STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF A NONPROFIT FESTIVAL IN BINH DUONG PROVINCE, VIETNAM

Abstract

Festival stakeholders have different power levels in relation to an event, and this depends on their investment or importance to the event’s success. Governments or associations commonly organise non-profit festivals to celebrate a particular event or achieve a specific goal with less profit-making priority. As a long-established festival in Asia, the Tianhou Festival in Vietnam benefits the tourism sector and the local community. This festival is bound to the religious beliefs of local people originating from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, who immigrated to Vietnam and are now living in Binh Duong Province (BDP), Vietnam. Over the years, the festival’s success has intensified the socioeconomic development of Binh Duong Province. Undeniably, the festival quality can be enhanced with substantial and solicitous collaboration amongst stakeholders. Despite the contributions of such events, thus far, only a few studies have focused on the perceived benefits of non-profit-oriented events. To address this gap, the current study used the qualitative method by using semi structured interviews with key stakeholders to collect data, which were then transcribed by thematic analysis. The findings reveal that organising non-profit festivals may enhance interpersonal skills as well as bring about economic benefits, social incentives, and community cohesiveness. This research envisions the impacts of the Tianhou Festival on the stakeholders of this non-profit-oriented event. The findings of the study can provide guidelines to other key stakeholders in improving the same concept of event management in the future.