IngentaConnect Tourist Expenditures at Heritage Festivals

Authors: Chhabra D.¹; Sills E.²; Rea P.³

Source: Event Management, Volume 7, Number 4, 2002 , pp. 221-230(10)

Publisher: Cognizant Communication Corporation

Abstract:

Short-term events such as festivals are important components of heritage tourism. The objective of this study is to identify the determinants of expenditures at heritage festivals, considering the visitors' socioeconomic characteristics, personal heritage, and experience of the festival. The event studied is a popular Scottish festival held annually in North Carolina. By relating expenditures to age, income, and other characteristics, we identify potential target groups for marketing the event. Visitors who are older and have higher incomes tend to spend more on accommodations and in the festival region in general. Visitors who plan their trip further in advance and travel further to get to the festival also tend to spend more. Unexpectedly, visitors with personal connections to Scotland and Scottish heritage do not have higher expenditures. Enjoyment of the events offered at the festival is positively correlated with spending. Thus, tourist expenditures in heritage tourism are not necessarily related to personal heritage but depend more on enjoyment of the event and socioeconomic characteristics such as age and income.

Keywords: Heritage tourism; Tourism; Heritage tourists; Mark

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: *Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, California State University, Sacramento, CA 95819 2: †Department of Forestry, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 3: ‡Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695

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