A Critical Analysis of how events contribute to destination community development.

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Event Management, Vol. 11, pp. 23–32 1525-9951/07 $60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 Cognizant Comm. Corp.

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23

Address correspondence to Gianna Moscardo, Department of Tourism, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 4811. Tel: 61 7 4781 4254; Fax: 61 7 4781 4019; E-mail: [email protected]

ANALYZING THE ROLE OF FESTIVALS AND

EVENTS IN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

GIANNA MOSCARDO

Department of Tourism, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

While tourism has a long history of use as a tool for regional development, events and festivals are a more recent policy option. In both cases the emphasis is often placed on the potential positive economic impacts. In both cases there has also been little research conducted into a wider range of outcomes or into the factors and processes that contribute to these outcomes. This article examines the potential role of festivals and events in regional development with a particular focus on effects other than economic. The study reported here used a conceptual framework developed to describe regional tourism development to explore 36 case studies describing festivals and events in a regional development context. The content analysis identified 13 themes as associated with the effectiveness of festivals and events in supporting regional development. These themes were further organized according to their connections to the three key constructs of building social capital, enhancing community capacity, and support for non-tourism-related products and services. These constructs are then used to build a preliminary conceptual framework to understand the role of festi- vals and events in regional development.

Key words: Festivals; Events; Regional development; Community capacity; Social capital

ment (Dimmock & Tiyce, 2001). Again events propo- nents emphasize economic benefits, although more re- cently there has been some discussion of potential ben- efits other than economic (Derrett, 2003).

While there is growing recognition of a wider set of potential impacts of festivals and events on their host regions, the existing tourism academic literature has been dominated by four key topics:

1. Measuring the economic impacts of festivals and events (Daniels, Backman, & Backman, 2004).

Introduction

The use of tourism as a tool for regional development has a long history (Gunn, 2004). Although tourism pro- ponents such as developers and promoters typically em- phasize the potential positive economic outcomes from tourism, the evidence to support these claims is not of- ten available and the effects of tourism can be widespread and not always positive (Gunn, 2004). In the last decade events and festivals have been extensively promoted as a form of tourism particularly useful for regional develop-

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24 MOSCARDO

2. Analysis of attendee or audience profiles and char- acteristics usually with the goal of improving mar- keting and service quality (Bowen & Daniels, 2005).

3. Examination of the management of actual events with a concern on enhancing marketing and ser- vice quality (Lade & Jackson, 2004).

4. Describing the range of both positive and negative impacts of festivals and events as perceived by resi- dents (Fredline, Jago, & Deery, 2003).

In addition to these four key topics there is also an emerging interest in studying the role of festivals and events in destination promotion (Jago, Chalip, Brown, Mules, & Ali, 2003).

The most common method used in the studies pre- sented within these five topic areas is the descriptive case study and the researchers are most often primarily interested in the role that festivals and events play in tourism or destination development rather than the de- velopment of the region in general.

This article seeks to broaden our understanding of festivals and events by describing a wider set of poten- tial roles for festivals and events with a specific em- phasis on the factors and processes that support festi- val and event contributions to broader regional development. In this context regional development is seen as consisting of more than economic changes such as increased employment but also incorporates factors related to health, education, welfare, equity, and other social and cultural dimensions of community life. The article takes a conceptual model used to describe re-

gional tourism development processes (Moscardo, 2005) and applies it to case studies of events and festi- vals with the aim of describing how festival and event programs can contribute to regional development.

Festivals, Events, and Regional Development

Table 1 provides a summary of the impacts that have been discussed for festivals and events in regional lo- cations. This table expands and adapts a taxonomy pre- sented by Fredline, Jago, and Deery (2003). In particu- lar, it includes the additional category of regional community development. Although the importance of community involvement in, and support for, events and festivals has been widely recognized as a factor con- tributing to the success of events and festivals (Jago et al., 2003; Lade & Jackson, 2004), there has also been some discussion of the potential for events and festi- vals to contribute to the building of community cohe- sion and identity (Derrett, 2003; Molloy, 2002). This latter phenomenon has been explicitly recognized in community development programs such as the Mainstreet program (see www.mainstreet.org for more details) and initiatives such as the Towns and Villages Futures program conducted by the New South Wales Department of State and Regional Development (see www.business.nsw.gov.au/ for more details).

