slides: dr. breda mc carthy
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Tourism Clusters as a means of fostering the cultural tourism product are discussed in this presentation.TRANSCRIPT
Cultural Tourism Clusters in Ireland: Leveraging a Community’s Capabilities
Fáilte Ireland
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
Dr. Breda McCarthy
Fáilte Ireland Fellow
Department of Management & Marketing
University College Cork
University College, Cork
Colláiste na h'Ollscoile Corcaigh
Cultural tourism:
what is it? why study it?
an example of the ‘amorphous economy’? (Krugman, 1991).
Cultural tourism: a public policy perspective
New Horizons for Irish Tourism: An Agenda for Action (2003) Interdependence of arts and tourism Festival Tourism
estimated to be worth €200m (Fáilte Ireland: Supporting Festivals and Cultural Events to Enhance the Tourism Product, 2006).
144 festivals were supported with grant-aid of €3.4m in 2005 (Fáilte Ireland Annual Report, 2005).
€5.6 million was provided by the Arts Council in 2005 to 56 major festivals
“Research indicates that significant additional tourists can be attracted here by the quality of the cultural and heritage product. It is patently clear that the potential of Ireland’s cultural and heritage attractions, including music venues and performing arts facilities, needs to be better developed and marketed.” Tourism Action Plan Implementation Group (2006, p. 20).
Do performing arts clusters exist in regional (non-city) areas?
Do certain areas have a cultural identity to which artists, tourism and cultural entrepreneurs are attracted?
Do they a terrain or environment in which new ideas, new products, new opportunities can be explored, discussed, tried and tested?
Do they provide the flow of people and the markets necessary to sustain viable cultural production? (Montgomery, 1992)
What are the implications for policy makers?
Key Questions
Regional performance: total tourist revenue.
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2005
Shannon WestNorth West South WestDublin Midlands/EastSouth East
Challenge: how do we explain regional imbalances?
‘Distinctive Capabilities’ for Tourism Production
Central theme: successful areas/regions like successful firms, possess resources and develop distinctive capabilities that impart competitive advantage to tourism enterprises
Capabilities are developed cumulatively and collectively
Iconic Attractions: Top Ten Fee-Paying Visitor Attractions, Ireland
Figure 1. Regional Marketing – an array of experiences
Soft-adventure, activity-orientation
Cultural Pursuits & Cultural Infrastructure (castles, historic homes, gardens, performing arts, festivals, etc)
Scenery/LandscapePeople
Hospitality Food & Beverages
RetailingTransportation
Golf, angling, sailing, surfing, hill-walking, etc
What are the characteristics of clusters in the context of the performing arts?
Pool ofRelated & Supporting
Industries
New Business ModelPerforming Arts
Focal ActorInternational Event
Largest/Most Visited EventFast Growing Organizations
Recent Entrants
Skill FormationArtistic capabilities, craft, creative Event management skills
Cultural Tourism Cluster evolution: alignment imperative and viewpoints
Cluster & Skills Formation Process
Hybrids/Fusion
Festival
New Arts Infrastructure
New cultural organisations
Cluster/Skills Formation Process
Specialisation
Diversity Demand
Supply
Government:proactive or reactive
Related & Supporting Industries:Responsive or non-responsive
Co-opetition
Diffusion of ideas
Micro-clusters
South West Clare: ‘Burren region’ Kerry: ‘Dingle Peninsula’, the ‘Beara Peninsula’
Product champion Translocation of capabilities established by in-migrants Cultural heritage: music, language, literary, island heritage, etc Funding of arts infrastructure County Development Plan Impressive landscape, uniquely local attributes Co-location of complementary firms Accessibility New initiatives, festivals – old and new – and work shops Community culture, networks, planning
In conclusion
Education & training – module development