4

The arts-related tourist

Introduction

In previous chapters the nature of tourism and the arts and of the tourism and arts consumers were examined. Although comparisons were made between them, the two were considered separately and not as part of the same activity or ‘product’. In this chapter the arts and tourism are brought together and examined in terms of their links. A structure is developed for analysing the relationship further in later chapters.

This chapter includes:

  an examination of the connection between the arts and tourism in the past;

  the current perspective on this form of tourism;

  a consideration of terms used in order to clarify analysis;

  the development of a framework for classifying the arts-related tourist;

  an examination of the influences on the development of arts-related tourism;

  a discussion of the relative roles of heritage and the arts in tourism.

Culture and tourism

Since the end of the Second World War (1939–45) there has been a tremendous growth in the number of people in North America and western Europe who have become tourists. This has sometimes been labelled the emergence of ‘mass tourism’. Going on holiday is now the experience of many rather than of just a few people. This tourism is associated with the pursuit of pleasure and with time spent on beaches in fine sunny weather and not primarily with time spent in museums, art galleries, and the like with a view to self-improvement. In many ways the era of mass tourism, where the majority of the population now regularly has a holiday, stands in contrast with earlier times when tourism more often had a cultural or educational motive. This distinction is an over-simplification but undoubtedly some of the earliest reasons for tourism were associated with the desire to experience other societies and systems of government and to be exposed to great works of art, buildings and sculptures. This is seen most clearly in the European ‘Grand Tour’ (Feifer, 1985; Towner, 1996).

Before the mid twentieth century, most travel was for the purpose of trade, pilgrimage or education and not primarily for pleasurable holiday purposes. Some travel for pleasure purposes has, however, always been evident, including during the Roman Empire period. Even then it had a cultural tourism element in that some travellers ventured to Greece or Egypt in search of antiquities. From the sixteenth century through to the early nineteenth century a particular form of travel emerged which has served to give the view that ‘early’ tourism was associated with culture. Young British men (of some wealth) travelled through Europe in order to gain experiences of government and culture before returning to ‘settle down’ to the business of land-owning and governing. This, by the eighteenth century, had become common for men of wealth, accompanied by tutor and servants. The particular focus was usually Italy as the birthplace of the Renaissance and of the earlier Roman civilization though France was an important destination also. ‘Pleasure’ undoubtedly featured in this Grand Tour despite the high-minded intentions and there were many opportunities for pleasurable diversion such as plays, concerts, parties, socializing, sexual encounter, eating and drinking during the journey and at destinations. By the end of the eighteenth century the ‘pleasure’ attractions of Italy, its people, climate and way of life, were increasingly recognized as being the reason for travel (Withey, 1998).

At the same time there was a growing interest in the natural world and scenery became an object of the tourist gaze. This ‘Romanticism’ arose out of a belief that the simpler and unspoilt things in life were to be respected partly as a reaction to the increasing pace of industrialization. These views, which encompassed an opinion that ‘simple’ or ‘peasant’ ways of life were to be esteemed, were popularized by Rousseau in France and by Wordsworth and the Lake Poets in England. Travel therefore was still a semi-serious business of appreciation of the grandeur and picturesqueness of the natural landscape and waterscape and of the merits of pre-industrial communities.

Even though much early tourism may have had some fine sounding justification, it was associated with ‘pleasure’ and ‘play’. Travel, for instance, to spas (inland and coastal) occurred ostensibly for health reasons but the related spa facilities for entertainment, eating, drinking, and gambling may have been more appealing to tourists than were the rigours of spa treatment itself. Ultimately, at least in Britain, the health motives (or excuses) disappeared and the more pleasurable motives dominated (see also Chapter 5). Mid and late twentieth century ‘mass’ tourism has been characterized by such ‘pleasure’ rather than cultural motives.

Regardless of this, there has been a confidence in recent years that tourist interest in culture has re-emerged and strengthened. ‘Cultural tourism is one of the growth sectors of the West European tourism industry’ (Bywater, 1993). ‘In the twentieth century ever-increasing numbers of people are participating in arts and heritage based forms of cultural tourism’ (Zeppel and Hall, 1992: 49). There is a view that the mass tourism market for sun, sea and sand may have matured and there is a search by tourists for new experiences. It may be, of course, that the interest has never gone away and it is just that the spectacular growth of beach-related holidays has overshadowed a continuing presence of cultural tourism. The conclusion of the recent pioneering European-wide study undertaken by the European Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) was that there was little new about the convergence of culture and tourism and it was likely that recent cultural tourism in Europe had grown no faster than tourism in general (Richards, 1996). The influence of culture on the appeal of tourist destinations may appear to have become greater if only because culture has been increasingly used as an important marketing tool (Zeppel and Hall, 1992).

Unfortunately ‘very little is known about the cultural tourism market in Europe’ (Richards, 1999: 18) and there is little evidence that demonstrates clearly whether cultural tourism has been growing. The way in which statistics on tourism are recorded does not enable patterns in cultural tourism to be determined. The undoubted popularity of short breaks and city breaks does though provide some indirect evidence for believing that culture is an increasing focus for tourism (Gratton and Taylor, 1992).