Within this realm of regional community develop- ment are three major, interrelated constructs: social capital, community capacity, and community well-be- ing. Evans, Joas, Sundback, and Theobald (2005) and Falk and Kilpatrick (2000) discuss a range of defini-

Table 1

Summary of Festival and Events Impacts in Regional Locations

Category Positive Negative

Economic Income/reserve; Multiplier effect from visitor spending; Employment Loss; Increased prices for locals; Opportunity costs

Tourism Enhance destination image; Extension of tourism season Risk of reputation damage

Physical New facilities & infrastructure; Regeneration of rundown areas Environmental damage; Overcrowding, congestion

Sociocultural Social opportunities for locals; Improved social networks Commoditization of culture; Antisocial behavior; Dissatisfaction with event image

Psychological Enhanced sense of community; Excitement & pride Conflict

Regional community Enhanced skills for volunteers & participants (Kemp, 2002); Conflict with other regional activities development Support for other regional products and services (Bessiere, 1998);

Development of partnerships and alliance (Coaffee & Shaw, 2005; Jones, 2005)

Note: Contents for first five categories are from Fredline, Jago, and Deery (2003) and Xiao and Smith (2004).

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ROLE OF FESTIVALS/EVENTS IN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 25

tions of social capital noting the key characteristics of networks and relationships that facilitate mutual or col- lective action, trust, social cohesion, shared norms, and cooperative behavior. It could be argued that regional communities with high levels of these types of social relationships have high stocks of social capital (Molloy, 2002). Falk and Kilpatrick (2000) go on to argue that at the core of social capital are social relationship net- works built from positive interactions between individu- als. In this system these micro level interactions create reciprocity, trust, and shared constructions of reality (Habermas, 1972). According to Falk and Kilpatrick (2000), shared participation in learning activities is one way to enhance social capital. Molloy (2002) provides evidence that volunteer involvement in festivals and events is a form of learning.

The learning component of festivals and events is not restricted solely to volunteers. Arguably event or- ganizers, performers, athletes, and other participants also gain learning opportunities from events and festi- vals. This opportunity to learn new skills and enhance existing skills can be seen as part of building commu- nity capacity. Here community capacity refers to the skills, knowledge, and mechanisms that support inno- vation, change, and problem solving (Evans et al., 2005). Not surprisingly community capacity is often seen as relying in part on social capital (Evans et al., 2005). Social capital and community capacity in turn can be seen as contributing to community well-being. According to Cox (1995) and Ulrich (1998) active citi- zens, equity and justice, and social capital support and sustain prosperous, viable, and attractive communities.

Derrett (2003) argues that festivals and events con- tribute to community well-being in a number of ways including the creation and enhancement of sense of place which contributes to social identity, and opportu- nities to build the relationships and networks that cre- ate social capital. It can also be suggested that involve- ment in festivals and events supports learning and skills which contribute to community capacity.

Understanding Regional Tourism Development

Moscardo (2005) provides a preliminary conceptual model to describe the key variables and relationships be- tween them that contribute to effective tourism develop- ment in rural and/or remote regions. A simplified version of this model is presented in Figure 1. The model pro- poses three key phases in regional tourism development.

• The establishment of the preconditions for tour- ism development including a consideration of where the initial impetus for the tourism develop- ment comes from.

• The identification and development of key prereq- uisites for tourism development which include the level of community understanding of tourism, the existence of tourism leaders, the coordination of stakeholders, and the development of mechanisms to encourage community involvement in, and own- ership of, tourism businesses and development

• Tools to support tourism development including formal plans, infrastructure development, and mar- keting.

Moscardo (2005) does not make any specific pre- dictions or hypotheses about the ways in which the fac- tors included in the model combine to create positive outcomes from tourism development. It is possible, however, to use information from the analyses presented to suggest that tourism development will be more likely to have positive outcomes for regional communities if:

• The initial forces for tourism development come from within the local community including from local government and local individuals.

• The community understands tourism processes and potential impacts.

Figure 1. Conceptual model for regional tourism development. Adapted from Moscardo (2005).

