Australian Music Festivals/Event Management and its impact on Hospitality and Tourism.

Event management and planning is a relatively new industry, so it’s important to understand how it relates to the rest of the hospitality and tourism industry and why it is important with large events such as music festivals.

Event Management can be described as; “a systematic way to create settings and execute properly festivals, events and conferences.” (Pradeepthi, 2011)

There has always been some form of event management within most companies, that staff, as an extra duty on top of their everyday role would often handle. This is no longer the case; a successful event is a well-planned event, especially on the larger scale, and staff are no longer able to handle these ad-hoc requests with the attention to detail that is required.

The events management industry can further be broken down into separate sections- corporate events and private events. Corporate events cover events such as music festivals, trade shows and product launches, while private events are more aligned with weddings and private parties.

For the private event such as a wedding, the event planner will liaise with different divisions within the hospitality and tourism industry.  The planner will book the venue; organize food and drinks and any entertainment required. A corporate event planner will do all these things on a larger scale, and usually work within a team. It is worthwhile for an event planner of any scale to have industry contacts; this will ensure best prices for the event and a close relationship to work with in the future. It is also beneficial for the tender to have an events company that is interested in working with them as it will give them exposure to many different events and give them the opportunity to showcase their abilities.

For a music festival, the event planner and their team, will get in touch with the local and state governments to be able to get the local tourism industry on board. When the decision was made to move the Splendour in the Grass festival back to Byron Bay from Woodford, the mayor of Moreton Bay Regional Council Allan Sutherland said, “he was disappointed to see the tremendous economic and cultural boom depart.” (Feeney, 2012)

The move of Splendour to Woodford back in 2010, “injected $20 million into the local economy.”(Feeney, 2012) Hotels, restaurants, tour companies would all have benefited from the increase of people that were in Woodford for the festival. The benefits to the local community in which these festivals are held in tremendous, and the event planner/manager will need to have all facts and figures ready to take to any potential local and state governments. For large festivals such as Splendour it is worthwhile for the local businesses to get on board.

Part of the role of an event manager is to determine the target audience. In relation to music festivals this could cover many different groups, from the younger crowd who would usually attend festivals like Big Day out, to an older core group who would attend the Blues and Roots (Bluesfest) festival. Activities within the music festival would cater to these tastes. For example, you would be more likely to find a rollercoaster type ride at Big Day Out and more Arts and Crafts at the Bluesfest.


Once the target audience has been determined, now the event planner can devise a concept and start the planning process. This usually would include multiple scenarios, costs, benefits and event quality that would be taken to the client or management.

Being one of the faster paced industries in Australia, it is important to remember that the events industry is still relatively new and is going through many learning curves. One of the benefits of being an events planner is that it is an industry in which you can only get better with each event planned; you learn many skills and gain multiple industry contacts. The success of an event can be pinpointed to how smoothly the event ran, showing the importance of having a well organised events planning team. 


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References

Pradeepthi, P. (2011). Importance of Event Management. Available: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Importance-of-Event-Management/1833411. Last accessed 29th April, 2012.

Feeney, K. (2012). Splendour in the Grass returning home to Byron Bay. Available: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/splendour-in-the-grass-returning-home-to-byron-bay-20120210-1sbvh.html#ixzz1tbaJi5R8. Last accessed 1st May, 2012.