Does recurrence matter? The impact of music festivals on local tourist competitiveness

Abstract

Despite an increasing interest in recurrent events, we still lack a comprehensive view of their drivers and their consequences for the host location. This chapter seeks to redress this shortcoming by analysing the effects of recurrent events on national and international tourist flows and on the differentiation of demand targets at host locations. Through a qualitative approach based on six recurrent European music festivals we contribute to the growing literature and shed additional light on the effects of recurrent events. A theoretical framework is proposed to explain the impact of recurrent events on tourist flows and demand targets.