Regional Context

- culture

- tradition

- history

Initial Forces for Tourism

Development

- local

- external

Tourism

Leadership

Community

Understanding

Coordination

of

Stakeholders

Community

Involvement &

Ownership

Formal Tourism Planning

- Market analysis

- Infrastructure development

- Connections to distribution systems

Pre-

conditions

Pre-

requisites

Tools

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26 MOSCARDO

• There are tourism leaders or champions. • There are opportunities for community involve-

ment and ownership. • There are formal tourism plans including a con-

sideration of markets, infrastructure development, and connections to tourism distribution systems.

A number of parallels can be drawn between this model of regional tourism development and both the literature on regional development in general and the success or failure of events. In the former situation the importance of community involvement is part of this commonality. In the latter case the importance of com- munity involvement in terms of organizing, volunteer- ing, participating, and/or attending has been recognized as a key component in the success of festivals and events (Jago et al., 2003; Lade & Jackson, 2004; Molloy, 2002). In addition several event management authors have emphasized the need for more formal approaches to festival and event planning and management (Getz, 2002; Lade & Jackson, 2004).

Research Aims

It has already been noted that the role of communities in successful festivals and events is recognized in the academic event management literature. What has not been examined in detail is the role successful festivals and events can play in regional development. One ex- ception is Derrett’s (2003) analysis of event contribu- tions to social capital through enhanced sense of place. Typically, event management research has studied the factors that contribute to successful events where suc- cess is seen as longevity of the event, numbers of tour- ists attracted, and/or economic success (Getz, 2002; Lade & Jackson, 2004). The present study seeks to explore success from the point of view of contribution to regional

development in general and to identify the factors and/ or processes that might underpin this type of success.

Methodology

This study sought to achieve the aim by analyzing a sample of 36 case studies of festivals and events in re- gional destinations. The methodology can be seen as taking an inductive approach consistent with general guidelines provided by Douglas (2003) and Eisenhardt’s (1989) steps for using case studies to build theory. Table 2 provides a summary of Eisenhardt’s steps.

In terms of getting started, the research question has been set out in the previous section and the a priori constructs are those identified in Moscardo’s (2005) model of regional tourism development and in the lit- erature on social capital and community well-being. The population was set as publicly available descrip- tive case studies of festivals and events in rural/periph- eral regions. The cases were selected using two meth- ods: a traditional search of the academic literature using a range of electronic databases, and an online search of the World Wide Web. This resulted in a sample of 36 case studies from the event management academic lit- erature, the regional development academic literature, and government reports on regional development projects. A case study was included in the sample if it provided some assessment of the role of the event/fes- tival in regional development in general.

Table 3 summarizes some of the key features of the sample. As can be seen, half of the cases were from Australia reflecting both government funding of events as a regional development option and academic inter- est in this topic. There were, however, cases from a range of different countries and a wide variety in the types of event or festival described. Nearly all of the cases were of regular or recurring events, usually annual, and in

Table 2

Eisenhardt’s (1989) Steps in Case Study Analysis

Main Steps Key Researcher Activities

Getting started Define research question; Identify useful a priori constructs Selecting cases Specify population; Select sample Crafting protocols Use multiple data collection methods; Combine qualitative and quantitative methods; Use multiple investigators Analyzing data Conduct within cases analyses; Explore and identify cross-case patterns Shaping hypotheses Cycle between finding themes from the analysis of individual cases and checking for these themes in other cases Enfolding literature Compare findings to a priori constructs identified in the literature Further development towards theory Extend and test hypotheses in other samples of case studies

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ROLE OF FESTIVALS/EVENTS IN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 27

all of these 34 cases the event was ongoing at the time the case study was published. This is not surprising given the tendency noted by Getz (2002) for published information to be biased towards to successful events that were ongoing.

The next step in Eisenhardt’s (1989) case study meth- odology is concerned with the protocols for data analy- sis and here it is suggested that researchers use mul- tiple data collection methods and investigators and combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection and analysis. The use of a sample of existing published case studies meets all these requirements, although, it should be noted that most of the case stud- ies were based on qualitative methods especially un- structured interviews and participant observation.

The use of existing case studies also addresses the first component of the next step in the methodology, that of analyzing data which is concerned with describ- ing within cases patterns. The main analysis approach in this step in the present study was to use standard content analysis procedures (Cooper & Schindler, 2001) for each case study to identify the key issues or topics reported with a particular emphasis on factors consid- ered to have contributed to regional development in general. As the list of themes was extended, earlier cases were reexamined in light of the new themes. Two cod- ers worked independently with agreement on nearly all of the themes identified (98%). Once a complete list of themes was determined it was compared to the factors identified in the literature review.

