Introduction
Events are an important motivator of tourism, and
figure prominently in the development and marketing plans
of most destinations. The roles and impacts of planned
events within tourism have been well documented, and are
of increasing importance for destination competitiveness.
Yet it was only a few decades ago that ‘event tourism’
became established in both the tourism industry and in the
research community, so that subsequent growth of this
sector can only be described as spectacular.