For some tourist destinations, such as the UK, the main form of leisure tourism (for in-coming visitors) is cultural, particularly in the heritage sense (see Chapter 7). The particular strength of Canada as a tourist destination has been its scenery but ‘the Canadian Tourism Commission has identified cultural and heritage tourism as a critical area of development for Canada. If Canada is to remain competitive on the world tourism scene it must be able to meet the demand for cultural tourism’ (Canadian Tourism Commission, 1997b: 1).

  Greece has promoted itself, within a wider campaign, as ‘the longest running theatrical event’ where ‘musical shows, theatrical plays and other cultural events (are) featured each summer in the land that is the birthplace of the dramatic arts’ (1998). Despite the importance of beach-based holidays to the Mediterranean countries, culture remains a vital component of tourism for some.

  Poland, during 1999, promoted itself as the birthplace of Chopin and emphasized that it had been voted ‘best destination for culture’ by the readers of an upmarket Sunday newspaper. Eastern European countries have endeavoured to find ways of appealing to tourists from the west after the fall of communist governments and the opening up of frontiers from 1989 onwards.

  ‘Vienna salutes the king’: the Austrian capital has a particular reputation for heritage and culture and, during 1999, exploited the centenary of Johann Strauss, the ‘waltz king’ in a marketing campaign.

  Amsterdam: ‘there are so many cultural pursuits to enjoy in Amsterdam this winter’ (1999–2000). The city is well known for a liberal atmosphere and for alternative lifestyles but its marketing emphasizes its museums and ‘a rich tradition of classical music and opera’.

Nonetheless, relatively little is known about what holiday-makers do whilst on holiday and therefore whether their holidays are ‘cultural’ or not. Data collected by UK tourist boards, for instance, classify the tourist primarily by ‘purpose’ – holiday, business, visiting friends and relatives, etc – and not, until recently, by activity or type of trip (see Chapter 7).

Definitions

There are difficulties in defining ‘cultural tourism’ (see also discussion of culture, art and entertainment in Chapter 2). ‘The existing tourism literature has not yet settled upon a generally accepted single definition of the heritage and cultural tourism concepts’ (Alzua et al., 1998: 3). It therefore becomes difficult to discuss its size or growth or to explain why it occurs. The term ‘cultural tourism’ is used to cover several different (but related) activities:

1  ‘Universal’ cultural tourism. The word ‘culture’ itself has different meanings. In the widest sense it is ‘a complex of values, ideas, attitudes and other meaningful symbols’ which binds people into groups and imparts group character so that a distinct way of life results – a different culture such as German, English or Mexican (Williams, 1988). Most international tourism is ‘cultural’ in this sense because it usually involves some exposure to aspects of other cultures. Even those tourists who do not deliberately seek to experience other cultures will be exposed, to some degree, to the culture of destinations. It would be misleading though to classify it as cultural tourism as it does not have a deliberate ‘cultural’ purpose.

2  ‘Wide’ cultural tourism (see Figure 4.1). Some tourists will set out with the purpose of experiencing a different culture, in the widest possible sense, of a destination visited: the arts, crafts, work, religion, language, traditions, food and dress. Some of this takes the form of visits to societies that have not been affected by industrialization and western commercial values and which may represent a ‘vanishing life-style’. Walle (1998) uses the term cultural tourism to refer solely to the culture of ‘ethnic groups and hinterland peoples’ living usually in small-scale societies that are relatively untouched by western values. Aspects of this have also been described as ‘ethnic tourism’ (Smith, 1989).

3  ‘Narrow’ cultural tourism (see Figure 4.1). ‘Cultural tourism’ is most widely used however in a narrower sense of tourism which includes visits to experience the ‘artistic and intellectual activities’ of a society (Williams, 1988) rather than the whole different way of life of a society. Usually it refers only to those activities which are regarded as being in some sense ‘superior’ and are a reflection of the ‘best’ of worthy creativity (see discussion of culture, arts and entertainment in Chapter 2). It includes visits to:

(a)   historic buildings and sites (castles, churches, battle fields, etc.);

(b)   museums and art galleries;

(c)   theatre (to attend the performing arts).

This usage of the term cultural tourism is similar to that adopted in the ATLAS study.

A Canadian study defined cultural tourism to include the above and also visits to festivals and fairs, zoos and national parks and viewing wildlife or birds and attending aboriginal or native cultural events (McDougall, 1998). Aboriginal sites and cultural displays were also included in an Australian study (Foo and Rossetto, 1998).

4  ‘Sectorized’ cultural tourism. The components of cultural tourism identified above in 3 may be distinguished individually so that visits under (a) and (b) may be classed as historical or heritage tourism and visits under (c) as arts tourism though this is arbitrary and there will be elements of ‘history’ in (c) and of the arts in (a) and, in particular, in (b). A large proportion of the stock of art galleries will be of ‘old masters’.

Figure 4.1   Cultural tourism: variations of

This book adopts a ‘sectorized’ approach to cultural tourism with a focus on the performing arts alone.

