Sustainably managed music festivals have significant value and can provide a multitude of benefits to a healthy, sustainable and desirable society if their negative impacts are mitigated and positive impacts cultivated. To reach this great potential, sustainable event management of music festivals must become widely adopted and expanded as common practice. To drive this improvement of sustainable event management, there is a need to first understand the barriers and success factors event organizers face moving their music festivals toward sustainability. This study uses a research design of mixed quantitative-qualitative methods: a survey of thirty diverse music festival organizers across the United States and interviews with five selected survey participants. Research draws on pertinent literature from sustainability theory and practice, previous research on sustainable event management, existing strategies of sustainable events, and lessons from organizational change studies. Findings revealed seven key barriers and four success factors associated with sustainable event management of music festivals as well as three specific needs of event organizers to improve sustainable event management. With these findings, seven strategies are presented to help event organizers adopt and improve sustainable event management of music festivals. This study is significant because it fills an important gap in the academic literature on events and sustainability. Additionally, this study is immediately applicable to Untied States music festivals. The findings were drawn directly from the perspectives and experiences of event organizers, and the strategies are designed to be specifically applied to their sustainable event management work.

Originally presented as the author's dissertation. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-286).

Originally presented as the author's dissertation. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-286).

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Management Sciences: Hospitality and Tourism Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / The study addressed four questions using secondary annual time series data: (1) How is event spend related to economic development? (2) How are the physical attributes of the region (natural capital) related to economic development?(3) How is social cohesion related to economic development? (4) How does human capital influence economic development? The study period starts in 1994 and ends in 2016, accordingly 100 data points were pulled from the time series. Error Correction Model and Ordinary Least Squares were used as analytical tools to test the regression model developed for the study. Economic development is the dependent variable and is represented by tourism employment data sourced from Statistics South Africa. The independent variables are event spend represented by expenditure figures for culture, sports and recreation published by Statistics SA; human capital was measured using gross educational ratio for secondary education accessed from the World Bank database; natural capital was measured using the gross domestic product attained from Statistics South Africa; and social cohesion was measured using social expenditure data acquired from the South African Reserve Bank. The theoretical framework that underpins the study is the geography political theory as espoused by different authors including Collier (2007) and Kollosov (2001). On the basis of this theoretical framework the study seeks to look at the effect of event spend, natural capital, human capital and social cohesion on economic development. The findings of the study show that there is no relationship between economic development, event spend and human capital. However a relationship was established between natural capital and social cohesion. The results of the study will inform policymakers in the allocation of budgets towards major events. It will also contribute to the equitable distribution of resources to promote social cohesion in communities. / M

The primary goal of the study was to identify key success factors for the management of wedding tourism in South Africa. This goal was achieved by firstly conducting a literature study to determine the key success factors of strategic management for special events as stated in books, articles and other sources. Secondly, wedding tourism was analysed to provide an overview of the wedding tourism industry and weddings as tourism products. Thirdly, the results of the empirical research were discussed followed by the conclusions and recommendations made with regard to further research. From the literature study, aspects regarding strategic management were discussed namely, the strategic management process, marketing for special events, human resource management, financial management and operational management. These aspects were included in the questionnaires for the empirical research. Two different questionnaires were developed, one for wedding planners and one for owners/managers of wedding venues in the Gauteng and North West provinces. The purpose of the questionnaires was to gather information on the key success factors for wedding tourism and to gain insight of the wedding tourism industry. Personal interviews were held with wedding planners and owners1 managers of wedding venues; questionnaires were also distributed via email. All the data was processed by the North-West University's Statistical Consultation Services. A confirmatory factor analysis was done to produce a small amount of factors. The following factors were identified: strategic planning; SWOT analysis, human resources, financial management, market segmentation, promotion and operational management. After analysing the data it was clear that operational services like ensuring high levels of hygiene, having a liquor license, accessibility, secure parking and that services must meet the needs of guests were considered extremely important aspects for a wedding venue. The following aspects were considered extremely important by wedding planners: services must meet the needs of guests, offer unique products and develop a checklist as control mechanism. Owners of wedding tourism products and wedding planners have to consider and apply the key success factors in order to grow the industry and create sustainable products. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This report details an internship with the Louisiana Children’s Museum’s development office, which started in February 2014; transitioned from internship to employment in May 2014; and concluded in June 2014 after the Museum’s fundraising event, Circus Magic Night. In this paper, I will provide an overview of the Museum’s history, programs, and organizational structure, as well as describe my internship experience and contributions over a period of five months and 480 hours. Additionally, I will analyze LCM’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; discuss relevant best practices; and finally, offer recommendations that propose solutions to some of the challenges I observed as the development/special events intern and as the new special events coordinator.

