Event Management for the Tourism and Hospitality Industries

Bonita M. Kolb

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781000415278
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Event Management for the Tourism and Hospitality Industries provides a theoretical and practical approach to teach students of Tourism and Hospitality the basics of planning, managing and evaluating all types of events.

Chapters cover skills such as visitor segmentation, product analysis, developing a budget, promotion and after-event assessment. Special emphasis is placed on critical issues now facing event managers such as environmental sustainability and awareness of cultural diversity, technology and community engagement. The reader will learn the necessity of connecting events with the community heritage and culture to provide the local, personalized experienced desired by visitors. Each chapter covers a unique step in the planning process and corresponds to a section of a detailed event plan outline found at the end of the book that can be submitted as a semester-long assignment. Making use of international case studies in every chapter, this book provides real-world examples to contextualize the information given.

This will be essential reading for all Tourism and Hospitality students with an interest in Events Management and Design, and for practitioners employed in tour companies, cruise ships, destination management organizations and cultural festivals.

Chapter 1

Meeting changing event visitor expectations

Abstract

Events can provide a source of visitors for both the tourism and hospitality industries. Rather than only relying on existing events and attractions, tourism and hospitality managers can work together to create new events to attract visitors. There are many types of events that can be created but all are intangible service products, which makes them difficult to promote. Visitors have the opportunity of many competing events to attend. They want events that provide an authentic experience that is representative of the local community. To choose the right event the organization needs to analyze the community to determine what type of experience it can offer. Visitors are savvy consumers who conduct social media research to learn about the experience of previous visitors. The event chosen to attend becomes part of the visitor’s sense of self-identity. There are many different types of events including sports, entertainment, heritage and culture. Events can also be packaged around visitors’ interest in the environment or volunteering. The event should have the support of the community and lead to economic development.

Creating visitor events

Hospitality and tourism, along with companies managing events, can all be categorized as service providers. Beyond providing for basic needs such as food and shelter these industries provide an experience that appeals to the emotions of visitors. The hospitality industry consists of lodging and food establishments. It has traditionally been defined as providing the basic human needs of shelter and food for people who are traveling. As the industry matured and became more competitive it was necessary for hotels and restaurants to distinguish themselves based on the type of experience they provided. It was no longer enough to only provide food and shelter. They needed to provide an experience that added to the enjoyment of the overall visit. The tourism industry has also needed to adapt as visitors’ expectations have changed. Visitors who were once happy simply to be able to take a holiday have become increasingly demanding as to the type and quality of experience they desire (Abel 2020). They want authenticity but also an enjoyable experience.

Both the hospitality and tourism industries have realized that a reliable source of visitors has been events (Van Eck 2018). Business meetings, conferences and exhibitions have been a major source of visitors for destinations. These events might be sponsored by individual companies, nonprofit organizations or associations that represent industry sectors. The visitors to these events would need both food and lodging which provided revenue to the hospitality sector. While the primary purpose of attendance was not to be a tourist, those attending often wanted to visit local sites and attractions which provided revenue to the tourism industry.

Major events such as music concerts and sporting competitions served the same purpose of providing revenue to both the hospitality and tourism industries. For this reason, both the hospitality and tourism industries actively promoted events to attract these types of events to their communities. Now, rather than only trying to attract existing events, hospitality and tourism are being proactive in creating and promoting their own events in their communities.

Industry distinctions

• Hospitality: Provides lodging and food.
• Tourism: Attracts visitors to area attractions.
• Event management: Plans and implements activities.

Connections between hospitality, tourism and event industries

The field of hospitality management can be defined as applying management concepts to the areas of lodging, dining and general guest services. The hospitality industry provides food and lodging to tourists but also to business travelers, and people simply traveling through the area. Tourism management studies is a broad term that applies to attracting tourists to an area by providing places and activities of interest. Tourism managers try to attract events to their city or promote existing events as it provides economic benefit to the hotels, restaurants and general economy. Event management applies management concepts to the planning and running of all types of events. All three of these industries will be needed to attract additional visitors to a community. One way to do so is to create new events rather than only attract visitors to the existing ones. Hospitality managers, tourism organizations and event planners will all be involved in creating these new events that will bring visitors and revenue to the community.

Professional event planners are used because of the complexity of large events and the increasing demands by attendees. Event planners must organize the various essential components such as food, lodging and transportation. Added to this are the elements that make each event unique and personalized to the desires of the attendees. It is not surprising that event managers are critical participants in organizing large-scale civic, government and community events.

Hospitality management has largely focused on the experience of the guest while at the hotel. Some personal events such as weddings might be held at a hotel and the catering department would assist in the planning while also encouraging the booking of rooms. Business events held at hotels would involve the hospitality manager in the planning of the needed logistics of meeting rooms and technology. These events were also a driver of room bookings. What has changed is that the hospitality industry has started to plan and promote its own events (Shankman 2019). The experience of staying at the hotel is now considered not just a logistical necessity but can be incorporated and themed into an event.

