The Routledge Handbook of Events

Stephen J. Page, Joanne Connell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367236489
• eBook ISBN: 9781000052770
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

The Routledge Handbook of Events explores and critically evaluates the debates and controversies associated with the rapidly expanding domain of Event Studies. It brings together leading specialists from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, to provide a state-of-the-art review on the evolution of the subject. The first edition was a landmark study which examined how event research had evolved and developed from a range of different social science subject areas and disciplines. The Handbook was the first critique of the extent to which the subject had developed into a major area of social science inquiry.

This second edition has been fully updated to reflect crucial developments in the field and includes brand new sections on ever-important aspects of Event Studies such as: anthropology, hospitality, seasonality, knowledge management, accessibility, diversity and human rights, as well as new studies on 'the eventful city' and the benefits of events in older life. The book is divided into four inter-related sections. Section 1 introduces and evaluates the concept of events. Section 2 critically reviews the relationship between events and other disciplines such as the contribution of economics, psychology and geography to the critical discourse of Event Studies. Section 3 focuses on the business, operational and strategic management of events, while the final section crucially focuses on critical events as a new paradigm within the burgeoning literature on Events.

It offers the reader a comprehensive and critical synthesis of this field, conveying the latest thinking associated with events research, edited by two of the leading scholars in the field. The text will provide an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in Events Studies, encouraging dialogue that will span across disciplinary boundaries and other areas of study. It is an essential guide for anyone interested in events research.

1
Introduction

Joanne Connell and Stephen J. Page

Introduction

Events have been an important part of society since time immemorial. Over the last few decades, the volume, range of events and festivals around the world have grown rapidly, while the meaning and significance of events and festivals has become increasingly recognised and valued. Every year, a number of large-scale events of international significance take place, attracting large numbers of participants and spectators, along with their associated entourages, huge media interest and ‘armchair’ spectators: one only has to think of roving mass sporting events (such as The Olympic and Commonwealth Games, The FIFA World Cup) (see Plates 1.1 and 1.2); one-off celebratory events (such as Millennium Night across the world (1999/2000) and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (2012) in London (see Laing and Frost 2017 on royal events and Philips 2004); and, annual sporting (e.g. see Dashper et al. 2014), artistic, musical, cultural events (such as the Tour de France, European City of Culture and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo) or religious events (see Salamone 2004; Melton 2011). Such events are deigned to be of great importance to the destinations within which they take place, and the competitive bidding processes that governments enter into in order to secure a global event for their nation clearly indicates the growing credence attached to hosting events on the international stage. In parallel to these events of global significance has been a marked growth in niche events, such as local and/or themed festivals, often initiated at the community level (e.g. Clarke and Jepson 2016) and sometimes with the support of the public sector in an attempt to pump-prime such activity (e.g. hosting Christmas markets, see Brida et al . (2017) for an example) leveraging it as a potential economic development tool, especially where it can be linked to meetings, exhibitions and trade fairs (see Frost and Laing 2017). This array of event phenomena makes its study and analysis fascinating (Getz 1989), relevant and a marker of not just changing political and economic agendas but also a changing consumer society. The link between events and the experience economy (see Sundbo and Sorenesen 2016) reflects the growing interest in the psychology of consuming places and the impact of elements such as atmosphere (e.g. Koenigstorfer and Uhrich 2009), and techniques such as human experience mapping (Beard and Russ 2017).

Accordingly, research on events has been embraced by social science and developed into a distinct, multifarious and innovative area of intellectual inquiry with Getz and Page’s (2016)

Plate 1.1 Poster advertising travel from York to the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 Source: © Thomas Cook

review article remaining one of the most downloaded reviews of the field to date that highlights the initial studies by Ritchie and Beliveau (1974) and McCannell’s (1971) insights on authenticity and events. The emergence and expansion of academic interests in event-related themes (e.g. Getz 2002, Mair 2018), in part, reflects the transformations occurring across global society and the relationship, role and meaning of events within the processes of social, cultural, political and economic development and change. The various rationales developed for global, large or ‘mega’ events are multi-faceted, often complex and frequently controversial, creating openings for

