Event Typology

Event Typology

Events are known to be one of the most important motivator of tourism and plays a key role in the development and marketing plans of most destinations (Getz, 2007). Events can be recognized as a form of entertainment. Events can also be considered as big businesses as different events nowadays, try to compete with each other for a share of people's time in leisure. People are using events as a middle ground for various sponsors and organizors to try and reach their target markets. They are considered to be both very effective and are able to provide strong grounds for impact purposes. The significance of 'Events' have been very well documented and has become very established in the tourism industry and the subsequent growth of this industry can only be described as 'spectacular'.

Therefore, it should also come as to no suprise that 'Event Management' has grown to be a fast growing industry where tourists and other forms of consumers stand for a potential market for planned events and the tourism industry has become an important stakeholder in their success and attractiveness. However, not all events are tourism oriented as they can play other roles from community building to urban renewal, cultural development to fostering national identities . Tourism is not the only component.(Getz, 2007). According to Getz, event management can be defined as the “applied field of study and area of professional practice devoted to the design, production and management of planned events, encompassing festivals and other celebrations, entertainment, recreation, political and state, scientific, sports and arts events, those in the domain of business and corporate affairs (including meetings, conventions, fairs and exhibitions), and those in the private domain (including rites of passage such as weddings or parties. and social events for affinity groups)”.

The figure below shows a typology of planned events based on their...