The term ‘arts tourism’ has been used, confusingly, by Myerscough (1988) to cover museums and art galleries and theatre (b and c above). The terms ‘historical tourism’ (Smith, 1989) and ‘heritage tourism’ have been used to include visits to view modern paintings or sculptures. Prentice (1993) also uses the term ‘heritage tourism’ to include natural history attractions (including zoos) and the performing arts. Heritage tourism is used by Zeppel and Hall (1992) to include local cultural traditions and they include in arts tourism, ‘the visitor experience of paintings, sculpture … and all other creative forms of human expression and endeavour’ (Zeppel and Hall, 1992: 48). Gratton and Taylor (1992) use a time dimension to distinguish arts tourism (‘consumption of contemporary culture’) from heritage tourism (‘consumption of historical culture’) though this also is too simplistic.

There is thus considerable confusion and no agreement about terms. Anyone reading material relating to cultural tourism or to its components has to be aware of what exactly is being discussed. In addition to the above confusions about inclusions, the terms are applied regardless of motivation or interest (see below).

The studies also tend to focus on the arts and ignore entertainment (see Chapter 2). The focus is culture and not popular culture. Regardless of the fact that entertainment is conventionally distinguished as some form of ‘inferior’ activity, it is undoubtedly part of ‘popular culture’ in the sense of being the pursuit of many people. It is surprising given this and the apparent importance of entertainment and ‘popular pleasures’ in holidays both past and present (Urry, 1990 and see Chapters 5 and 7) that entertainment has been neglected. There is some recognition, however, in the ATLAS study that the scope of cultural tourism is widening to include entertainment (Richards, 1996).

Motivation and interest

The term ‘cultural tourism’ (however defined) is applied to tourists regardless of motivation or interest in culture (see Table 4.1). The same applies to heritage or historic or arts tourism and all who visit the relevant site or building are frequently classified under that heading. Arts-tourists were widely defined in the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) study of the economic importance of the arts as any who attended or visited any of the arts (widely defined), regardless of motivation (Myerscough, 1988). McDougall (1998) defined cultural tourism trips in Canada as any which included participation in any of the activities or visits to any of the sites specified. Similarly a cultural tourist to Australia was defined as ‘an inbound visitor who attends at least one of the … cultural attractions during his or her stay’ (Foo and Rossetto, 1998: 1). Alzua et al. (1998) focused on cultural tourists outbound from the UK and they were also distinguished as those who had participated in at least one of the specified cultural activities. This particular study did, though, go on to identify categories of cultural tourist on the basis of motivations (see later).

Table 4.1   Classifications of cultural tourists: a summary of some related studies

  Myerscough: any who visit a cultural attraction

  McDougall: any who visit a cultural attraction

  Foo and Rossetto: any who visit a cultural attraction + specific cultural visitors with culture as primary motivation

  Alzua et al.: any who visit a cultural attraction + different types of cultural tourist according to benefits sought

  ATLAS: any who visit a cultural attraction + specific cultural tourists with a focused cultural intent

  Prentice: any who visit a cultural or heritage attraction + some with sole or primary holiday activity

  PANYNJ: ‘arts-motivated’ if arts as ‘main reason’ for visit

  Silberberg: greatly motivated + motivated in part + adjunct + accidental

  Bywater: culturally-motivated + culturally-inspired + culturally-attracted

(see Chapters 6 and 7 for estimates of relative size of some classifications)

As a first step in clarifying the discussions the reasons for tourists being in, for instance, a theatre audience can be classified into two (see Figure 4.2).

1  arts-core: they have chosen to travel in order to see a performance;

2  arts-peripheral: they will be away from home for other reasons such as business, visiting relatives or wanting to enjoy heritage or sun and sea. They are at a performance as part of the stay away from home for another reason.

Figure 4.2   Segments of theatre audiences

In the first case (arts-core) the decision is equivalent to any decision to attend a performance but with an extra time and distance dimension included. Why would anyone do this?

  Although theatres and live performances are widespread, they are not found everywhere. Large towns and cities, in particular, usually have a high concentration of theatres and of the arts performed in them such as drama, comedy, plays, musicals, opera and ballet. These are resources that small towns and rural areas may not have and it will be necessary for the people who live there to travel.

  There will be people who do live in large towns and cities which are well-endowed with theatres and concert halls but certain productions or performers are not being presented in these. To see them, people will have to travel.

  Seeing productions away from home may occur because the standards are better or because the theatre itself is preferable or because there is an opportunity to do other things as well such as shopping and eating out. The decision here is less of a necessity than it is in the other two cases.

For the arts-peripheral audiences it is not the production that is the decisive factor in being away, it is other reasons such as wanting to enjoy sun and sea or business. The opportunity to see a performance in the theatre may be an important part of that time however, especially as part of a holiday experience. It will probably be secondary to the main ‘purpose’ of the trip but it would appear that many holiday-makers visit the theatre during their stay in the tourist destination (see Chapters 6 and 7).

There will obviously be a number of variations of these two simple cases (see next section).

A classification by interest and intent

The distinction between arts-core and arts-peripheral conceals a further distinction. Tourists may have varying degrees of interest and intent in the arts (see Figure 4.3). These will range from trips where the performing arts are the prime motivation and main activity through to trips where they are an incidental motivation and a secondary activity and no more than an entertaining holiday diversion.