Plate 1.2 Extract from the Thomas Cook Excursionist monthly brochure advertising travel to the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens Source: ©Thomas Cook

applied and academic research activity to assist the understanding of processes, relationships and impacts. The burgeoning events research agenda has grown in relation to the emphasis placed on global processes that continue to stimulate interests in event bidding, development, hosting and staging. At local levels, concerns about conserving and celebrating traditions, culture and customs, and developing sustainable forms of tourism and leisure, are strong features in developing both competitive destinations and strengthening community relations, all of which are key areas for those engaged in the social sciences. Clearly, events have become a major theme within tourism, sport, leisure and hospitality research literature, and as an area of curriculum and programme development for universities and other education providers globally, with a burgeoning cohort of graduates, post-graduates and event professionals with event-specific qualifications.

The purpose of this introductory chapter is three-fold: first, to set out the role of The Rout-ledge Handbook of Events and to outline its contribution to the understanding of events from an academic research perspective; second, to establish the broad context for academic research in the events field, particularly in relation to understanding the role, diversity, role and significance of events in contemporary society, and; third, to outline the chapters that form the basis of the Handbook, highlighting the subjects covered and the significance of each to academic research and progression of event studies. So, first, a brief explanation of what this new Handbook seeks to achieve now follows.

A rationale for The Routledge Handbook of Events

The diversity of research in this field (including the journal literature) makes a collection timely, in so far as the major subject areas in social science have contributed to its development and growth as outlined by Getz (2008) and in considerably more depth by Connell and Page’s (2010) collection of influential studies in the field. A Handbook is a very useful tool in any subject area to reflect on progress in the subject, particularly in key themes, to assess how far it has come and what type of journey it may follow in the future. It is a key tool to identify debates, methods of analysis and the way the academy of researchers is approaching a specific research agenda. As Ritchie (2012: xviii) outlined in the Foreword of the first edition:

Handbooks provide both academics and practitioners with a carefully developed collection of materials focused on a range of subjects designed to provide both a comprehensive overview of the field and an in-depth examination of topics judged to be a critical component of the total knowledge in the field addressed by the Handbook in question, they often become one of the most highly valued references in the field.

The thematic scope of the events research agenda has been mapped by reviews such as Getz and Page (2016) and their textbook Event Studies (Getz and Page 2020) does provide an introductory interdisciplinary synthesis to the range of approaches, theories, concepts, themes and research agendas. Even so there is still a space for a more in-depth discussion of these issues as textbooks cannot adequately address these themes as many are written from a disciplinary perspective (e.g. geography, planning, management, economics, sociology and political science) and are aimed at undergraduate audiences primarily. The literature is also quite fragmented across a wide range of subject specific and interdisciplinary journals and books which have mushroomed in recent years. While much research on events is published within the broad tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure subject area, significant research interests exist outside this arena, as Connell and Page (2010) highlight. Further, and in common with other emerging research subjects, a problem that events research has suffered is that all too often, as the chapters within this book will show, the notion of ‘events’ has been conveniently pigeon-holed into different sub-areas of expanding subjects such as leisure, tourism and sports studies. As such, much of this literature is disparate and scattered across different subject areas. The Routledge Handbook of Events seeks to bring together much of this interdisciplinary knowledge in one place. For this reason, the scope and scale of the Handbook at twice to three times the normal length of a textbook embraces the interdisciplinarity associated with the development of event studies and the associated event management focus. However, some researchers have argued that events now exist as a defined area of study in its own right reflecting its growth and evolution (see Chapter 2 by Getz for more discussion).

Accordingly, The Routledge Handbook of Events is an attempt to produce a state-of-the-art review of the field of events research. It aims to document current progress in research, seeking to provide a debate around the key concepts, themes, approaches and paradigms now firmly established within the field of study. At this crucial juncture in the development of events as an academic subject, the role of this Handbook is to present a synthesis of the research activity at a more conceptual and theoretical level, where issues of methodology, new approaches and established research areas are reviewed by researchers working in the field. Priorities, influences, debates and challenges are evaluated, analysed and discussed, clearly depicting the status of event research and its future directions, by experts in the field.

