5.4.1. Spatial
Event geography is not a well-developed theme, and few
scholars have examined event tourism patterns. Getz
(2004a) outlined the meaning and scope of event geography
including its tourism-related themes. Janiskee’s (1994,
1996) groundbreaking contributions to event geography
have to be acknowledged although his papers mostly
examine the spatial and temporal distribution of festivals
and what caused these patterns, not travel to events. He
also addressed the question of whether or not a region or a
time-spot could reach its capacity in terms of event
numbers.
Bohlin (2000) employed a classic technique, the distancedecay
function, to determine how far people traveled to
various festivals in Sweden, and what factors made the
most difference. He determined that travel declined with
distance, as expected. But well-established, recurring events
had the greatest drawing power. Market potential for
events was examined geographically by Wicks and
Fesenmaier (1995). The market areas and tourist attractiveness
of events have also been studied by Verhoven,
Wall, and Cottrell (1998) employing demand mapping, and
by Lee and Crompton (2003). Travel cost analysis as