Figure 4.3   Arts tourism: intent and interest

Arts-core tourists may be further classified as either:

  ‘primary’ arts-related tourists. Their main purpose in travelling to a destination is to see a performance and they will have made the decision to see it before arrival at the destination;

  ‘multi-primary’ where the arts are equally important with some other reason(s) for the visit.

Arts-peripheral tourists can be further classified as either:

  ‘incidental’ arts-related tourists will be people whose main reason for visiting a destination was something else and their theatre visit-decision was made before arrival at the destination. Interest in the show is a reason for the visit but is secondary to some other reason.

  ‘accidental’ arts-related tourists will have shown no interest in attending a theatre performance before arriving at the destination and the visit-decision is made after arrival. Theatre does not feature at all in the decision to visit the destination.

In addition to this differentiation by ‘intent’ tourists can be distinguished by ‘interest’. In some cases they are content to ‘see a show’ without preference and interest is non-specific. Others will have a distinct desire to see a particular production or performer and the interest is very specific.

The extent of the arts in arts-related tourism will vary from little in the lower left-hand sector of Figure 4.3 through to high in the upper right-hand sector. The arts-tourist by a strict definition is limited to the upper levels even though there may be a combination of all other tourists in an audience. This form of categorization applies to all of the variations of cultural tourism including theatres, museums, art galleries and historic houses.

Motivation is, however, featured in a few studies (see Table 4.1). In the ATLAS research project any tourist who visited a museum, art gallery or heritage site was classified as a ‘cultural tourist’ regardless of motivation but the report did acknowledge a distinction between ‘specific cultural tourists’ (those with a focused cultural intent to tourism) and other visitors to cultural sites (Richards, 1996). Prentice (1993) also acknowledged two broad types of ‘heritage tourists’: any who made a visit to a heritage site and those who visited as ‘their principal or sole holiday activity’ (p.51). Like Richards, he concluded that those visitors with a specific interest were in a minority. Demand for cultural tourism was segmented by Bywater (1993) into three, though the dimensions of each was not estimated: culturally-motivated, culturally-inspired and culturally-attracted. The first of these were those who chose a holiday on the basis of the cultural opportunities and was likely to be a very small proportion of the market.

A study of the arts in New York-New Jersey identified some out-of-region visitors surveyed at theatres and museums as ‘arts-motivated’. This was on the basis that they had indicated that the arts were the ‘main reason’ for the visit to the region (Port Authority of New York-New Jersey 1993) (see Chapter 6).

Alzua et al. (1998) classified tourists as ‘cultural’ on the basis of at least one visit to a cultural attraction. They did however further distinguish ‘types’ of cultural tourist and for two out of the five cultural tourist clusters identified, culture and educational benefits were particularly important when choosing a destination. It was concluded that cultural tourists were not a broad mass but a differentiated market with different needs and characteristics (see Chapter 7).

Silberberg (1995), in a study of museums, identified four categories of cultural tourist. The ‘greatly motivated’ were equivalent to the arts-core, primary tourist: they travel specifically to see a museum and were estimated at 15 per cent of out-of-province visitors (Ontario, Canada). There were also tourists whose cultural motives were as important as other reasons for visiting; these are motivated ‘in part’ and were 30 per cent of out-of-province visitors. Silberberg’s ‘adjunct’ tourists are equivalent to those with incidental intent above (20 per cent of visitors) and the ‘accidental’ are identical with the use of the term above (20 per cent of out-of-province visitors).

In a study of foreign visitors to Australia, specific cultural visitors were identified as those ‘whose primary motivation for travel to a cultural attraction is based on a specific desire to experience a particular aspect of Australian culture’ (Foo and Rossetto, 1998: 55). For ‘general cultural visitors’ culture is a secondary motivation (see Chapter 7).

It may not be justifiable, therefore, to categorize many of those who visit cultural attractions as ‘cultural-tourists’. It would appear that most visitors to cultural attractions are culture-peripheral and not culture-core. Nonetheless the blanket term ‘cultural tourism’ continues to be widely applied to less-specifically motivated visits and statistics require careful interpretation. It was noted in Chapter 1 that the term arts-related tourism would be used in this book. Arts-tourism is that which relates only to tourists with a primary intent and specific interests – the upper right-hand sectors of Figure 4.3

A final part of the framework for analysing tourists is to distinguish between those who are on holiday and those who are not (see Figure 4.4). It is evident from the previous discussion that this is a dimension that can be introduced to further classify people in audiences. Some arts-core persons could consider the trip to be a holiday and others would not. What is or is not a holiday is essentially a personal internal construct. In other, arts-peripheral cases, they could be holiday visits or business or visiting friends. ‘Holiday’ cuts across arts-core and arts-peripheral categories as the visit can be a holiday with a purpose of going to the theatre or a holiday with a main purpose of enjoying sun and sea.

Figure 4.4   Arts-related tourists: a classification framework

It is important to remember that non-holiday does not necessarily mean that the trip is a business one or for the purpose of visiting friends and relatives. It was seen in Chapter 3 that a holiday can be conceptualized as a non-instrumental trip and a non-holiday trip is instrumental. An arts core, non-holiday trip can therefore be one with a purpose of visiting the theatre and which is not considered by the tourist to be a holiday. It is likely that the longer the trip, especially to foreign countries, that this becomes considered as a holiday. This distinction, as noted in Chapter 3, does not coincide with tourist board data relating to ‘holidays’.