The Handbook is unlikely to be a comprehensive compendium of all the possible dimensions and issues within the domain of events management and studies given the wide-ranging practitioner focus occurring alongside the academic analysis of events. The Handbook does not set out to be a ‘check-list’ style text: the leading textbooks in the subject currently perform this function well (e.g. Bowdin 2010). Further, this Handbook does not seek to follow the operational issues dealt with in many manuals and texts now appearing to guide the event manager (e.g. Conway 2009) and thematic studies of specific issues such as risk (e.g. Silvers 2007) and more overarching studies of operational issues (e.g. Tum et al . 2005). Within these studies it is evident that event managers have wide-ranging briefs that can cover the development of the event and issues such as the site, budgeting and finance, procurement, the supply chain, environmental management (see Jones 2017) and legal and safety issues (e.g. see Health and Safety Executive 1999; Wynn-Moylan 2018). Technical issues associated with logistics, supply chain management, the staging of the event and its organisation are also within the remit of event management (see Matthews 2008a, b). Some specific practices within the management sphere have not been addressed in the Handbook, including visitor management, crowd management and the role of queuing, managing the transport provision and infrastructure. Instead, this Handbook seeks to understand the macro processes underlying and propelling events in a global context.

Macro processes and the growth of event research

The evolution of event studies closely parallels the debates in social science about how society has evolved from an industrial to post-industrial stage and the associated discourse events, reflects a range of established and emergent social, economic, political and cultural transformations. One of the most profound social changes affecting tourism and leisure, (including its worldwide commodification and analysis as a form of consumption under the aegis of events), is the process of globalisation (see Table 1.1 for a summary of the main changes and impacts). Globalisation has created a world stage for events through the growth of event destinations and internationalisation of events through enhanced media and digital forms of transmission, sometimes resulting in audiences (actual and virtual) of millions. In fact, Plate 1.3 is an example of one of the early globalised events – the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 – not only a major event

Table 1.1 Major impacts upon leisure as a result of globalisation

in London, attracting dignitaries from all across the globe, but a televised event that extended its reach far beyond the event setting. As Corner (2013) suggests, the event was viewed by 20 million Britons and 100 million people worldwide, representing a milestone in the adoption of television as a means to broadcast mega-events. Some of the very early elements of globalisation and the impact of the media in televising major events can be seen in this example. Yet as Table 1.1 also suggests, a number of processes occurring within the umbrella

Plate 1.3 Brochure advertising global travel to London during Coronation Year, 1953 Source: ©Thomas Cook

term globalisation, and outcomes of this international growth, impact upon the way events are created, perceived and consumed.

Progressive in...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of tables
• List of figures
• List of plates
• List of contributors
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• SECTION 1 Conceptualising events
• 2 Event studies
• 3 Public events, personal leisure?
• 4 Events and tourism
• 5 Events and hospitality
• 6 Sports events: typologies, people and place
• SECTION 2 Disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to events: concepts and methods of analysis
• 7 The history of events: ideology, representation and historiography
• 8 Anthropology of events: diasporic perspectives, events and the representation of people
• 9 Socio-cultural impacts of events: meanings, authorized transgression, and social capital
• 10 The economic contribution of special events
• 11 A spatial extension to a framework for assessing direct economic impacts of tourist events
• 12 Geography and the study of events
• 13 Revisiting the psychology of events
• 14 The political analysis and political economy of events
• 15 Urban studies and the eventful city
• 16 Events management education
• 17 Quantitative and qualitative research tools in events
• SECTION 3 Business, operational and strategic issues associated with events
• 18 The private sector and events
• 19 Event staging
• 20 The experience of events
• 21 Designing event experiences
• 22 The media, marketing and events: a new reality
• 23 Seasonality and events
• 24 Staffing for successful events: having the right skills in the right place at the right time
• 25 Knowledge management in events
• 26 Event impacts and environmental sustainability
• SECTION 4 The critical turn in events: contemporary issues, society and events
• 27 Accessibility, diversity and inclusion in events
• 28 Disability and events
• 29 Human rights, events and the media: a neglected relationship
• 30 The benefits of events in older life
• 31 Faces, spaces and places: social and cultural impacts of street festivals in cosmopolitan cities
• 32 Events, cities and the night-time economy
• 33 Retrospect and prospect
• Index