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Media representations of cultural and sports festivals, the marketing of place image and local economic development: The case of Cheltenham, England Andrew Bradley OXSTALLS LEARNING CENTRE UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE Oxstalls Lane Gloucester GL2 9HW Tel: 01242 715100 A thesis submitted to the University of Gloucestershire in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Environment and Leisure Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank my two supervisors: Dr. Tim Hall and Professor Mick Healey for their encouragement and constructive criticism at all stages in the formation of this thesis. Their advice has been invaluable in the development of this study and the manner in which it was conducted. This research would also have been impossible without the ·access that was afforded fo many of Cheltenham' s most prominent business people. The generous donation of their time and the interest that they showed in this research was truly appreciated. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Precious whose constant belief in me has kept me going and John Hill for his ability to make me laugh even under the darkest of circumstances. It would also be inappropriate to forget the residents of the now disbanded Graduate School at the University of Gloucestershire for their myriad of pleasant distractions such as endless transfer speculation, fantasy football and staff football on Wednesday nights. Thanks, therefore, are offered to (in alphabetical order): Joy Bringer, Kath Browne, Stuart Nelmes, Barney Pell, George Vigileos and Nick Wright. Abstract During the 1980s and 1990s energetic image enhancement and promotional campaigns have been an almost ubiquitous characteristic of different localities throughout the world, with the enhancement and promotion of place image now being seen as a vital part of economic development strategies. One way in which J?lac,es can be promoted is .. through the attraction of high profile festivals and events as the coverage of these events disseminates images of place throughout the local, national and international media, potentially reaching a far greater number and range of audiences than 'conventional promotional campaigns would do. This coverage reaches a number of discrete audiences and has tangible and intangible impacts. These include potential investors whose decisions may be influenced by the images of the location that they receive through the media and the local business community who might be convinced that the economic strategies of the local authority have been successful. The coverage of these events, then, is crucial in selling places to both internal and external audiences. Whilst much attention has been paid to the place promotion campaigns of local authorities, as yet there has been no attention paid to the impacts of the media coverage of festivals and events on the promotion of place images. This thesis draws upon a case study of four festivals in Cheltenham, England and evaluates the contribution of their coverage in the national media to the perception and development of place. This is achieved by a two­ stage process: Firstly, an analysis of the content of the media coverage of the selected festivals is undertaken to understand the amount and nature of the coverage. Secondly, the local business community are used as a group of key economic actors to examine their images of Cheltenham, the mechanisms that are important in the construction of image and to identify and assess the impacts that the media coverage of Cheltenham's festivals has on economic development. The results make a key contribution to the understanding of the use of the media in the construction of images of place and also in identifying the positive and negative impacts that the media coverage of festivals can have upon a host location. Author's declaration I declare that the work in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the text. No part of the thesis has been submitted as part of any other academic award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas. Any views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University. Signed . .. Date ................................... Table of contents Chapter One: Introduction ............ .' .................................................................................... 1 1.1 The role of festivals and events .in place marketing ............................................... 1 1.2 The aims of the thesis ............................................................................................. 3 1.3 The academic and policy implications of the thesis .............................................. .4 1.4 Structure of the thesis ............................................................................................. 5 Chapter Two: Review of literature on place marketing, place.ird;ges in the media and · festivals and events ........................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Introduction to the marketing of places .................................................................. 9 2.1.1 The nature of place image ............................................................................ 10 2.1.2 The formation of place image .................................................... '. ................... 10 2.1.3 The transmission of place images ................................................................. 11 2.1.4 The history of place marketing and the context for ifs current growth ........ 12 2.1. 5 Changes in place marketing practice ............................................................ 16 2.1.6 Differences between the selling and marketing of places ............................ 17 2.1. 7 The agencies responsible for marketing place image ................................... 18 2.2 Theoretical approaches to place marketing .......................................................... 19 2.2.1 Management Approaches ............................................................................. 20 2.2.2 Semiotic Approaches .................................................................................... 21 2.2.3 Neo structural approaches ............................................................................ 23 2.2.4 Social Justice Approaches ............................................................................ 24 2.2.5 Institutional Change Approaches .................................................................. 26 2.2.6 Paradigmatical Approaches .......................................................................... 28 2.2.7 Consumption Approaches ................. ! ........................................................... 29 2.2.8 Iinpact approaches ........................................................................................ 30 2.2.9 Assessing the approaches to the study of place promotion .......................... 32 2.3 Place marketing: Summary .................................................................................. 32 2.4 Place images in the media: An introduction ......................................................... 33 2.4.1 Research into place images in the media .............. ;....................................... 34 2.4.2 Types of media coverage .............................................................................. 35 2.4.3 The media and construction of images of place ........................................... 37 2.4.4 The media, consumption of place image and the subsequent creation of meaning ................................................................................................................. 39 2.4.5 The circle ofreproduction of media images ................................................ .40 2.4.6 The media, place image and economic development.. ................................ .41 2.4.7 Summary: The media, construction of image and place marketing ............ .43 2.5 An introduction to festivals and events ............................................................... .43 2.5.1 The development of festivals and events as a means of place marketing ... .44 2.5.2 Defining festivals and events: The distinction between a festival and an event. ...................................................................................................................... 45 2.6 A typology of events ............................................................................................ 46 2.6.1 Mega-events .................................................................................................. 46 2.6.2 Hallmark events ............................................................................................ 47 2.6.3 Special events ............................................................................................... 47 2.6.4 Defining festivals and events for the purpose of this thesis ........................ .48 2.7 Theoretical underpinnings of the use of festivals as a tool for economic regeneration ................................................................................................................ 48 2.7.1 Festivals as a mechanism for promoting civic identity ............................... .49 2. 7 .2 Festivals as a mechanism for developing cultural industries ....................... 50 2.7.3 Festivals

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