Tourist’s rational and emotional engagement across events: a multi-event integration view

José A Folgado-Fernández,Paulo Duarte,José Manuel Hernández-Mogollón

doi:10.1108/ijchm-09-2020-1098

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the role of communication, structural and intangible elements on both tourists’ rational and emotional engagement across five different types of events (nature, gastronomy, religion, theatre and music).Design/methodology/approachResponses from 1,528 tourists were obtained through a face to face questionnaire in five heterogeneous events in the Spanish region of Extremadura, a well-known cultural tourism destination. Linear regressions were used to evaluate focal constructs’ contribution (emotional and rational engagement, formal and informal communication and structural and non-structural elements) on tourists’ engagement across events.FindingsThe results revealed that tourist’s rational and emotional engagement depends on the type of event. Non-structural elements seem to be important for rational and emotional engagement for gastronomic and cultural events. Besides the impact of structural elements on rational engagement, all other factors seem to have a mixed influence. Therefore, practitioners must select the factors to highlight according to the type of events, besides structural factors.Practical implicationsThe current results allow tourism managers to understand the mechanisms for tourists’ engagement in a multi-event scenario to strategically select and use and communicate each type of appeal when planning and communicating events to specific target audiences.Originality/valueUnlike most studies that focus on a single event or typology, this study combines a set of heterogeneous events to provide a complete picture of tourism engagement for the tourism sector.

Highlights

Tourism based on events’ celebration seeks to create and develop events to attract tourists, promote places and nurture emotional and rational engagement
The findings reported in this paper are important because they were obtained from samples gathered in five different types of events, increasing the odds of being generalisable
The results show that rational engagement is better predicted by the factors analysed than emotional engagement

Summary

Introduction

Tourism based on events’ celebration seeks to create and develop events to attract tourists, promote places and nurture emotional and rational engagement. It is expected that the event can be positively related to the territory where it is held (Getz and Page, 2016). Tourism events based on local culture, traditions and resources have an additional appeal and value because of their authenticity, as they can provide attendees with a unique and memorable experience (Jiang and Chen, 2019). The rapid growth of events planned by local administrations and regional governments reveals the need to thoroughly examine the elements they are based on to provide indications for future research and support both academics and professionals (Getz and Page, 2016)

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