Results

A total of 13 key themes emerged from the content analysis and these are outlined in Table 4. The table includes information on the frequency of the themes to provide a rough indication of the relative emphasis placed on different themes. This distribution highlights the importance of community involvement and the building of networks as two commonly identified fac- tors in positive contributions of festivals and events to regional development.

It is important to note that the themes were not all independent; clusters of themes recurred in several cases. These clusters were identified by creating a co- occurrence matrix where each theme was examined in each case to see what other themes were associated with it. An examination of these patterns of co-occurrence suggested that there were three main categories or groups of themes: one associated with building social capital, one related to increased community capacity, and one connected to support for other activities.

Building Social Capital

A number of the themes were related to processes for building social capital. Some were directly related in that the festivals or events described were seen as providing enhanced opportunities for regional residents to interact and develop the relationships and networks that are at the core of social capital (Carter & Shaw,

Table 3

Descriptive Profile of the Sample of Case Studies

Number (%) of Key Feature the Total Sample

Geographic location of the case Australia 18 (50%) Europe 9 (25%) North America 4 (11%) Asia 4 (11%) Africa 1 (3%)

Type of event Arts/cultural festival 9 (25%) Seasonal/religious festival (e.g., Easter, Christmas) 7 (19%) Sports events 6 (17%) Music festival 5 (14%) Food/agricultural event 4 (11%) Other 5 (14%)

Recurring event 34 (94%) One-off event 2 (6%)

Table 4

Key Themes Identified in Content Analysis

No. of Cases in Which Theme

Themes Was Identified

Level of community involvement in the event 15 Building of networks in planning the event 10 Support for non-tourism-related regional products 8

and services Fun and entertainment for residents/participants 8 Opportunities for residents/families to socialize 8 Celebration of achievements 8 Event connections to a specific place 7 Contributes to stronger shared local identity 7 Can use tourism to maintain traditional culture/ 6

heritage sites Coordination/partnerships needed to run the event 6 Leadership 5 Opportunities for locals to develop skills 4 Relevance to the local community 4

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28 MOSCARDO

1993; Derrett, 2003; Jones, 2005; Larsom & Wikstrom, 2001; Long, 2000; Mules, 2004; World Tourism Orga- nization [WTO], 2001). In particular several case study authors argued that the opportunity to socialize together having fun and being entertained was particularly valu- able in creating positive social relationships (Van Zyl & Botha, 2004; Xiao & Smith, 2004). Some case stud- ies (Kenyon & Black, 2001; Rao, 2001) highlighted the role that festivals and events played in enhancing family bonds with a particular emphasis given to re- unions that were associated with the events (Derrett, 2003; Ekman, 1999).

Several cases included a discussion of the importance of using events to celebrate achievements and support community pride. There were two approaches to this theme. One was an emphasis on events that were de- signed solely to celebrate various community achieve- ments (Kenyon & Black, 2001). The other approach focused on the pride that residents and event partici- pants derived from others seeing the community or re- gion in a positive light (Kenyon & Black, 2001; Van Zyl & Botha, 2004). These others could be tourists at- tending the event (Tomkinson, 2004) or coverage of the event in the media (Gibson & Davidson, 2004; Long, 2000).

Two other related but more indirect pathways were identified with regard to social capital. One was related to the role that events can play in enhancing sense of place (Derrett, 2003: Ekman, 1999), while the other emphasized the importance of festivals contributing to shared local identity (Ekman, 1999; Gemie, 2005). These two themes were related in that it was argued that events with a strong emphasis on a specific place or setting enhanced sense of place which in turn con- tributed to greater community support for a shared so- cial identity (Derrett, 2003). Within these discussions several examples were given on how festivals and events could be used to strengthen local or regional identity as separate from national identity (Gemie, 2005).