Tourists who attend or visit cultural events can therefore be categorized in a matrix of arts-core or arts-peripheral and holiday or non-holiday. The arts-core (primary intent) classification cuts across both holiday and non-holiday categories. Similarly there are arts-peripheral tourists in both holiday and non-holiday categories (see Figure 4.4).

Several non-local market segments can therefore be identified, in theory. In practice, there may be little justification for targeting each in a separate way. This would only be the case if the usual criteria for identifying and targeting market segments were present. Each segment would need to be large enough, stable enough and readily identifiable and reachable in a cost-effective way (see Chapters 5 and 6).

The characteristics of those who do participate in cultural activities as tourists is discussed in Chapters 6 and 7.

Special interest tourism?

The identification of the arts-tourist or cultural-tourist as a person with a specific intent is similar to the concept of the special interest tourist. These are tourists whose motivation and decision-making are primarily determined by a particular special interest (Hall and Weiler, 1992). Arts and heritage tourism are ‘an important component in the special interest tourism market’ (Zeppel and Hall, 1992: 62). In this particular form of tourism there is an implication that the visit is experiential. The tourist is in some way ‘committed to’ and involved with the object of the visit. It is this that makes it different from, for instance, mass tourism associated with sea and sun. The term is applied to a variety of tourist activities including sport-related and nature-based trips and visits to experience other societies and cultures. The involvement of the tourist will therefore take different forms. In the case of sport (e.g. yachting) the tourist may engage in the relevant physical activity but in the case of the arts this is less likely as he or she is a ‘spectator’ rather than a participant. The involvement lies in a stimulation of the senses, such as emotion and ‘escape’, rather than in physical participation. Activity and special interest holidays are more narrowly defined by Martin and Mason (1993) to include only trips that were carried out on an organized basis.

Special interest tourism is therefore defined, not so much by type of activity, but by interest, motivation and involvement. It is frequently observed that tourists are currently looking for rewarding, enriching, adventurous or learning experiences during their trip and ‘culture’ becomes a focus of some of their tourism (Craik, 1997). A ‘learning’ element is considered by Richards (1996) to be a distinguishing feature of cultural tourism. These apparent shifts in the requirements of a holiday are the outcome of many factors including broad changes in society.

Arts-related tourism: influences

The reasons for the apparent growth of culture-related tourism have been well-explored but usually relate to the culture-core rather than to culture-peripheral and to heritage rather than to the performing arts. Zeppel and Hall (1992), for instance, attribute the growth to ‘an increasing awareness of heritage, greater affluence, more leisure time, greater mobility, increased access to the arts and higher levels of education’ (p.50). Some factors such as increased incomes and leisure time are easily identified as explaining the growth but others are motivational and reflect wider cultural changes.

Some of the more obvious influences on the development of cultural and arts-related tourism include (see Figure 4.5):

  Income. Participation in culture-related tourism has required relatively high levels of discretionary income as it is expensive compared with package holidays (associated with sun and sea). The equivalent of the cheap package holiday has not existed to the same extent and, until recently, the availability of package holidays to cities and culture-related holidays has been limited. Assuming an interest in culture-related tourism exists, then as levels of discretionary income have increased since the mid twentieth century people have been ‘enabled’ to satisfy that interest and have contributed to the demand for such tourism.

Figure 4.5   Influences on growth of arts-related tourism

  Leisure time. Increases in leisure time (including holidays with pay) have provided the opportunity, in particular, for more holidays and for shorter additional holiday breaks. There is some argument about whether or not there has been a significant increase in leisure time (Gratton, 1996) but even a decrease in leisure time may lead to an increased demand for short breaks as the time may not exist for a longer holiday (Richards, 1996). Pressure on leisure time may actually lead people to go on more meaningful and satisfying holidays.

Main holidays may continue to be sun and sand oriented but on additional (often shorter) holidays, tourists may be looking for something different, which may, in turn, lie in more culture-related trips. Growth in the short break market may have particular relevance for culturally related tourism.

  Age. Another influencing factor associated with leisure time may be the large proportion of the population that is at post-retirement age and which, as well as having free time, has relatively high levels of discretionary income.

People in all older age groups (pre- and post-retirement) have an increasing tendency to have holidays especially short breaks and holidays with ‘added value’. They are less likely to have an interest in sun and sea holidays and more likely to have a greater interest in culture and heritage. People in the older age groups make more frequent visits to museums and theatres when at home than do younger people. The ATLAS study demonstrated that, in fact, the younger age groups accounted for a disproportionately large share of culture-related tourism.

  Access and interest. In the post-war period, there are far more people across the whole spectrum of society who have access to the arts and heritage. In part this has resulted from the introduction of compulsory education for all in many countries. In addition many governments have deliberately set out to encourage the widest possible access to the arts rather than allowing them to be the preserve of a limited sector of society. Awareness of and interest in culture has also been fostered by exposure through television programmes and magazines. Potentially therefore there could be considerable interest in arts-related and heritage tourism.

