With numerous artists coming to South Africa, the event industry is becoming congested with competition. This makes the production of a memorable visitor experience to events particularly challenging for the management of the event. Various aspects are required to occur when managing an event, and these contribute to the success and memorable experience of visitors. These aspects can either be controlled or uncontrolled by management. To ensure a successful event and memorable experience for visitors, event managers have to consider all of the various aspects that can be controlled within the event organisation when hosting a major music event. It is therefore important for management to ensure that the controllable key management aspects, also referred to as Critical Success Factors (CSFs), are implemented effectively and efficiently to ensure a memorable visitor experience. However, even though these management aspects (CSFs) may be familiar to event managers, the significance of what visitors regard as important concerning those aspects that would ensure a memorable visitor experience is, as yet, undefined. In addition, according to available literature, CSFs differ between the different events and different tourism organisations. Thus, CSFs identified at one event to ensure the successful management of a memorable visitor experience cannot be used at other events. Hosting major music events at various locations can be even more challenging as visitors attending major music events at different locations are a non-homogeneous market and so regard different aspects in different lights. Therefore, it is evident that the CSFs identified with regard to what visitors at one venue will consider as important will differ from those regarded as important at another venue, even when it is the same performer at each venue. Thus, it became critical to seek answers to the questions of what visitors to a major music event regarded as important CSFs and how did the importance of these CSFs differ between location and location? Therefore, the purpose of this study became the determination of the CSFs for managing the visitor experience at major music events in South Africa. The year 2011 was the first time that world-famous Neil Diamond had performed in South Africa. Neil Diamond performed four concerts at different locations (Johannesburg’s FNB stadium, Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium, Cape Town’s Greenpoint Stadium and at Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Stadium). This was the first time major music events had been held at these venues where one performing artist performed at all four different locations (cities). Thus, this event was the ideal opportunity to investigate. In order to realise the goal of the research, surveys were conducted at the four Neil Diamond concerts held, respectively, in Johannesburg (1 April, 2011), Durban (5 April, 2011), Port Elizabeth (8 April, 2011) and Cape Town (11 April, 2011) where, altogether, 1820 questionnaires were administered. The purpose of the first article was to determine what visitors at a major musical event regarded as critical management aspects, or as critical success factors (CSFs), for a memorable and satisfactory visitor experience. This was to aid major music event managers with information they could use to improve and ensure memorable visitor experiences in the future. A factor analysis was performed to determine the CSFs. Six factors were revealed, being General Management; Souvenirs; Marketing; Venue and Technical aspects; Accessibility and Parking; and Amenities and Catering. General Management, Venue and Technical aspects and Marketing were regarded as the most important CSFs for visitors to a major music event. It was subsequently confirmed that CSFs differed from one event to another. Thus it became clear that one set of CSFs cannot be used across each venue for events. By determining the CSFs, and through successfully managing these factors, major music events will ensure the retention of long term visitor goodwill, and so will remain competitive and sustainable. Neil Diamond presented four concerts at four different locations, The purpose of the second article was to determine the impact that location makes to the visitor experience at a major music event. Two-way frequency tables and Chi-square tests as well as ANOVAS and Turkey’s multiple comparisons were used to determine the differences between the four locations. Statistically significant differences were found, based on demographic, behavioural variables and motivational factors. Determining the effects these differences have provided major music event managers with superior knowledge in order to develop and manage future concerts at the differing destinations and locations. This research also help management to create a memorable visitor experience and so foster the promotion of future events more effectively to the target audiences, as well as potential sponsors. This specificity can also enhance bid documents for organisations and locations aiming at hosting major music events. This research revealed six critical success factors at a major music event. These CSFs can be used to enhance the visitor experience. However, it was also found that one set of CSFs cannot be used for every event as different locations regard different CSFs as being more important than others. Since major music events are often held at more than one location, it becomes critical to differentiate each location as the visitors to the various locations cannot be seen as homogeneous and so will have different needs and expectations. Thorough and informed knowledge of what is required for visitor satisfaction will not only ensure an improved event, but will enhance the visitor experience at such an event. This was the first time research was performed at major music events in South Africa that revealed the profile, motives, CSFs and spending behaviour of visitors to these events. Research not only provided information concerning the CSFs needed to manage the visitor experience at a major music event, but also provided an overall perspective of what visitors regard as important for a memorable visitor experience at four different geographic destinations hosting the same artist. This research contributes to the literature concerning the management of major music events and concerning the creation of memorable visitor experiences at these events. / Thesis (MA (Tourism Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

