ABSTRACT
Many destinations (cities, towns, regions or countries) have identified events as a significant contributor to their economic development because of their ability to stimulate growth in tourist inflows. This chapter explores the process by which destinations can seek to leverage events primarily for this purpose. It begins with an overview of government involvement in event tourism, before moving on to discuss a strategic approach to planning for event tourism. This approach involves a range of steps, beginning with a situational analysis and the establishment of goals and objectives. It then requires the establishment of an appropriate organisational structure through which to develop and implement an event tourism strategy. Once instituted, this strategy needs to be monitored and evaluated against the goals and objectives that have been set for it so that refinements/changes can be made over the period in which it operates. Each of these steps is examined in this chapter. The chapter concludes with two case studies, ‘The National Events Strategy for Wales 2022 to 2030’ and ‘Notting Hill Carnival’.