The opportunity therefore exists to take more holidays and to afford more expensive holidays and more people than ever before have been exposed to and understand the arts. In addition, however, there are a number of other underlying factors that explain the development of arts-related and heritage tourism.

Underlying influences

The interest in culture-related tourism is explained by the ‘maturity’ of tourism in the main tourist-generating countries (Richards, 1996). Tourism’s great growth period was associated with relatively cheap package holidays to the sun and sea but, possibly, a saturation point in this has been reached so that other forms are becoming important. The demands of tourists are changing and differ from those evident in the 1960s and 1970s and the growth of mass package tourism is slowing down. This may be due to:

  existing tourists tiring of the sea and sand holiday and looking for alternatives;

  a ‘new breed’ of holiday-makers who are less interested in such holidays.

Whichever it is, the explanation lies in the desire for more fulfilling holidays and again, the explanations tend to relate to culture-core rather than to culture-peripheral tourism and to heritage more so than to the performing arts. New tourism is characterized by more flexibility and segmentation in contrast to the mass standardized market of the mid and late twentieth century (Jansen-Verbeke, 1996). In post-industrial society, manufacturing is less important and service employment more so. The corresponding decline in mass production and assembly line employment may have resulted in a desire for more independent holidays and fewer ‘mass’ holidays. The market is more fragmented with niche markets appearing. Nonetheless mass tourism is still important and has not been displaced completely by other forms such as cultural. It is not breaking up completely into a large number of segments. Any explanations of a demand for the arts on holiday should recognize that the demand arises within both mass and niche tourism. It arises, for instance, as arts-peripheral demand within mass tourism and as arts-core within niche tourism. The growth in cultural tourism may be arising more from this arts-peripheral segment than from the arts-core (Richards, 1999).

It is noticeable that the influences on the holiday choice of holiday-makers on activity and special interest trips differ from the influences of those on other types of holiday trip (Martin and Mason, 1993). The former are more likely to refer to influences such as ‘being adventurous’, ‘expanding capabilities’ or ‘visiting new destinations’ whereas other holiday-makers refer to ‘security’, ‘resting’ and ‘relaxing’. Learning, enrichment and exploration are important in many holiday trips.

Behind this desire for ‘fulfilment’ on holiday and for holidays that are more than merely frivolous and hedonistic episodes in life lie many complex but related influences that go deeper than those identified above (see Figure 4.5). Since the mid twentieth century, people’s identities and roles have been less clear-cut than they used to be. Change characterizes much of life and the pace of that change far exceeds anything previously experienced in human history. What a person is and to what class or socio-economic group he or she belongs is less certain and is a complex matter. The defining characteristics of each have become less clear and movement between the categories has become more possible and frequent. Individuals are less able to relate to a clearly identifiable reference group and with that has come uncertainty and a greater need to establish identity.

At the same time there has been an increasing emphasis on consumerism and pressure to continually purchase goods and services. Corporations continually seek to grow, keep ahead of competitors and encourage consumers to purchase a stream of ‘new’ products in order to remain in business (Harvey, 1990). According to this view, corporations have encouraged rapid shifts in fashion in order to maintain their profit flow. The outcome is a society where difference, change, spectacle and fashion are acclaimed and substance minimized.

There is also increasing commodification, i.e. the shift from ‘free’ activities to purchased activities (Britton, 1991). This has been the case in many instances including leisure. Whereas at one time people might have engaged in leisure activities that required little expenditure (at its simplest, conversation) they now increasingly purchase, from the ‘culture and leisure industries’, leisure activities such as television, membership of health and sport clubs, expensive gardening or DIY equipment, going to night-clubs, etc. Tourism has always involved the commodifying of places: towns and cities have become places to sell to visitors and to be marketed in ways similar to those associated with consumer products. Tourism may also have been partly responsible for the commodification of history itself by making history a product to be sold as an experience in heritage centres and inter-active and ‘living’ museums in the ‘heritage industry’ (Hewison, 1987). This industry may give a view of history that is distorted and sanitized but the outcome has been an increased number of ‘attractions’ available for tourist consumption.

Arising from these features of modern society – change, commercialization and commodification – people seek meaning, novelty and identity, all of which contribute to the development of cultural and arts-related tourism:

  Meaning. The move towards cultural tourism can be explained by this increasing pace of change and the commercialization of societies. Many people may resent it and believe change to be un-nerving and commercialization to be false and superficial. They therefore search for stability and for ‘true meaning’ and ‘authenticity’ in some other way (Kneafsey, 1994). People go in search of more meaningful experiences which they may obtain from participation in or viewing of the arts. They also search for what has been lost and, in particular, the values and artifacts of earlier times which may be found through travelling away from home to museums or to experience different societies. A disillusionment with the present leads to a search for the reassurance of the past (Hewison, 1987). Consumers seek refuge from the complexities of the present in the comfort of the past.

  Novelty. For others, the post-industrial and consumerist society is one in which they are totally absorbed and from which they obtain great satisfaction. The whole process of change and of purchasing new and different consumer goods and services is fulfilling and there is a continuing search for ‘novelty’ and for experiences that give rise to a heightened sense of stimulation and excitement. In an increasingly technological and sophisticated world people are continually seeking ‘new out-of-the-ordinary experiences’. The seaside resort, at one time the only place for these, is no longer unique in that respect and such experiences are now characteristics of most places (Urry, 1990). This in itself may encourage people to move from the ‘old’ sun and sea holidays (at home or in foreign countries) to other types of holiday experience.

