Improvement Axons for Ardas Cultural Festival in Evros, Greece, based on attendees perceptions

Abstract

Festivals provide not only the hosting community but the wider destination area as well, with many benefits. In consequence they have gained increasing attention in the prism of tourism growth. The most popular festival in Evros prefecture in the Thrace region (Northern Greece) is Ardas festival which takes place annually near the banks of the Ardas River and is known as “Festival Arda: youth gathering”. In the highly competitive tourism market, festival organizers need to keep their customers satisfied in order to maintain and increase their market share. To accomplish this task, festival organizers must understand the visitors’ behaviour and intentions and formulate their strategy accordingly. In this context, this study aims to examine the current status of Ardas Festival based on attendees perceptions and, secondly to propose a segmentation of the attendees market, based on their overall visiting experience as well as the degree of their satisfaction. quantitative research study was conducted on the premises of Ardas festival .The questionnaire developed specifically for this purpose. It includes the following areas of improvement which were generated based on a prior qualitative study. The quantitative research obtained a sample of 410 visitors attending the festival. Statistical analysis included classical descriptive analysis, cluster analysis, and cross-tabulation tests. Results showed that all statements were considered important for attendees of the festival (MS>3.51), with cleanness being the most important (MS=4.53) and the increase of the number of Balkan countries bands the least (MS= 3.62). Three clusters (n1=116; n2=146; n3=140) were produced based on the points of development as well as visitors’ satisfaction and impression. Results also showed that clusters were statistically significantly different regarding gender, marital status, education, occupation, and net individual monthly income. Results of the research can be a valuable input for the Ardas festival organizers. The findings can contribute to the success of the festival by satisfying the visitors and consequently increasing retention rate and loyaltyFestival, tourism, destination marketing, improvement axons, consumer’s behaviour, marketing, Greece