Festival Tourism: International – Mintel (2005)
Author(s): Mintel
Organisation/Affiliation: Mintel
Date: 01/08/2005
The term ‘festival tourism’ is used here to encompass a vast array of events, from Western music concerts to devout religious festivals, glitzy sports contests to natural phenomena. What binds these events together is their value as a marketing tool for tourist boards worldwide, and their undeniable impact in gaining publicity and providing a knock-on effect in terms of extended stays and travelling itineraries. For some national, religious events, it is often difficult to ascertain the economic value of the festival itself, but where possible and where permission has been granted, we have tried to obtain information on the extra revenue generated for the country or city in question by these special events. With tourists becoming more well travelled and sophisticated, special events tourism is a growing market, and whilst tourists in the European short-haul market are increasingly adept at self-packaging their visits around the international events calendar, for long-haul destinations, tour operators are already exploiting people’s desire to attend events in places where they lack the necessary confidence and experience.