  Identity. In addition to the search for meaning or for novelty, the process of commercialization etc. may contribute in another way to the interest in the arts and tourism. People can make statements about themselves through their purchases as they are symbols that give, confirm and enhance identity. The use of goods and services is in many ways less important than their image and symbolism and it is these ‘signs’ that are being purchased (Baudrillard, 1983). The display of consumed goods and services demonstrates standing to others. Social status is determined by what people buy. As goods and services become more widely available, however, and bought by a greater proportion of the population, there is a constant striving to consume goods and services that no one else has and which are distinctive. There is a continuous search for new and unusual symbols that confer distinction through their consumption. The consumption of services (including leisure services, arts, heritage and holidays) is increasingly replacing consumption of goods as a means of social differentiation (Britton, 1991).

The process of conferring identity through consumption of the arts and heritage has been especially important for people working in the services generally and the middle or service classes (especially teachers and lecturers), and for people in occupations that are culturally-linked. These ‘cultural intermediaries’ in the media, the arts, design, marketing and heritage may have an approach to life that is characterized by ‘learning’ and by a concern for identity, style and new experiences (Featherstone, 1991). There has been a considerable growth in the numbers in service and culture-related occupations. For many, the consumption of cultural tourism is a means of differentiating themselves. As noted earlier in Chapter 2, the consumption of culture itself may be particularly associated with these service classes, especially with those who are well-educated. The increased numbers of people with access to cultural capital enhances the likelihood of participation in cultural tourism.

This has occurred alongside the reduction in the significance of the ‘working class’. The seaside holiday (especially at the British resorts) became a particular means of reinforcing their identity but with the blurring of social identities that has characterized the second half of the twentieth century there has been less need for the seaside holiday, at least in the same form.

Many of these factors may seem to have more relevance to tourism that is concerned with heritage or differing cultural life of destinations rather than with the performing arts. Listening to music and seeing plays can also, however, meet the needs for meaning, novelty and identity. In addition much of cultural tourism is heritage-led (see Chapter 7) but theatre and concert-going are associated with that. They are in joint demand. Short-break holiday-makers who are particularly interested in culture – museums, art galleries, historic houses – also place above average importance on evening entertainment in destination choice (MEW, 1994). Factors explaining cultural or heritage tourism will therefore also explain attendance at the arts.

Much of the explanation for cultural tourism lies in the search for ‘something different’ and specific to the destination visited, especially historic sites, museums and art galleries. The performing arts and entertainment, at least those seen by tourists, are often not unique to the destination nor different. Such visits should be, perhaps, regarded in a different way from visits to museums and historic sites, especially if they are not the main focus of the tourist visit. They may be more of a holiday diversion for people with other priorities such as a sun and beach holiday or a heritage-based holiday. In tourism, the interest in the arts may be more peripheral than is interest in heritage.

There are, nonetheless, tourist visits that are arts-led (arts-core) and there are tourist visits with no heritage content but which include a visit to the performing arts (see Chapters 6 and 7). There are a number of issues that will help explain attendance at the arts in particular.

Arts and tourism in combination

One of the defining characteristics of a holiday is ‘change’. For some, who do not often go to the theatre when at home, the change may take the form of seeing live entertainment. A holiday with an arts component does seem improbable however as the factors that restrict attendance at the theatre when at home are still present when on holiday (see Figure 4.6). Nonetheless one of the elements of change associated with holidays may be going to the theatre (see Chapter 7). The holiday may be regarded as an opportunity to get away from television, video and computer entertainment. It may be a case of experimenting or of seeing the theatre visit as part of the special atmosphere of being on holiday.

Figure 4.6   Arts and tourism in combination

Similarly people who go to the theatre when at home may not do so when on holiday, because of the desire for change (see Figure 4.6). Some may consider the need for change to be so great that the main holiday should not include ‘normal’ activities such as going to the theatre or concert hall. It will be on the additional holidays, which have less significance, that tourists are more likely to consume the arts.

For families with children, main holidays may be occasions when individual members of a family have little opportunity to develop their own particular special interests. Second holidays may provide that opportunity. The size and composition of other households may, however, be such that arts-related holidays are extremely attractive, e.g. single-person households, no-children households with double-incomes or where all have similar artistic interests or a common view about the role of a holiday.

Change may be the significant factor for those who do have an interest in the arts but are unable to visit the theatre because of limited opportunity or restricted leisure hours. A holiday may be the only occasion when they can visit the theatre and indulge their interest.

The basic forces explaining an interest in both tourism and culture consumption are, however, similar. If change is interpreted only as a break from routine, though, then consuming the arts on holiday as well as at home is likely (see Figure 4.6). The kind of activities in which many people engage when on holiday are often not too different from leisure pursuits when at home. On holiday ‘the mundane elements in the routine were discarded but the preferred discretionary elements … were retained’ (Crompton, 1979: 415).