These discussions of local identity and sense of place highlighted the importance of events being seen as rel- evant to the local residents with several authors noting that problems can arise when an event is altered to bet- ter suit the needs of tourists (Mules, 2004; Xiao & Smith, 2004). This seemed to be more of a problem when an event grew out of traditional activity or the event was originally meant to be mainly for local par- ticipation (Mules, 2004). Such alterations were often associated with a perceived need to attract external visi-

tors to justify government funding or to become finan- cially viable (Mules, 2004). Another problem identi- fied in some of the case studies associated with local or regional image was conflict over what that image should be. In some cases it was noted that not all residents agreed with the local images they believed were asso- ciated with the event highlighting the need for event planners to consider ways to reach consensus over the image to be portrayed in regional events and festivals (Xiao & Smith, 2004). Finally, several cases highlighted the role of events and festivals in maintaining or reviv- ing traditional cultural activities that further contrib- uted to enhanced local identity (Ekman, 1999; Hiroyuki, 2003).

Increased Community Capacity

The most direct link between regional events and festivals and community capacity was that of increased skill development. Participation in the planning and running of the event (Dunn, 2004; Merritt, 2004) or participation in an event, especially for sporting events (Lade & Jackson, 2004) and cultural performances (Hiroyuki, 2003) were seen as providing opportunities to learn new skills and enhance existing skills. One particular area of skills development highlighted in some cases was that of leadership. Three aspects of lead- ership were noted in the case studies analyzed. The first was the importance of having a local champion to lead the event planning or organizing committee (Derrett, 2003; Mules, 2004; Tomkinson, 2004). The second as- pect was the opportunity for event organizers to learn general leadership skills that could be used in other ar- eas (Tomkinson, 2004), while the third highlighted the opportunities that events gave to young residents to develop leadership skills (Merritt, 2004).

Some of the discussions of the networks associated with event planning and management also noted the value of these networks for other regional activities. This particular role of events and/or festivals in regional development was, however, more clearly linked to dis- cussions about coordination mechanisms and partner- ships built between different organizations. The argu- ment here is that the creation of partnerships for an event enhances community capacity to respond more effec- tively to other regional development opportunities. It was noted in several case studies that the processes put in place to coordinate input into the event or festival and the partnerships built with organizations, both

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ROLE OF FESTIVALS/EVENTS IN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 29

within and outside the region, became valuable after the event in pursuing other types of development op- tions (Carter & Shaw, 1993; Jones, 2005; Lade & Jack- son, 2004; Long, 2000). It was noted, however, that for this role to be effective the organizing or coordination group needs to be community-based and the local com- munity needs to retain control over the event (Horne, 2000; WTO, 2001).

Support for Other Activities

The final set of themes concentrated on the support that events and festivals provide for both other types of tourism development and other non-tourism regional products and services. In the case of tourism, examples were provided of the development of infrastructure for the event that could then be used to support tourism development in general (Ekman, 1999). In the case of nontourism activities, a number of the events or festi- vals studied concentrated visitor attention on the agri- cultural products of the region, offering opportunities for consumers and suppliers to directly interact with small producers in the region (Carter & Shaw, 1993; Derrett, 2003; Ekman, 1999; Kenyon & Black, 2001), and increasing awareness of specialist regional prod- ucts (WTO, 2001). Not all the benefits were restricted to agricultural products. Jones (2005) noted that the influx of visitors associated with events creates a larger market for local businesses to trial new products and services. Other benefits of events and festivals were the development of spin-off businesses initially created to support the event (Merritt, 2004).

Toward a Conceptual Framework of the Role of Events and Festivals in Regional Tourism Development

The second stage in the analysis of the case studies compared the list of key themes identified from the cases with the concepts and factors noted in the regional tour- ism development model and the literature on social capital and community capacity building. The three main points of overlap between the list of themes in the present study and the ideas presented in Moscardo’s (2005) model of regional tourism development were tourism leadership, community involvement, and co- ordination of stakeholders. Although these three fac- tors were common to both the present study and the Moscardo model, they were conceptualized in differ- ent ways in the two different situations. In Moscardo’s

model, tourism leaders, community involvement and coordination of stakeholders were necessary prerequi- sites for effective regional tourism development, while in the present study they were seen as valuable out- comes of successful events. It should be noted, how- ever, that these three factors have also been recognized as important contributors to the success of festivals and events (Lade & Jackson, 2004). This duality suggests that successful regional festivals and events happen when local communities get organized into effective coordination bodies, with leaders who encourage maxi- mum community involvement in the event. So it can be argued that it is the mechanisms that are used to create these successful coordination bodies and to encourage community leadership and involvement in festivals and events that contribute to better outcomes for regional development in general.