With numerous artists coming to South Africa, the event industry is becoming congested with competition. This makes the production of a memorable visitor experience to events particularly challenging for the management of the event. Various aspects are required to occur when managing an event, and these contribute to the success and memorable experience of visitors. These aspects can either be controlled or uncontrolled by management. To ensure a successful event and memorable experience for visitors, event managers have to consider all of the various aspects that can be controlled within the event organisation when hosting a major music event. It is therefore important for management to ensure that the controllable key management aspects, also referred to as Critical Success Factors (CSFs), are implemented effectively and efficiently to ensure a memorable visitor experience. However, even though these management aspects (CSFs) may be familiar to event managers, the significance of what visitors regard as important concerning those aspects that would ensure a memorable visitor experience is, as yet, undefined. In addition, according to available literature, CSFs differ between the different events and different tourism organisations. Thus, CSFs identified at one event to ensure the successful management of a memorable visitor experience cannot be used at other events. Hosting major music events at various locations can be even more challenging as visitors attending major music events at different locations are a non-homogeneous market and so regard different aspects in different lights. Therefore, it is evident that the CSFs identified with regard to what visitors at one venue will consider as important will differ from those regarded as important at another venue, even when it is the same performer at each venue. Thus, it became critical to seek answers to the questions of what visitors to a major music event regarded as important CSFs and how did the importance of these CSFs differ between location and location? Therefore, the purpose of this study became the determination of the CSFs for managing the visitor experience at major music events in South Africa. The year 2011 was the first time that world-famous Neil Diamond had performed in South Africa. Neil Diamond performed four concerts at different locations (Johannesburg’s FNB stadium, Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium, Cape Town’s Greenpoint Stadium and at Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Stadium). This was the first time major music events had been held at these venues where one performing artist performed at all four different locations (cities). Thus, this event was the ideal opportunity to investigate. In order to realise the goal of the research, surveys were conducted at the four Neil Diamond concerts held, respectively, in Johannesburg (1 April, 2011), Durban (5 April, 2011), Port Elizabeth (8 April, 2011) and Cape Town (11 April, 2011) where, altogether, 1820 questionnaires were administered. The purpose of the first article was to determine what visitors at a major musical event regarded as critical management aspects, or as critical success factors (CSFs), for a memorable and satisfactory visitor experience. This was to aid major music event managers with information they could use to improve and ensure memorable visitor experiences in the future. A factor analysis was performed to determine the CSFs. Six factors were revealed, being General Management; Souvenirs; Marketing; Venue and Technical aspects; Accessibility and Parking; and Amenities and Catering. General Management, Venue and Technical aspects and Marketing were regarded as the most important CSFs for visitors to a major music event. It was subsequently confirmed that CSFs differed from one event to another. Thus it became clear that one set of CSFs cannot be used across each venue for events. By determining the CSFs, and through successfully managing these factors, major music events will ensure the retention of long term visitor goodwill, and so will remain competitive and sustainable. Neil Diamond presented four concerts at four different locations, The purpose of the second article was to determine the impact that location makes to the visitor experience at a major music event. Two-way frequency tables and Chi-square tests as well as ANOVAS and Turkey’s multiple comparisons were used to determine the differences between the four locations. Statistically significant differences were found, based on demographic, behavioural variables and motivational factors. Determining the effects these differences have provided major music event managers with superior knowledge in order to develop and manage future concerts at the differing destinations and locations. This research also help management to create a memorable visitor experience and so foster the promotion of future events more effectively to the target audiences, as well as potential sponsors. This specificity can also enhance bid documents for organisations and locations aiming at hosting major music events. This research revealed six critical success factors at a major music event. These CSFs can be used to enhance the visitor experience. However, it was also found that one set of CSFs cannot be used for every event as different locations regard different CSFs as being more important than others. Since major music events are often held at more than one location, it becomes critical to differentiate each location as the visitors to the various locations cannot be seen as homogeneous and so will have different needs and expectations. Thorough and informed knowledge of what is required for visitor satisfaction will not only ensure an improved event, but will enhance the visitor experience at such an event. This was the first time research was performed at major music events in South Africa that revealed the profile, motives, CSFs and spending behaviour of visitors to these events. Research not only provided information concerning the CSFs needed to manage the visitor experience at a major music event, but also provided an overall perspective of what visitors regard as important for a memorable visitor experience at four different geographic destinations hosting the same artist. This research contributes to the literature concerning the management of major music events and concerning the creation of memorable visitor experiences at these events. / Thesis (MA (Tourism Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Arts festivals form a large part of the South African culture originally as many local communities began to share their culture with visitors by means of arts festivals. This has grown into a large industry that has tremendous financial gain for the hosting communities. With over 500 arts festivals each year in South Africa alone, visitors are certain to find a festival to satisfy their specific needs and wants. Therefore, with so many genres available, each festival has created its own niche market and loyal customer base. An extensive literature study was conducted for the purpose of this thesis and it was found that research of small to medium arts festivals has been neglected. This finding motivated the main theme of this research. As mentioned earlier, there are so many genres available that the festival organisers may experience difficulty when deciding what to offer and how many genres to offer in order to still be sustainable and attract a sufficient number of visitors. Furthermore, the