Attending the performing arts whilst a tourist can be particularly fulfilling for some. The combination of culture and tourism in an arts-related holiday trip may be an effective way of demonstrating identity, differentiation and superiority (see Figure 4.6). Cultural capital differentiates classes and, as seen in Chapter 3, the act of going on holiday itself conveys certain meaning about the holiday-maker. Going on holiday is part of the identity-creation and identity-confirmation process. The form and type of holiday-taking reflects income and class and certain places and certain types of holiday have superior codings. The arts and tourism can be mutually supportive and reinforcing in that the needs satisfied by both in terms of fulfilment of identity creation, etc. may be similar. An arts-related tourist trip may therefore confer status and confirm belonging to a particular social group. Holidays where arts are a focus may give identity and status for those in non-service occupations. They may deliberately include ‘culture’ in their holidays in order ‘to impress’. The service classes have differentiated themselves from others by drawing on their cultural capital and adopting a ‘romantic’ tourist gaze. This is a more solitary and sustained relationship with the object of the gaze than that which characterizes the more widespread ‘collective’ or ‘spectatorial’ tourist gazes (Urry, 1990) associated with sun and sand package holidays. There is a search for ‘real’ holidays.

Supply

In addition to the demand for culture-related tourism, there has been a considerable increase in the opportunities for such tourism as the number and range of cultural facilities has increased. The number of museums and heritage centres in Europe has risen greatly since the 1970s (Richards, 1996). The rise in museum and heritage centre numbers has been due partly to increased interest and demand but the ‘cultural producers’ (the managers and owners) have also been under some pressure to survive without government assistance (see Chapter 2) and find new audiences. There has been a shift in emphasis by museums, in particular, away from being regarded primarily as centres of learning or conservators of history towards being regarded as leisure facilities. It is not evident, however, that the number of theatres and concert halls has increased in a similar manner to that of museums and heritage centres.

Undoubtedly many cities have set out to attract tourists through the cultural assets they possess (Bianchini and Parkinson, 1993). Some ‘cultural cities’ have attracted tourists for many years but older industrial cities have also, more recently, attempted to do this. The regeneration of such cities is a complex matter but part of the strategy has been to encourage tourism. Given the obvious absence of sun and sea and absence of long-standing tourist markers such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Coliseum in Rome they have utilized what heritage and arts facilities they do have – theatres, concert halls, event centres, museums, art galleries – as major elements of their tourism strategies. The development of policies towards cultural tourism have, in many ways, been supply-led with relatively little attention having been paid to the motivations of the tourist (Richards, 1999).

The interaction between demand and supply is always complex so that it is not simply a case of the increased supply having stimulated consumer interest or of the growth in demand having encouraged the development of events, festivals, theatres, museums and concert halls. The reality is that is has been an on-going interaction that has been the outcome of many influences.

Heritage versus the arts

It was suggested earlier that tourists’ interest in the performing arts is more likely to be peripheral than is interest in heritage. Within cultural tourism, the arts are likely to be less popular than is heritage, both in terms of numbers of people who participate and in terms of the ability to attract tourists (see Chapters 6 and 7). This can be explained by a number of factors:

  Interest in the past and the search for meaning, novelty and identity.

  Heritage adds to understanding and appreciation of the country or town visited. Getting to know a place better, for many people, means knowing more about its history rather than its plays or music.

  Many older buildings and sites have become closely identified with the places they are located and are signifiers of those places. They become ‘must-see sites’: Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament (London), Notre Dame and Versailles (Paris), the Coliseum and St Peter’s (Rome), Rialto Bridge and Doge’s Palace (Venice) the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building (New York), etc. The performing arts are less tangible and are unlikely to be signifiers in the same way and therefore are less likely to be must-see or must-do activities. Broadway and the West End have, though become ‘signifiers’ of New York and London.

  Heritage is usually specific to the place visited whereas performing arts often are not. Potentially, the same plays, musicals, etc. may be found anywhere.

  Theatre-going often involves more organization than visiting heritage. Theatre tickets usually have to be bought in advance and, once capacity is reached, tickets are not available. Museum and heritage site visits, however, can be more spontaneous, entry is usually cheaper (sometimes free) and even where not, it does not usually require pre-booking. It is relatively unusual for heritage sites to be ‘full’. There are not one-off performances per period of time that are either seen or missed and the timing is more flexible.

  In many productions in theatres there will be a language barrier for foreign tourists though less so for musicals (or music concerts, opera and ballet) or for North American tourists. There is less of a language barrier for heritage sites.

  Heritage sites are easier to enjoy in that there is more freedom to pursue own activities. Watching a production in a theatre is a more constrained activity. In addition different aspects of heritage are more likely to appeal to several members of a family.

  It is more difficult to market the arts to tourists than it is to market heritage as most heritage is stable and unchanging. The stability enables long-term marketing campaigns to be developed and tourists also know that the sites and buildings will be there during their visit. Arts performances change regularly and this makes it more difficult to integrate into long-term marketing. Arts production details are often not known or cannot be guaranteed far in advance.

Heritage and the arts are not, however, directly competing activities. For some visitors, heritage and the arts will both feature in the tourist visit. In addition, visits to heritage sites and museums and to the theatre may be non-competitive in that the arts may be regarded as supplements to the main purpose of the visit and as evening activities (see Chapter 7).