Event tourism is the systematic planning, marketing and holding of events at tourist destinations. It is done in order to increase the number of domestic as well as foreign tourists. The number and type of stakeholders involved in event tourism differ from event to event. Various media such as electronic, print and especially social media play a major role in the promotion of event tourism. The awareness about the occurrence of an event, its schedules, entry passes, prices etc. is spread through digital media.
According to Future Market insights, attendees, employees, participants, spectators, sponsors, suppliers and volunteers are some of the key stakeholders of event tourism. The government, host communities, tourism organisations, tour operators and travel agencies play a significant role in event tourism.
An enormous amount of revenue is generated by the selling of souvenirs during events. Event tourism catalyses alcohol and culinary tourism as visitors taste cuisines at the destination during the event. Moreover, this leads to the growth of the tourism industry as tourists end up exploring other attractions of that destination. Cultural tourism is also promoted with the experience of new cultural diversity during the event.
Different Types Of Event Tourism
Event tourism can be segregated into the following categories:
- Arts & entertainment: Award ceremonies, concerts
- Business & trade: Conventions and meetings, consumer and trade shows, fairs and markets
- Cultural celebrations: Commemorations, carnivals, festivals, religious events
- Educational and scientific: Clinics, conferences, seminars
- Political and state: Political events, royal occasions, summits, VIP visits
- Private: Parties, socials, weddings
- Recreational: Games or sports for fun
- Sports competitions: Amateur/professional, participant/spectator
All the aforesaid events can also be either “Hallmark events or Mega events” or both. A mega event is one that has more than 500 attendees while a hallmark event is one that is organised with the motive that the host community gets prominence in the tourism sector.
Event Tourism: Famous Events And Organisations
Datenwrek GmbH’s “Oktoberfest” in Germany is the world’s largest beer festival and had 5.6 million visitors in 2016. Rio Carnival Service’s “Rio Carnival” in Brazil is the world’s largest carnival with two million people enjoying popular Brazilian origin music Samba on the streets every day.
The Wimbledon Championships held in England attract tourists worldwide and is being held in London since 1877. “La Tomatina” festival is the world’s biggest food fight held in the town Bunol of Spain and receives an average influx of 50,000 tourists every year.
“The New York Fashion Week” held in the month of February in NYC is one of the major fashion events of the world. The International Live Events Association (ILEA) provides its stakeholders and members collaborative networking, credibility, educational development, inspiration, outward awareness and professional development to ensure a growing global events profession.
The International Association of Events & Exhibition (IAEE) is the leading association for the global exhibition industry which offers several meetings and educational programs throughout the year at an international level.
Event Tourism: Challenges & Concerns
The increasing number of terrorist attacks are a constant threat to event tourism. The loss of lives in shootings and attacks across the world has put the security of the visitors at a big risk.
Event professionals are always trying to adopt different methods to manage the risk of terrorist attacks. Lack of coordination between the government, hotel organisations, restaurants and tour operators are gaps in any nation’s event tourism strategy.
Countries such as New Zealand are also facing the problem of lack of planning in this industry. Also, people are still unaware of the various events taking place in different parts of the world because of inadequate advertising campaigns by the event organisers. Moreover, lack of infrastructure in some countries is also restraining the growth of event tourism.
