NS29 Session 31
29th Nordic Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality Research
Shaping mobile futures: Challenges and possibilities in precarious times
21-23 September 2021
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Title: Advancements in Event & Festival Research
Organisers: Tommy D. Andersson, John Armbrecht and Erik Lundberg
Affiliation: University of Gothenburg
Description
There has been an accelerating growth in events and festivals with respect to frequencies, purpose, content, form and popularity. The current festivals and events constitute a new wave within the experience economy, a new type of travel and leisure activity as well as a development within the flora of cultural expressions. Under certain conditions, this new wave seems to contribute to sustainable development of places and their local identities, to branding of places and marketing of regions, development of tourism and bridging gaps between locals, and between locals and visitors. They may enhance self-esteem and pride among local inhabitants in relation to own area, and facilitate their (re)discovery and (re)learning processes related to cultural and tangible items. However, there are also implications, dilemmas, paradoxes and controversies connected to events and festivals that can encumber a development in more sustainable directions. Notably, since early 2020 there are practically no physical events or festivals organized in the Nordic region due to the COVID-19 pandemic. How will this impact organizers and event visitors (digitalization, mobility, quality of life, bankruptcies of organizers…)?
The session is open to anyone who would submit their paper on event and festival related issues, and will contain a range of papers discussing various aspects of event and festival (tourism) issues. The objective of the session is to broaden and build relationships between researchers interested in this field in the Nordic countries and beyond.