Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Entrepreneurs are found globally in all industries. In the tourism industry, entrepreneurs feature strongly in the events sector. The purpose of this study is to determine the entrepreneurs' role at festivals and in this case a national arts festival. The literature revealed that this type of study has not previously been conducted in South Africa. The literature review indicates that arts festivals as income generating events can be seen as an entrepreneurial opportunity to maximise economic activity. Entrepreneurs play a vital role in the success of an event such as arts festival. Entrepreneurs initiate transformation and serve as catalysts of innovation. Entrepreneurs are important role players since they attract and retain visitors and contribute to forming cultural identity of the arts festival. In order to achieve the objective, a survey of all small businesses that were trading at one of South Africa's largest arts festivals, namely the Aardklop National Arts Festival held annually in the city of Potchefstroom, was conducted. Two hundred and twenty two useable questionnaires were captured on Excel and the data analysis included a factor analysis and descriptive results. The questionnaire consisted of three sections: section A - demographical information - 7 questions; section B - information on the business - 8 questions; and section C - festival information - 6 questions. The main results reveal that the most important characteristics contributing to entrepreneurship are: a need for achievement, being successful, having the necessary organising skills, self-edification, being explorative, and commitment. The entrepreneurs indicated that they perceive their role at the arts festival to deliver unique, quality products and services and to market their businesses. The findings from this study contributes to the limited academic research on entrepreneurs at arts festivals and will be beneficial for arts festival organising committees to determine future strategies on including entrepreneurs at arts festivals. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) is one of the most popular arts festivals in South Africa, but ticket sales have alarmingly declined since 2005 resulting in the Festival already being in a decline phase of its product life cycle. This has a negative impact on the Festival's economic impact and future sustainability. It is therefore vital to increase the ticket sales in order for the Festival to maintain a steady growth rate. Market segmentation can assist the Festival's marketers/organisers to address this problem by identifying the high spending segment at the Festival since they stay longer and are keener to buy tickets supporting the Festivals shows/productions. Market segmentation is the process of dividing the festival market into smaller, more clearly defined groups that share similar, needs, wants and characteristics. The more detailed the knowledge of the needs and motives of potential visitors, the closer the Festival can get to a customised festival program creating greater satisfaction, long-term relationships, repeat visits and an increase in tickets supporting the shows/productions. The main purpose of this study was therefore to determine the spending behaviour of visitors the KKNK by means of establishing the determinants which influence visitor's expenditure and by applying expenditure-based segmentation in order to determine the high spending segment at the Festival. To determine the above goal, the study is divided into 2 articles. Research for both the articles was undertaken at the Festival and data obtained from 2005 to 2008 were used. Questionnaires were interview-administered and distributed randomly during the course of the Festival. In total 1940 questionnaires have been completed in the visitor survey since 2005. Article 1 is titled: "Socio-demographic and behavioural determinants of visitor spending at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival." The main purpose of this article was to identify the various socio-demographic and behavioural determinants that influence visitor spending at the KKNK. This was done in order to determine which visitors spend most at the Festival and which determinants are most significant in determining their expenditure levels. A regression analysis was used as an instrument to achieve the mentioned goal. Results indicated that occupation, distance travelled, length of stay, the reason for attending the Festival and preferred type of shows/productions were significant determinants that influence the amount of money visitors spent at the Festival. These results generated strategic insights on marketing for the festival in order to increase visitor spending especially on purchasing more tickets for shows/productions. Article 2 is titled: "Expenditure-based segmentation of visitors at the Klein Karoo National Arts festival." The main purpose of this article was to apply expenditure-based segmentation to visitors at the KKNK in order to identify the high spending segment at the festival. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine whether there were significant differences between the different expenditure groups. The Festival's market was divided into high, medium and low expenditure groups. Results revealed that the high spenders at the Festival were distinguishable from the low spenders based on their longer length of stay, older age, higher income, main reason to attend the Festival and preferred type of shows/productions. These results were used to compile a complete profile of the high spenders and how the Festival's appeal can be maximised in order to attract more high spenders. This research therefore revealed that certain socio-demographic determinants influence visitor's spending behaviour at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. There are further two distinct expenditure groups at the Festival, namely a high and low expenditure group. Knowledge of the determinants which influence visitor spending can be used in combination with the profile of the high spenders to maximise the Festival's appeal in order to attract more high spenders who buy tickets supporting the Festivals shows/productions. This will lead to an increase in ticket sales, a greater economic impact and ultimately to the continuous sustainability of the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. / Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Entrepreneurs are found globally in all industries. In the tourism industry, entrepreneurs feature strongly in the events sector. The purpose of this study is to determine the entrepreneurs' role at festivals and in this case a national arts festival. The literature revealed that this type of study has not previously been conducted in South Africa. The literature review indicates that arts festivals as income generating events can be seen as an entrepreneurial opportunity to maximise economic activity. Entrepreneurs play a vital role in the success of an event such as arts festival. Entrepreneurs initiate transformation and serve as catalysts of innovation. Entrepreneurs are important role players since they attract and retain visitors and contribute to forming cultural identity of the arts festival. In order to achieve the objective, a survey of all small businesses that were trading at one of South Africa's largest arts festivals, namely the Aardklop National Arts Festival held annually in the city of Potchefstroom, was conducted. Two hundred and twenty two useable questionnaires were captured on Excel and the data analysis included a factor analysis and descriptive results. The questionnaire consisted of three sections: section A - demographical information - 7 questions; section B - information on the business - 8 questions; and section C - festival information - 6 questions. The main results reveal that the most important characteristics contributing to entrepreneurship are: a need for achievement, being successful, having the necessary organising skills, self-edification, being explorative, and commitment. The entrepreneurs indicated that they perceive their role at the arts festival to deliver unique, quality products and services and to market their businesses. The findings from this study contributes to the limited academic research on entrepreneurs at arts festivals and will be beneficial for arts festival organising committees to determine future strategies on including entrepreneurs at arts festivals. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Die aktuelle Ausgabe des Newsletter für Freunde, Absolventen und Ehemalige der Technischen Universität Chemnitz.

'Hungry Ghosts' is an account of thirty-six hours of a young woman's life following her arrival in Singapore. Sarah, the protagonist of the novel, is accompanying her partner Paul on a business conference. It is increasingly apparent that Sarah's motives for leaving her home town, Adelaide, have more to do with her need to escape than her commitment to Paul. A room in an international hotel offers Sarah the comforts of a cocoon, where signs of previous occupation and ties to the past are erased on a daily basis. But Sarah is obviously dislocated from her surroundings, which are in turn out of step with the external environment: the air-conditioning is freezing; the orchids are plastic and nod in an artificial breeze. In this sterile environment Sarah is troubled by flashbacks of what she has left behind. Sarah begins to emerge from her cocoon, venturing into a big city that, for her, could be anywhere. She recognizes places generic to big cities as well as a few unique landmarks, becoming aware of the continual and universal tensions of progress and the past. In this way the novel becomes a study of the role of memory, ghosts and the absent dead, all of which play a part in informing Sarah's present and her understanding of the future. At the hotel Sarah encounters a group of war ‘pilgrims'. A mother, her son Bradley and an elderly British Army Major are all on a 'pilgrimage', and, in their different ways, all trying to make peace with the past and its insatiable ghosts. As Sarah learns their stories and witnesses the battles they wage, she is forced to challenge her own beliefs about being able to leave traumatic events behind. Her absent mother haunts her on the sun-drenched streets of fast-moving Singapore. A bond begins to form between herself and Bradley who, like Sarah, has been left out-of-whack by a recent calamity. 'Hungry Ghosts' explores several dualities: the claims of the past, both cultural and personal, balanced against the demands of the future; private memories that must be reconciled with the demands of public living and progress; the world of the mind that is dependent on the physical body occupying 'real' space. The novel examines the strangely transitory spaces that people can find themselves in: the liminal areas of grief, travel, dislocation, the unfamiliar. It asks why, in an age of globalisation, the claims of place, and in particular of home, remain so strong. My exegesis, written as three essays, addresses three aspects of my manuscript, ‘Hungry Ghosts’. In the first essay I look at the importance of ‘place’ in my novel, and the different types of ‘places’ I explore. In the second essay I look at how contemporary theories on war commemoration, coupled with my own research and witnessing of ‘actual’ events, have informed my depiction and treatment of the theme of war memory. In my final essay I reflect on the role mourning has played in the development of my manuscript, considering both the challenges it has presented to my narrative and the ways in which it has strengthened it. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009

