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Events provide opportunities for communities to socialise, interact and to enjoy a sense of mutual celebration. However, special interest events offer other opportunities for recreation, and for the development of skills, identities and knowledge. Events such as car shows, Sci-fi conventions and Elvis festivals have large numbers of participants, as well as spectators, who have specialised needs and characteristics. This thesis uses a series of five published studies to examine the participants at special interest events and further to understand their characteristics and behaviours. The studies employ a mixed method approach to explore participants at a total of eleven events in Australia. In the first of these studies a spectrum of events is developed to explain the diversity of events in a region, as related to the special interest of participants. The study used a mixed method methodology to examine the differences between audiences at nine events in the Tweed Valley of NSW. The results were used to focus the study more on events that target serious participants.The second study was published as a conceptual paper, providing a comprehensive theoretical framework for the study of serious participants of leisure, recreation and events. The paper posits a model of serious participants (SerPa) for use and refinement in subsequent studies. Papers 3 and 4 explore serious participants at two feature events in Australia, the Wintersun Festival in Coolangatta, and the Elvis Revival Festival in Parkes. Drawing on the serious leisure framework proposed by Stebbins (2001), and other leisure and tourism research, the study explored the characteristics and behaviours of serious participants at these events. Ethnographic methods were used to gain insight into behaviours, through participant observation at the events. The findings further develop the SerPa model, but also identify other themes that are relevant to leisure and event management and marketing. Paper 5 explores the social connections of serious participants made on the Internet, and identifies their relationship to travel planning and events. The study utilised ethnographic methods adapted to the Internet, to identify and discuss the social characteristics of serious participants as fans of Lord of the Rings, and the processes used to collaborate toward travel planning.The study demonstrates the significance of serious participants as a segment of audiences at events, highlighting their contributions to the events themselves. As participants, they make the event happen, and are perhaps more important than consumers (Getz, 2007). They are defined by what they do in their leisure time, more than who they were born as, or by their profession. They have a leisure identity that defines them, and can find support and security in the fanatical system that they subscribe to. This system is usually found in special interest clubs, on-line networks and at events. These social systems help sustain their beliefs, and provide a leisure world where they feel a sense of ‘we’. From their serious devotion and social connectivity, serious participants receive social and personal rewards, which in turn provide more stimuli to develop their skills and/or knowledge. These psycho/social characteristics result in participants searching for new challenges and new destinations, which can facilitate their needs. These are found at events that are designed specifically with serious participants in mind. The study demonstrates that identification of these market segments has important implications for the design and sustainability of events in Australia, and overseas. Additionally, it also has implications for planners and practitioners in leisure and tourism in understanding the extant links between recreation, travel and events.

This thesis studies aspects of cultural heritage tourism in China. Relevant secondary tourism data in relation to tourist receipts and income generated from tourism activities are provided so as to present the different developmental state of the world and Chinese cultural heritage tourism. The thesis identifies that although many academic tourism researchers have discussed the cultural heritage issues, there is a gap that no English paper is available to identify the differences between current English and Chinese academic tourism studies in relation to cultural heritage issues. Cultural heritage issues studied by the current Chinese academic tourism researchers are limited to the World Heritage Sites inscribed by UNESCO, and local significant cultural heritage sites are left untouched. In this case, the English and Chinese literature in relation to cultural heritage, management and tourism product issues are reviewed and the gap that no English literature is available to discuss the different academic foci is filled. Secondly, a local cultural heritage site, Chen Ancestor's Temple, located in the southern part of China, is selected as the case study so as to challenge the current Chinese cultural heritage tourism study focus. A new direction which advocates the Chinese academic tourism researchers to turn their focus on local significant cultural heritage sites is established. To examine the current cultural heritage tourism in Chen Ancestor's Temple, two research methodologies are employed so as to gather first hand data. Quantitatively, a survey of tourist behaviors--before, during and after visitation of Chen Ancestor's Temple is conducted so as to supplement the statistics available and get to know more about Chen Ancestor's Temple current tourism development. Qualitatively, the in-depth interviews are conducted so as to investigate the issues of five stakeholder groups in relation to the development and management issues of Chen Ancestor's Temple. Themes are identified from the issues concerned by the five stakeholder groups and some recommendations are thus made.In all, this thesis compares the existing cultural heritage tourism literature in English and Chinese so as to advance the overall state of knowledge. The study of Chen Ancestor's Temple makes a further advance by establishing a new direction for Chinese academic tourism scholarship so as to focus towards locally significant cultural heritage sites.

Events provide opportunities for communities to socialise, interact and to enjoy a sense of mutual celebration. However, special interest events offer other opportunities for recreation, and for the development of skills, identities and knowledge. Events such as car shows, Sci-fi conventions and Elvis festivals have large numbers of participants, as well as spectators, who have specialised needs and characteristics. This thesis uses a series of five published studies to examine the participants at special interest events and further to understand their characteristics and behaviours. The studies employ a mixed method approach to explore participants at a total of eleven events in Australia. In the first of these studies a spectrum of events is developed to explain the diversity of events in a region, as related to the special interest of participants. The study used a mixed method methodology to examine the differences between audiences at nine events in the Tweed Valley of NSW. The results were used to focus the study more on events that target serious participants.The second study was published as a conceptual paper, providing a comprehensive theoretical framework for the study of serious participants of leisure, recreation and events. The paper posits a model of serious participants (SerPa) for use and refinement in subsequent studies. Papers 3 and 4 explore serious participants at two feature events in Australia, the Wintersun Festival in Coolangatta, and the Elvis Revival Festival in Parkes. Drawing on the serious leisure framework proposed by Stebbins (2001), and other leisure and tourism research, the study explored the characteristics and behaviours of serious participants at these events. Ethnographic methods were used to gain insight into behaviours, through participant observation at the events. The findings further develop the SerPa model, but also identify other themes that are relevant to leisure and event management and marketing. Paper 5 explores the social connections of serious participants made on the Internet, and identifies their relationship to travel planning and events. The study utilised ethnographic methods adapted to the Internet, to identify and discuss the social characteristics of serious participants as fans of Lord of the Rings, and the processes used to collaborate toward travel planning.The study demonstrates the significance of serious participants as a segment of audiences at events, highlighting their contributions to the events themselves. As participants, they make the event happen, and are perhaps more important than consumers (Getz, 2007). They are defined by what they do in their leisure time, more than who they were born as, or by their profession. They have a leisure identity that defines them, and can find support and security in the fanatical system that they subscribe to. This system is usually found in special interest clubs, on-line networks and at events. These social systems help sustain their beliefs, and provide a leisure world where they feel a sense of ‘we’. From their serious devotion and social connectivity, serious participants receive social and personal rewards, which in turn provide more stimuli to develop their skills and/or knowledge. These psycho/social characteristics result in participants searching for new challenges and new destinations, which can facilitate their needs. These are found at events that are designed specifically with serious participants in mind. The study demonstrates that identification of these market segments has important implications for the design and sustainability of events in Australia, and overseas. Additionally, it also has implications for planners and practitioners in leisure and tourism in understanding the extant links between recreation, travel and events.