Ethnic Festivals and Tourism in Canada’s Capital: Suggestions for Tourism and Ethnic Community Administrators

George Karlis, Ph.D.

Holly Donohoe, Ph.D.

Pinelopi Makrodimitris, J.D., LL.M.

Evan Webb, MA.

Festival Tourism in Ottawa

• Canadian government recognizes the importance of festivals:

– 15 Ottawa festivals, special events & fairs received $1.4 million in funding in 2009 from the Ontario Gov.

– $94 million was generated from 21 of the region’s over 100 festivals that year

• In Ottawa festivals have demonstrated their potential to:

– Attract tourists

– Create jobs

– Generate economic capital (Ottawa Festivals, 2012)

Festival Tourism in the Literature

• Increase demand for local tourism

• Help recreate city image (Felsenstein & Fleischer, 2003)

• Contribute to local image

• Competitive positioning in tourism market

• Help drive local employment (Simeon & Buonincontri, 2011)

• Fill local hotels and restaurants

• Generally require minimal capital investment

• Take advantage of existing infrastructure (Litvin, Crotts, Blackwell & Styles, 2006)

Marketing Festivals

• What motivates one’s decision to attend? What determines attendees’ satisfaction with the event?

– Key features of the festival were found to be integral to participants’ decision to attend

– The experience determined satisfaction with the event when it contained elements of:

• Learning

• Engagement in authentic cultural customs (Savinovic, Kim & Long, 2012)

Marketing Festivals

• When is it the right time to give information to festival attendees?

– Extended Decision-Makers (a month or more in advance)

• Promotional Campaign 3 – 4 months prior

– Spontaneous Decision-Makers (within a month in advance)

• Continuous publicity for the month prior and during the event

– Routine Decision-Makers (immediately after attending)

• Ensure festival experience is enjoyable (Kruger & Saayman, 2012)

Purpose

Rationale

Ethnic festivals have been largely overlooked in research

Objectives

1. To conduct a case study on GreekFest

2. To increase awareness of the tourism potential of ethnic festivals

3. To provide ethnic communities and municipal administrators with suggestions for tourism marketing and promotion

Methods

Case Study

• Descriptive overview of Ottawa’s GreekFest and its role in attracting tourists

• Retrospective Case Study

– Information from archives of the Hellenic Community of Ottawa (HCO)

– Interviews with over 20 administrators in charge of implementing GreekFest since inauguration

Ethnic Community Organizations

• Composed of individuals from the same collective ethnic background

• Help preserve and maintain culture

• Provide ethno-cultural activities to reinforce cultural identity

• Often involved in philanthropic and charity work

Ethnic Festivals

• This study concerns ethnic festivals that:

– Involve a particular collective ethnic group

– Are run by non-profit ethnic organizations

• Not included in this study are:

– Multi-ethnic festivals

– Festivals run by the municipality itself for tourism

Description of Ottawa’s GreekFest

• Hellenic Community of Ottawa (HCO)

– Consists of the Dormitian of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church & adjoining Community Center

• Festival Committee is run by a 15 member volunteer Board of Directors

• Event consists of

– Authentic Greek food

– Dance

– Music

– Church tours

– Souvenir kiosks (Ottawa Festivals, 2012)

• One of the oldest running festivals in Ottawa

– 38 years old in 2013

History

• Originally a 1 day celebration of the church’s name day

– The festival still begins on this day (Aug. 15)

• Increased to a weekend long event in 1980 once earning potential of the festival was realized

– Festival committee established to manage weekend long event

• Currently an 11 day-long event

– Developed a need for a marketing plan to support this festival financially

Marketing and Promotion

• Marketing and Promotion strategies employed by GreekFest:

1. Word of mouth

2. Advertised in Church

3. Community E-mails

4. Newsletters to Members

5. Formal Marketing and Promotion to Greater Ottawa Community (and beyond)

– Typically costs $25,000 a year

– Starting to be seen as important by the HCO

Formal Marketing Strategies - Media

• Print Media

– News papers (Ottawa/Montreal)

• Radio

– Paid advertisements

– Interviews

– Contests

• Television

– Paid commercials

– Morning show segments

– Rogers’ live on location

Formal Marketing Strategies - Internet

• Website

– Dedicated to GreekFest

• Social Media

– Live updates from festival

– Builds awareness for little to no cost

• City of Ottawa Festivals

– Registered with City of Ottawa Festivals – listed on their website

Other Formal Marketing Strategies

• Gorilla Marketing

– Billboards and signs

• LCBO Event

– One day publicity campaign at select LCBO locations

Suggestions for Tourism and Ethnic Community Administrators

• Based on GreekFest’s success 5 suggestions were made towards marketing ethnic festivals in Canadian communities:

– Suggestion 1: Expand marketing and promotion strategies currently used by ethnic community organizations to include a larger “target market” – one that resides outside of the Ottawa area.

– Suggestion 2: Include more activities in festival programs that will make the festival a “destination attraction.”

Suggestions for Tourism and Ethnic Community Administrators

– Suggestion 3: Market and promote ethnic festivals directly through the channels of ethnic groups

– Suggestion 4: Utilize the services of Embassies in Canada to market and promote ethnic festivals within the ethnic groups

– Suggestion 5: Provide enhanced exposure for ethnic festivals using municipal advertisements.

Conclusion

• Importance of relationship between ethnic community organizations & municipalities

• Importance of targeting markets outside of municipality

• Ethnic festivals have the potential to bring in tourism for many of Canada’s communities

• Thank you

• Questions?

References

• Felsenstein, D. & Fleischier, A. (2003). Local festivals and tourism promotion: The role of public assistance and visitor expenditure. Journal of Travel Research, 41, 385-392.

• Kruger, M. & Saayman, M. (2012). When do Festinos decide to attend an arts festival? An analysis of the Innibos national arts festival. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 29, 147-162.

• Litvin, S.W., Crotts, J.C., Blackwell, C. & Styles, A.K. (2006). Expenditures of accommodations tax revenue - A South Carolina study. Journal of Travel Research, 45, 150-157.

• Ottawa Festivals. (2012). Ottawa festivals and events celebrate funding announcement. Retrieved from http://www.ottawafestivals.ca/press/ottawa-festivals-and-events-celebrate-funding-announcement/

• Savinovic, A., Kim, S. & Long, P. (2012). Audience members' motivation satisfaction, and intention to re-visit an ethnic minority cultural festival. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 29, 682-694.

• Simeon, M.I., Buonincontri, P. (2011). Cultural event as a territorial marketing tool - the case of the Ravello festival on the Italian Almafi coast. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 20, 385-406.