Background Information: Outdoor music festivals (OMFs) are complex events to organise with many exceeding the population of a small city. Minimising public health impacts at these events is important with improved event planning and management seen as the best method to achieve this. Key players in improving public health outcomes include the environmental health practitioners (EHPs) working within local government authorities (LGAs) that regulate OMFs and volunteer organisations with an investment in volunteer staff working at events. In order to have a positive impact there is a need for more evidence and to date there has been limited research undertaken in this area. The research aim: The aim of this research program was to enhance event planning and management at OMFs and add to the body of knowledge on volunteers, crowd safety and quality event planning for OMFs. This aim was formulated by the following objectives. 1.To investigate the capacity of volunteers working at OMFs to successfully contribute to public health and emergency management; 2.To identify the key factors that can be used to improve public health management at OMFs; and 3.To identify priority concerns and influential factors that are most likely to have an impact on crowd behaviour and safety for patrons attending OMFs. Methods: This research program has involved a series of five exploratory research studies exploring two main themes within public health management for OMFs, event planning capacity and volunteer capacity. Four studies used a cross-sectional design and survey methodology to collect self-report data from each cohort while the remaining study utilised case methods. The study participants were recruited from Australian and European OMFs. For volunteer capacity, data have been collected from volunteers at two internationally recognised OMFs. One had formal training for their volunteers and the other did not. For planning capacity, data have been collected on consumer concerns regarding OMFs, priority factors that influence crowd behaviour and safety and leadership in event planning. Results (volunteer capacity): The first studies assessed the public health and emergency management capacity of volunteers working at two OMFs. Volunteer training was provided at one event but not at the other. Comparatively, the participants from the OMF where training was provided reported noticeably better awareness of and involvement in public health and emergency management at that event. Additionally, this awareness was improved with experience volunteering at the study festivals. These studies highlighted the benefits of volunteer training and retention. Results (event planning capacity): The next three studies focused on event planning capacity with the first being a case study on event planning leadership. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that the event licensing programs managed by LGAs could improve health outcomes for OMFs. A European OMF, the Glastonbury Festival, was chosen for this study. After problems in 2000, it was highly likely that the event would never be held again unless public health and safety was improved. This study documents the progression from that 2000 event through to the 2004 event that was considered the safest event yet. The LGA EHPs working through the event licensing programs had engineered these changes. The next study focused on consumer priority concerns associated with attending OMFs. A wide range of public health issues were identified as high concern including access to drinking water, toilets, safe food and personal protection issues such as females being grabbed or losing valuables. Safety in the mosh pit was a particular concern for almost half of the participants in the study. Also mosh pit safety was identified with other concerns such as females being grabbed, needing first aid, being struck by thrown items, crowd sizes, losing valuables and alcohol-related behaviour. Making safety in the mosh pit the most important public health issue for these study participants. The final study focused on identifying the main influences on crowd behaviour and safety at OMFs, particularly mosh pits. This study follows on from the consumer study. The study participants were skilled event security guards, specialising in OMFs and considered the performers, the music and group mentality as the most common motivators for changes in mosh pit behaviour. They also considered that generally (1) crowd composition, (2) drugs and particularly alcohol, (3) the type of performance, (4) venue configuration, and (5) activities of security staff were highly influential on crowd behaviour and safety at OMFs. Conclusion: Results from this research program have added to the body of evidence on public health management for OMFs. Findings support capacity building and retention for volunteer staff working at OMFs. Also this research has provided evidence on quality event planning, crowd behaviour and safety that can support EHPs working with OMFs. All of these studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals in order to communicate these findings to volunteer organisations and EHPs involved with OMFs. Where to from here? There remains considerable opportunity for research on a variety of topics related to public health management for OMFs. Some specific areas where further work is recommended are: othe development and evaluation of a pilot training program (web-based) for Australian volunteers working at OMFs (this training package is currently under development); othe development of a national code of practice for the event management industry; oresearch into festival patrons' risk perceptions and the impacts of those choices; oevaluation of the planning and management approaches used by specific OMFs; and oadditional detailed investigations of event characteristics such as crowd mood and its impacts on public health safety at OMFs.