Creative Engagement
A Multi-stakeholder Engagement Model for Sustainable Use of National Heritage Sites
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Linzi Ryan
National Heritage sites (NHs) are of historic, cultural, and natural importance. They form a unique component of a country’s appeal to international tourists as well as a key part of the country’s history and culture. But how can we find the balance between the ecological, economic and socio-cultural needs of these protected sites while utilising them as a key tourist attraction? Drawing on service design and public sector management theory, this project details the development and implementation of a Multi-Stakeholder Engagement Model for NHs, within a national public sector organisation. Through the Framework, NH-related professionals, commercial actors, landowners, regulators, local community members and tourists co-create sustainable practices which benefit all parties. Findings provide effective operational and managerial practices for a user-centred approach to multi-stakeholder management within the public tourism sector. Firstly, firsthand experience of the NHs is critical to establish empathy between all stakeholders. This is supported by additional qualitative research to provide user insights from a wider perspective and to identify any key drivers of use/misuse of the NHs. Secondly, journey mapping - a visual representation of the tourist experience – is an effective methodology to communicate how tourists currently use the site and more importantly, why they use it in this way to stakeholders. Thirdly, journey maps are a valuable tool to generate solutions, as they equip stakeholders with a structured framework to discuss/resolve key concerns in the context of the tourist experience.
Voluntary Work for Circus Street Festivals: Collective Experience Between Leisure and Work
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Marta Połeć
This paper considers an aspect of organizing cultural events focused on voluntary work. The research problem concerns the involvement of voluntary workers in organizing popular culture events, based on selected examples of three circus street festivals. The research question is: How does the involvement of voluntary workers organizing circus street festivals in Poland look like from their perspective? The paper is the result of qualitative ethnographic fieldwork, conducted from 2021 to 2024 in Europe. The originality of the work is mainly due to the participant observation carried out during the festivals in different roles: spectator, artistic crew, and volunteer supporting organizers. The aim of this paper is to present a reflection concerning the ambiguity of the voluntary work. The results presents a detailed description of the nature of such involvement. Moreover, the example of organizing circus street festivals is original due to the ephemeral nature of cooperation, regularity of organizing such events, as well as the unpredictable working conditions in open spaces. Finally, the circus environment is of interest because of the importance of informal ties, as well as the growing interest in contemporary circus art in Poland, despite the relatively low institutional support for this type of art.
Examining Long-Distance Trail Brand Equity: A Walker-Based Approach
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jane Hamilton Johnstone, Samantha Murdy
Destination branding is an important strategy to ensure differentiation of a destination in a competitive marketplace. Previous studies have used consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) to underpin the measurement of the destination brand, testing it across both countries and cities. However, cities and countries are destinations with distinct borders and often have management organisations encompassing the destination as a whole. When considering long-distance trails, the complexities of the destination brand are exacerbated by the various jurisdictions that these paths cross. As such, this study explores the consumer- or walker-based brand equity of a long-distance trail to evaluate the applicability of the CBBE framework. Using a combination of online methods as well as on-trail signage, walkers were surveyed to explore CBBE dimensions. This research contributes to CBBE literature in the context of long-distance trails with initial findings indicating managerial implications in relation to walker’s perceptions of the destination brand.