The tourism and hospitality industries are unique, as they are a combination of government-funded organizations, nonprofits and private businesses. Tourism promotion agencies such as destination marketing organizations and visitor bureaus that provide information are often funded by the government. Some tourism attractions such as museums and historical sites may be governed by boards of nonprofits. Finally, there will be private businesses such as restaurants, hotels and attractions. The size of any of these organizations can range from large, such as Disneyworld, to a local farmers’ market run by volunteers.

Tourism professionals have always marketed their communities as places to visit. Now the task is more complicated as visitors want a complete experience not just an opportunity to get away from home. Events that can meet this need may already exist, in which case the tourism department only needs to develop promotional messages. If events do not exist that will attract visitors it will be necessary to work with the community to develop them. As a result of this need to create events, hospitality managers and tourism professionals now need the skills involved in professional event management.

Purpose of events

Events is a broad term that includes how people can come together for education, enjoyment, celebration or all three. Events can first be divided into those that are personal, locally attended and those that are planned to attract visitors to the area. Personal events are held to mark the milestones of life. Some come yearly such as birthdays and anniversaries. Less frequently held and therefore more elaborate are events to mark births, weddings and funerals. For most people, these types of events have been planned by family members. Now professional event managers are hired to help with planning and then managing the event. Industries hold private events for both the purpose of educating industry members and providing socialization opportunities. These events were restricted to industry members and their guests. Professional event planners are needed to plan and implement the event. They would work with tourism and hospitality professionals to provide lodging and additional experiences.

Local events were held by the community to commemorate historic anniversaries, celebrate local culture or have a sporting competition. These events might be organized by a religious organization, a private civic club or by a government agency. The holding of the event was an occasion for a leisure activity to break up the routine tasks of life. Such civic events allowed members of the community to socialize while they also reinforced shared personal and cultural values. Because these events were only for the local community, tourism and hospitality industries were not involved.

There is now a growing interest by visitors in participating in these types of events. As the world becomes more global there is desire to maintain a link with authentic local culture. Tourism and hospitality can take advantage of this interest by promoting these events to visitors. If there are no such events, they can work with the community to create an event.

Purpose of event

• Celebration: Honor an event, group or person.
• Education: Personal development.
• Enjoyment: Fun and socialization.
• Economic development: Help local businesses.

Events as a service product

In the past, events were less complex to plan and implement, as simply having a chance for leisure and an opportunity to meet people not ordinarily encountered may have been enough to motivate attendance. People’s expectations are now much higher. To meet these expectations, events have become a product that is conceived, designed, packaged and sold, the same as any product. All events, from a small local festival to a major sporting event, are service products that have several elements that make them uniquely different from a tangible product, such as shoes or furniture, that is sold to consumers.

Service products are differentiated from tangible products by such characteristics as being intangible, inseparable and perishable. While there might be tangible, or physical, elements to an event, such as gifts given to attendees at weddings, welcome bags left in hotel rooms or souvenirs for purchase at tourism locations, these alone are not the motivation for attendance. The motivation is the intangible experience of being at the event. This presents a challenge when promoting the event. While it is easy to use a photo of shoes or furniture when promoting a tangible product, it is more difficult to promote the intangible experience of attendance at an event that has not yet happened.

Events are also inseparable. This term refers to the fact that the product can only happen at a specific time and place. The place would not only include the physical venue and the geographic location, but also includes the ambience, style and atmosphere created using the physical space. In addition, the people encountered at the event are often as important as the event itself. “Who else will be there?” is not a casual question but instead is integral to the decision of whether to attend. Finally, the staff at the event are not just there to serve, they are also a part of the event experience. Their appearance and attitude either add to the success of the event or detract from it.

The characteristic of a service product being perishable will affect the attendance and revenue of an event. Perishability refers to the fact that by their nature events are limited to a specific time period. If a person chooses not to attend, that visitor and the revenue that would have been gained has been lost forever. If the event is not well attended it cannot be extended or held the next week. This is why promotion to ensure attendance and the success of the event is crucial. While an unsold physical product does not disappear and therefore can be sold the next day, once an event is past, it is too late to attract attendance.

Visitor motivation

The expectations of travelers have changed. In the early days of hospitality and tourism, simply having a destination that met basic needs wa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of cases
• 1 Meeting changing event visitor expectations
• 2 Assessing the community for event potential
• 3 Determining event goals and objectives
• 4 Targeting the event visitor segment
• 5 Researching potential visitors
• 6 Developing the budget and setting the price
• 7 Creating the event experience
• 8 Managing the event
• 9 Branding and event promotion
• 10 Promoting with traditional media
• 11 Connecting with social media
• 12 Assessing event success
• Event plan outline
• Index