In addition, the pattern of results identified in the present study suggest that events and festivals may be useful tools for developing the prerequisites or com- munity capacity to better manage and control other forms of tourism. Successful regional events and festi- vals can enhance other aspects of community capacity to benefit from tourism such as increasing community awareness of tourists and their expectations and infra- structure creation.

These connections between events and festivals and regional development highlight the central role that events and festivals can play in enhancing regional com- munity capacity and social capital. Events that encour- age regional community residents to interact in posi- tive ways and develop effective relationships contribute directly to social capital. Such events, when connected to the regional setting or traditional culture can also indirectly contribute to social capital through develop- ing and strengthening local sense of place and regional social identity.

Figure 2 summarizes the findings of the present study in a preliminary conceptual framework to understand the role of events and festivals in regional tourism de- velopment. At the center of this model is community involvement. The framework proposes that an event may attract substantial numbers of visitors and gener- ate revenue, but if it does not create community involve- ment it is unlikely to contribute much to regional de- velopment. It is this community involvement that enhances social capital and community capacity that are the two core components of positive regional de- velopment.

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30 MOSCARDO

One key aspect of this framework is that it gives a much smaller role to the economic benefits and tour- ism marketing benefits than has traditionally been the case in the events management literature. The analysis of the cases in the present study found few links be- tween the revenue generated by the event and regional development as in most cases the event was essentially a non-profit activity. In some cases it seemed that the need to demonstrate economic benefits in order to gain and maintain government event funding may have di- rectly resulted in changes in the nature of the event. In turn these changes resulted in limited community in- volvement and thus detracted from longer term posi- tive regional development outcomes.

One limitation of this model is that the cases on which it was based were all considered to be successful by the authors and/or stakeholders interviewed in the case study, and in all but two cases the events were ongoing. But what happens to social capital and community ca- pacity if an event is perceived as a failure? In some of the cases the event was planned specifically for local involvement only and so success was not dependent on

its ability to attract tourists, but in others success did rely on tourist participation. This second situation raises the challenge of balancing external market needs and forces against community involvement and resident needs. The present study provides no answers to ad- dress this challenge.

This limitation raises two questions for further re- search. Firstly, what happens to social capital and com- munity well-being when events fail? Secondly, how can the needs of local and tourist markets be balanced? In addition to these questions, it can be argued that fur- ther research which specifically measures factors such as the number and quality of social relationships de- veloped through the event, the level and types of learn- ing from participation in the event, and the contribu- tion of event coordination partnerships to other regional activities, could be valuable in improving the ability of festivals and events to contribute to positive regional development outcomes. A number of possibilities exist for developing more systematic measures of the im- pacts of festivals and events on these noneconomic as- pects of regional development. First, it may be pos- sible to adapt existing general measures of social capital such as those provided by De Silva et al., (2006), Lochner, Kawachi, and Kennedy (1999), or Van der Gaag and Snijiders (2005), for a festivals and events context. Secondly, such a measure could be paired with similar adaptations of measures of social and cultural impacts of tourism in general (Langford & Howard, 1994, provide an example of such a scale). Together these could be used as the basis of a survey of local residents and participants in regional festivals and events. A third possibility is the structured recording and reporting of various aspects of community involve- ment in regional event planning and management such as numbers of local resident volunteers or participants, numbers of repeat volunteers or participants for regu- lar events, and numbers and type of local organizations represented on the various committees associated with the coordination of a regional festival or event.

Conclusion

This article presented an analysis of 36 case studies of festivals and events in regional situations. In par- ticular, the article explored the factors associated with the effectiveness of festivals and events in enhancing social and cultural aspects of regional community de- velopment related to social capital, community capac-

Positive Regional Development Outcomes

Social Capital Community Capacity

Mechanisms/

partnerships for

coordination

Positive social

interaction Enhanced sense

of place & local

identity

Revenue

Infrastructure

Destination

awareness

Presentation of

regional products &

services

Skills

Leadership

Community

involvement

Connections to

regional place

Successful Regional Events and Festivals

Figure 2. A preliminary conceptual framework to understand the role of festivals and events in regional development.

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ROLE OF FESTIVALS/EVENTS IN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 31

ity for development and support for non-tourism-re- lated services. The results of these analyses were used to develop a conceptual model describing the processes that connect festivals and events to a broad range of regional benefits. The challenge for future researchers is to develop ways to more systematically measure these regional benefits and use such measures to test aspects of the model.

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