The effect of Music Festivals on Perceived Destination Images

Abstract

Music festival is one of the special event. It is a unique cultural event which continuously held on a particular place and time. It has been confirmed that music festivals can attract people to visit the destinations for instance Glastonbury, and the Fuji Rock. Various researches have explored the potential of festivals in forming destination image. It has not been yet explored a link between the music festivals and image formation of thedestination. The research aim is to examine the effect of music festivals on the perceived images of destinations. The objectives are to explore music festival in Thailand and to examine the perception of tourists towards destination image influenced by music festival.Music festivals in Thailand have been studied and 5 music festivals were chosen as the research settings. The documentary study was used to examine the 5 music festivals. Then the semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourists who have visited at least one of the five selected music festivals. The qualitative data are analysed using thematic analysis.The findings show that the destination images are influenced by the music festivals. The perceived images of the destination may similar to the existing images, while some may differ and transferable. The findings also show that the participants perceiveimages of the place differently during the music festival. The results can be applied to destination marketer in order to create or shape the destination images.