This thesis analyses forms of New Zealand national identity constructed in conjunction with successive America's Cup campaigns in 1987, 1992 and 1995. It is argued that New Zealand national iconography was appropriated by government and corporate interests and utilised as a mechanism for corporate capital accumulation and legitimation.The first New Zealand challenge was set against a background of neo-liberal policy reform initiated by the fourth Labour government in 1984. The comprehensive economic and social policy implementation had multiple negative effects for New Zealand's political economy. This thesis undertakes a comprehensive analysis of these effects and argues that the commitment to neo-liberalism resulted in both the means for a New Zealand America's Cup syndicate and the necessity for an event which could obscure New Zealand's economic decline. National identity was reformulated through America's Cup nationalism to incorporate the values of neo-liberalism.As a result of the entrenchment of neo-liberal values, the needs of corporate interests and state enterprises to define citizens as consumers concluded in the commercialisation of culture. This thesis argues that the pursuit of effective corporate branding strategies led to the appropriation of symbols and images of national identity by corporate interests. The 1992 and 1995 America's Cup challenges represent the convergence of the discourses of sport, media and capitalism under the shared agenda of capital accumulation and legitimation. This convergence was structured around a commercialised conception of national identity which bore little relation to the social and economic reality experienced by many New Zealanders.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, this research describes short and long term memories of participants who attended past and present Earth Day Celebrations in Surrey, BC, Canada. Particular interest was placed on discovering the most memorable aspects of their Earth Day experiences as well as determining motivations to attend. Research was conducted using online and face-to-face surveys administered prior to and during the April 2010 event. The study revealed that not only that hands-on stewardship activities of releasing salmon and planting trees proved the most popular among research subjects but also illuminated the importance of social and familial interactions at the event. The results of the study may serve to guide the efforts of event organizers in order to capitalize on the public’s interests in environmental special events and serve to meet both the environmental and social needs of the community.

The primary goal of the study was to identify key success factors for the management of wedding tourism in South Africa. This goal was achieved by firstly conducting a literature study to determine the key success factors of strategic management for special events as stated in books, articles and other sources. Secondly, wedding tourism was analysed to provide an overview of the wedding tourism industry and weddings as tourism products. Thirdly, the results of the empirical research were discussed followed by the conclusions and recommendations made with regard to further research. From the literature study, aspects regarding strategic management were discussed namely, the strategic management process, marketing for special events, human resource management, financial management and operational management. These aspects were included in the questionnaires for the empirical research. Two different questionnaires were developed, one for wedding planners and one for owners/managers of wedding venues in the Gauteng and North West provinces. The purpose of the questionnaires was to gather information on the key success factors for wedding tourism and to gain insight of the wedding tourism industry. Personal interviews were held with wedding planners and owners1 managers of wedding venues; questionnaires were also distributed via email. All the data was processed by the North-West University's Statistical Consultation Services. A confirmatory factor analysis was done to produce a small amount of factors. The following factors were identified: strategic planning; SWOT analysis, human resources, financial management, market segmentation, promotion and operational management. After analysing the data it was clear that operational services like ensuring high levels of hygiene, having a liquor license, accessibility, secure parking and that services must meet the needs of guests were considered extremely important aspects for a wedding venue. The following aspects were considered extremely important by wedding planners: services must meet the needs of guests, offer unique products and develop a checklist as control mechanism. Owners of wedding tourism products and wedding planners have to consider and apply the key success factors in order to grow the industry and create sustainable products. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The broad argument underpinning this thesis is that a feature of contemporary city life deserving further critical attention is that of the ‘extraordinary everyday.’ I coin this term as a way of identifying and describing an increasingly common place articulation or ‘interface’ between the extraordinary (that is, the production and experience of spectacle and intense affective states within the context of technologically mediated, contemporary urban space), and the everyday (the seemingly banal routines and structures that organise our day to day existence in a consumer society).