to revisit the festival. Full article

This exploratory research seeks to gain insight into the visitors of Persian Fire Festival in Stockholm, their motivation, level of satisfaction and loyalty to the festival. The overall methodology is mixed methods consisting of participant observation and 280 completed online surveys including close-ended and open-ended questions. A Grounded theory analysis has been employed. The most important reason behind the participation has been to strive for the recognition of ethnic cultural identity; to keep the ancient culture alive; to maintain their ancestors’ legacy and transfer it to the next generation. Most of the visitors experienced positive feelings, showed satisfaction and loyalty, believed that the festival fulfilled their expectations and it should be celebrated officially every year. A minority showed dissatisfaction mostly due to the lack of accessibility to the event venue and might are not loyal to the festival. The first conclusion here is that these motivators are totally different than those mentioned by earlier research (e.g., escape, socialization, novelty, rest, prestige, excitement). Even though the desire to preserve the ancient culture and tradition is very strong, a lack of accessibility to the venue would constitute disloyalty and a barrier to re-attend in such a festival. Full article

A number of studies have been conducted to examine the attractiveness of tourism destinations. However, there has been little research done on festival attractiveness nor on its impact on destination loyalty. This study employed a mixed method approach to investigate the festivals in Guangzhou city, China. Firstly, through a qualitative method, the four dimensions of festival attractiveness were identified, i.e., strong festival atmosphere, harmonious interpersonal interaction, distinct cultural symbols and rich festival activities. Then, based on a cognitive–affective–conative model, a quantitative method was used to explore the mechanism through which festival attractiveness impacts sense of place and destination loyalty. Structural equation modeling showed that all dimensions of festival attractiveness have positive effects on place attachment, but not all of them have positive effects on place identity. Findings further indicate that place attachment has a positive effect on place identity, and that place attachment and place identity both have positive effects on destination loyalty. These results indicate that festival hosting destination loyalty follows the processes of both festival attractiveness cognition and destination affection evaluation. Full article

Although neglected in previous studies, tourist-to-tourist interaction (TTI) is a core part of festival experience. It is widely acknowledged that interactions between tourists significantly influence behavioral reactions such as desire to stay, satisfaction, and loyalty, which are important for tourism destination marketing. This study used grounded theory to obtain insights into onsite interactions between tourists and to propose a conceptual model of TTI on the Midi Music Festival in China. The model constitutes the types, drivers, and influence of TTI. Compared with mutual assistance and conflict, entertainment interaction plays an essential role in the overall evaluation of the festival experience. Individual characteristics are the internal drivers of interactions between tourists. Environmental elements including the festivalscape and social festivalscape are influential exogenous factors. Additionally, spatial locations of tourists at the venue play mediating roles between the driving elements and TTI. Since entertainment incidents construct the essential part of onsite interactions at festivals, managers can shape the atmosphere to encourage tourists to engage in interactive entertainment with others tourists. This should improve participants’ overall evaluations of the festival experience as well as the sustainable development of destinations where festivals are held. Full article

Food-based events and festivals are being increasingly organized around the world, both in large cities and in small towns with the aim of attracting the many benefits they provide to the destinations where they are held. While the impact of mega events is sufficiently studied in scientific literature, the works that address the effects of small events are still scarce. To close this gap, this research investigates the significance of small food-based events for tourism and the sustainable development of destinations. An exhaustive study of a renowned festival based on cheese was carried out in the Spanish city of Trujillo. A survey was used to ask non-local attendants and it explored their motivations, the event itself, the assessment of the permanent elements of the destination, and loyalty to the festival. The impact of these small festivals is not only relevant for the tourism sector and the sustainable positioning of the destination, however it is also relevant for the local economy due to the consumption of local gastronomic products. Given their role in attracting visitors, these small festivals as tourist motivators must be integrated into the communication campaigns of those destinations that seek to enhance their sustainability. Full article

The Cordoba Guitar Festival is one of the most important cultural events in Spain. This article analyses the musical preferences, satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty, and behavioural loyalty of spectators who attended the 36th festival held in July 2016, as well as the festival’s economic impact on the city. These characteristics of the public give rise to the four hypotheses of this study. To achieve this aim, a structural equation model (SEM) was used. The results −χ² = 27.79, with the p-value found to be p = P (χ² ≥ 27.79) = 0.224—show the goodness-of-fit of the model and indicate that the observed data do fit the expected dataset. The results therefore allow us to accept the proposed hypotheses concerning the influence of different latent factors, such as musical preferences, loyalty, and satisfaction with the festival. This is the main focus with which the present study has been written. Regarding the economic impact, the Festival raised 1.2 million euros, that is, slightly more than 73,000 euros per day. The amount, although not very high, is important as additional income for the city. The conclusions show the need to consider the preferences of the spectator as an essential tool to enable the continuation and longevity of the Cordoba Guitar Festival—an important cultural destination. Full article

Festivals are the most viable source of tourism promotion and provide recognition to different cultures and communities. This paper proposed and examined a holistic model of festival word of mouth (WOM), which is influenced by authenticity, promotion, loyalty, quality, and satisfaction. Accordingly, the current paper investigated the effect of the proposed model with reference to Lok Virsa handicrafts, the most famous festival of the Islamabad region in Pakistan. The findings revealed that the festival quality has direct impact on WOM and promotion. Promotion has a positive influence on loyalty, satisfaction, and WOM. Festival authenticity strongly influences promotion, quality, satisfaction, and WOM. Festival satisfaction is positively related to WOM and loyalty. Whereas, festival loyalty and WOM are significantly associated. The results suggest that festival organizers should deliver the claims and promises in the festival that they have made with tourists. This technique will harvest positive WOM and increase tourist re-visitation to upcoming festivals. Full article