Local festivals, social capital and sustainable destination development: experiences in East London

This paper explores the nature of social capital arising from engagement in local festivals and the implications of this for the social sustainability of an emerging destination. Two case studies are developed from a longitudinal research project which investigates local festivals staged in the Hackney Wick and Fish Island area adjacent to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London, UK between 2008 and 2014. This area has been directly affected by extensive development and regeneration efforts associated with the staging of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The two festivals considered here respond to the challenges and opportunities arising for local people as the area changes. One festival aims to foster a sense of community by creating shared experiences and improving communication across diverse groups. The other draws together the cultural community, links them to the opportunities arising as the area emerges as a destination, and attracts visitors. These festivals increase social capital in the area, but its distribution is very uneven. The accrual of social capital exacerbates existing inequalities within the host community, favouring the “haves” at the expense of the “have nots”. There are tensions between the development of social capital and social sustainability in this emerging destination

Phenomenological psychology & descriptive experience sampling: a new approach to exploring music festival experience

This paper provides in-depth discussion of a methodological approach to researching music festival experience. Grounded in existential phenomenology (Heidegger, 1927/1962. Being and time (J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson, Trans.). Oxford: Blackwell) it argues for the adoption of an interpretative phenomenological perspective (Merleau–Ponty, 1945/1962. Phenomenology of perception (C. Smith, Trans.). New York, NY: Humanities Press) to more fully understand the live music festival experience. Phenomenological psychology (Smith, Harre and Van angenhove, 1995. Ideography and the case–study. In J. A. Smith, R. Harre, & L.Van Langenhove (Eds.), Rethinking psychology (pp. 59–69). London: SAGE Publications) contextualises the music festival experience within the attendee’s Lifeworld. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications Ltd) provides a robust process for analysing the music festival experience ideographically. Participants used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES)(Hurlburt & Heavey, 2001. Telling what we know: Describing inner experience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5(9), 400–403) to record their Green Man music festival experiences, this data was then explored during phenomenological interviews. DES and IPA provide a contrasting conceptualisation of experience, with findings that contribute to Ashworth’s (2003b. The phenomenology of the lifeworld and social psychology. Social Psychology Review, 5(1), 18–34) theories of Lifeworld and Krueger’s (2014b. Varieties of extended emotions. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 13(4), 533–555) Hypothesis of Individual Extended Emotions and his Hypothesis of Collective Extended Emotions. Lastly, building upon the application and adaptability to the music festival context allows a consideration of future studies

The new age experience in Sedona, Arizona

This working paper examines the potential to customize a New Age destination, using data collected from hospitality and tourist operators at Sedona, Arizona, United States of America (USA). Data show that customization is overt at tourist attractions, but that hotels generally limit advertising of New Age products and services to in-house guest information. Resistance to the New Age phenomenon is considered to influence levels of customization, and some interviewees noted a preference to the term ‘spiritual seeker’ to describe their target market. As customers were offered spiritual development, self-help, and stress relief, it was determined that New Age tourism is an experience rather than a service, providing some support for Hemmington’s (2007) thesis that hospitality is primarily experiential. The paper provides a list of products and services of potential interest to New Age tourists, and the observation that Sedona, while attractive to New Age tourists, is also an expensive upscale resort, therefore limiting access to some visitors

Existential postdisciplinarity: personal journeys into tourism, art, and freedom

Postdisciplinarity makes claims on ontological, epistemic, and methodological levels, but it is inevitably a personal philosophical stance. This article represents an existentialist approach to the discourse on postdisciplinarity, offering reflective narratives of three academics. Tomas Pernecky discusses creativity, criticality, freedom, and methodological and epistemic pluralism; Ana María Munar reveals her journey of epistemological awakening; and Brian Wheeller underscores the importance of researchers' subjective and emotive voice. Jointly, the authors depict postdisciplinarity as an invitation to conceptual and interpretive eclecticism, critical analysis, and creative problem solving

From self-employed hospitality entrepreneur to paid employee: the motivational factors behind the transition

The New Zealand hospitality industry is characterised by a high rate of business start-ups and closures, especially in small and medium enterprises (Inland Revenue Department, 2011). One reason for this is that many businesses are not financially viable. There are, however, successful hospitality entrepreneurs who are leaving self-employment to return to paid employment. This research presents evidence that some entrepreneurs leave self-employment in favour of paid employment from choice rather than being forced to take this step. Data are derived from interviews and placed into themes by using an interpretive paradigm. As many motivational push and pull factors are identified (family, work-life imbalance, health and stress, age, planned exit, security and stability of paid employment, education, expectations of others, lack of personal and professional development during the operation, and intuition) a diagram is designed to provide a broader overview. It shows entrepreneurs from a larger perspective, and that the exit process is influenced by a combination of factors such as their personal environment, personal goals and personal beliefs, social and economic factors, and the external environment