Book chapter
The contribution of community events to sustainable urban tourism
Handbook on Sustainable Urban Tourism, pp.248-259
Research Handbooks in Tourism series, Edward Elgar Publishing
09/01/2024
Metrics
1 Record Views
Abstract
Events play an important role in the economic and social fabric of many towns and cities worldwide and are often used by city authorities working on limited budgets as a way to achieve a range of policy goals. Major festivals and sporting events can result in significant economic impacts from the tourists they attract, in addition to facilitating social benefits such as employment and training for local residents, as well as enhanced civic pride. However, many events are smaller in scale, and may not be so economically lucrative. Nonetheless, smaller community events and festivals are vital for the role they play in supporting local arts, heritage, culture and traditions, as well as for their contribution to social cohesion, social justice, community participation and sense of belonging. Community festivals and events are arguably more sustainable than their larger cousins, the major and mega-events, yet they rarely receive the same attention from researchers or policy makers. Although it can be argued that the contribution of any individual community event to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may be limited, their holistic contribution to many of the goals is considerable (particularly Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth; Goal 10 Reduced Inequalities; Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; Goal 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production, and Goal 16 Peace, Justice and Sustainable Institutions). This chapter unpacks the relationship between community events and the SDGs, reviews some of the issues and challenges facing the sector (particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic) and provides some suggested approaches for overcoming these challenges.
Details
- Title
- The contribution of community events to sustainable urban tourism
- Creators
- Judith MairMichelle Duffy
- Contributors
- Cristina Maxim (Editor)Alastair M Morrison (Editor)Jonathon Day (Editor)J A Coca-Stefaniak (Editor)
- Publication Details
- Handbook on Sustainable Urban Tourism, pp.248-259
- Series
- Research Handbooks in Tourism series
- Publisher
- Edward Elgar Publishing; Cheltenham, UK
- Number of pages
- 12
- Identifiers
- 991013310016502368
- Academic Unit
- Office of the PVC (Academic Innovation)
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Book chapter