large number of arts festivals organised each year makes it increasingly difficult for festivals to build a loyal client base. First-time visitors can be converted into repeat visitors if the marketing strategy is precise. Repeat visitors, as stated in the literature, results in a sustainable income for each festival. Another question that motivated the research was the location of the three arts festivals (Innibos, Vryfees, and Kierieklapper). Three arts festivals in three provinces makes an interesting study to determine whether there is a difference in the three types of visitors that they attract and the spending patterns at each festival. While addressing the problems stated above, this study produced the following three articles: * Article 1: ―Determinants of spending at Vryfees with a focus on genres‖. * Article 2: ―First-time versus repeat visitors at Innibos Arts Festival‖. * Article 3: ―Role of location in the attendance and spending of festinos‖. Article 1 investigates spending determinants that influence visitor expenditure on the different genres offered at the Vryfees Festival in Bloemfontein, based on a survey conducted in 2011. The research is based on the notion that different genres have different spending patterns. Article 2 focuses on the differences and/or similarities between first-time and repeat visitors at the Innibos Arts Festival as an alternative approach to market segmentation. Lastly, the third article focuses on three different arts festivals in three different locations in South Africa. The research was conducted by means of a visitor survey at the three arts festivals during the same year with questionnaires administered at Innibos (428), Vryfees (336), and Kierieklapper (202) respectively. The most significant contributions of this study can be summarised as follows: * the tourist spending behaviour in regards to the difference between first-time and repeat visitors is significant and can be considered an important spending determinant; * the tourist spending behaviour in terms of length of stay between first-time visitors and repeat visitors is significantly different, suggesting that familiarity with the destination (as the repeat visitors are) has an important impact; * different locations attract their own type of tourists and certain locations receive a higher economic injection than other provinces do because of the type of festival held. All three arts festivals attract mainly Afrikaans speaking attendees; and for the first time, a comparative study has been conducted on three arts festivals targeting the Afrikaans speaking community. Additionally, this is the first time a comparative study was conducted on three small to medium arts festivals located in three different provinces; and * the developed spending model described in the last chapter of this thesis can assist the festival organisers with future festival marketing to improve their income and marketing strategy. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Arts festivals form a large part of the South African culture originally as many local communities began to share their culture with visitors by means of arts festivals. This has grown into a large industry that has tremendous financial gain for the hosting communities. With over 500 arts festivals each year in South Africa alone, visitors are certain to find a festival to satisfy their specific needs and wants. Therefore, with so many genres available, each festival has created its own niche market and loyal customer base. An extensive literature study was conducted for the purpose of this thesis and it was found that research of small to medium arts festivals has been neglected. This finding motivated the main theme of this research. As mentioned earlier, there are so many genres available that the festival organisers may experience difficulty when deciding what to offer and how many genres to offer in order to still be sustainable and attract a sufficient number of visitors. Furthermore, the large number of arts festivals organised each year makes it increasingly difficult for festivals to build a loyal client base. First-time visitors can be converted into repeat visitors if the marketing strategy is precise. Repeat visitors, as stated in the literature, results in a sustainable income for each festival. Another question that motivated the research was the location of the three arts festivals (Innibos, Vryfees, and Kierieklapper). Three arts festivals in three provinces makes an interesting study to determine whether there is a difference in the three types of visitors that they attract and the spending patterns at each festival. While addressing the problems stated above, this study produced the following three articles: * Article 1: ―Determinants of spending at Vryfees with a focus on genres‖. * Article 2: ―First-time versus repeat visitors at Innibos Arts Festival‖. * Article 3: ―Role of location in the attendance and spending of festinos‖. Article 1 investigates spending determinants that influence visitor expenditure on the different genres offered at the Vryfees Festival in Bloemfontein, based on a survey conducted in 2011. The research is based on the notion that different genres have different spending patterns. Article 2 focuses on the differences and/or similarities between first-time and repeat visitors at the Innibos Arts Festival as an alternative approach to market segmentation. Lastly, the third article focuses on three different arts festivals in three different locations in South Africa. The research was conducted by means of a visitor survey at the three arts festivals during the same year with questionnaires administered at Innibos (428), Vryfees (336), and Kierieklapper (202) respectively. The most significant contributions of this study can be summarised as follows: * the tourist spending behaviour in regards to the difference between first-time and repeat visitors is significant and can be considered an important spending determinant; * the tourist spending behaviour in terms of length of stay between first-time visitors and repeat visitors is significantly different, suggesting that familiarity with the destination (as the repeat visitors are) has an important impact; * different locations attract their own type of tourists and certain locations receive a higher economic injection than other provinces do because of the type of festival held. All three arts festivals attract mainly Afrikaans speaking attendees; and for the first time, a comparative study has been conducted on three arts festivals targeting the Afrikaans speaking community. Additionally, this is the first time a comparative study was conducted on three small to medium arts festivals located in three different provinces; and * the developed spending model described in the last chapter of this thesis can assist the festival organisers with future festival marketing to improve their income and marketing strategy. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014