Events as a factor shaping
the image of a tourist city
Dr. Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska
MSc Michał Kwiatkowski
Dr. Jadwiga Biegańska
Dr. Eng. Krzysztof Rogatka
Dr. Stefania Środa-Murawska
Dr. Justyna Chodkowska-Miszczuk,
Department of Urban Studies and Regional Development
Faculty of Earth Sciences
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
The plan of the presentation
1. The aim of the study,
2. Cultural tourism as a city product,
3. Materials and methods,
4. Conclusion.
The aim of this paper is to analyze events regarded as elements of the
urban image connected with cultural tourism. The study established
the spatial resonance of the events, demonstrated by the permanent
addresses of the tourists who declared that they had heard of
particular events.
The aim of the study
To understand well the essence of event tourism and to appreciate its role more
fully, one must include in the considerations also its close connections to other
kinds of tourism, particularly to cultural tourism and city tourism. As event tourism
is also called the tourism of cultural events and happenings, it is understandable
that event tourism is combined with cultural tourism. To be more precise, event
tourism derives from cultural tourism (Ratkowska, 2010), while the event itself is a
product, a result of cultural tourism understood as experiencing cultural
phenomena, getting to know something new or original, participation in the
broadly understood culture (active participation in cultural events, trips to places of
historical and cultural value connected with sightseeing buildings and other
architectural objects)
Cultural tourism
As mentioned above, the influence of events can be analyzed in several
aspects, yet they are particularly significant in the context of tourism
development. For the research purposes it was assumed that events
play a very significant role, not only as a factor attracting potential
participants, but also as a help in promoting the city, particularly with a
view to the increasing significance of urban tourism, where cultural
offer plays an important role. This issue was analyzed on the basis of
the city of Toruń
Materials and methods
Toruń is a city located in Northern Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Voivodesship. Its population is 202,591. The population density is 1.747
people/km², while the city area equals 116 km². It’s a seat of the local
goverment, Nicolaus Copernicus University and cultural institutions.
Toruń with Bydgoszcz (neighbour city) creates a twin city metropolis
area. Furthermore, Toruń is considered to be one of the best preserved
and richest in monuments medieval towns in Poland, which has an
interesting and varied cultural offer. Toruń on 4 December 1997 was
put on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Object of analysis
Source: Izabela Frej, Paweł Smoliński
Philadelphia
Boulevard
Source: Izabela Frej, Paweł Smoliński
Old Town’s
streets
Source: Izabela Frej, Paweł Smoliński
„Baj Pomorski” Theatre
Cultural – Congress Center
„Jordanki”
Source: Izabela Frej, Paweł Smoliński
As it was mentioned, Toruń is considered to be one of the best
preserved and richest in monuments medieval towns in Poland, which
has an interesting and varied cultural offer. . It is also the city which
bases its tourism economy and image on rich cultural and tourist offer,
which also includes events on more than local scale.
City’s economy
The questionnaire survey was conducted using the PAPI (Paper and
Pencil Interview) technique among the people visiting Toruń in June
2016, on a group of 250 tourists with non-random selection scheme
used. Among the questioned people women were the dominant
element (56% women to 44% men). The age brackets for this group
were determined as 16 to 74 years, and the most numerous group
were responders aged 20-35 years.
Method of a study
Results
Voivodeships
Event a b c d e f g h i j k l
Gingerbread Day 41,4 12,5 10,9 8,6 7,8 5,5 4,7 3,9 2,3 1,6 0,8 0,0
International Film Festival Tofifest 43,5 9,8 9,8 10,9 7,6 4,3 3,3 6,5 2,2 1,1 0,0 1,1
Santa Claus Run 48,1 10,4 13,0 7,8 11,7 1,3 1,3 2,6 2,6 1,3 0,0 0,0
Bella Skyway Festival 48,6 9,3 11,2 10,3 2,8 4,7 2,8 7,5 2,8 0,0 0,0 0,0
Festival of Science and Art 48,9 12,0 8,3 9,8 3,8 3,8 2,3 5,3 2,3 2,3 0,8 0,8
Probaltica Festival 49,1 17,0 15,1 3,8 0,0 0,0 1,9 3,8 3,8 3,8 0,0 1,9
Juwenalia Student Festival at NCU 49,5 13,6 9,2 8,7 4,9 4,3 3,3 4,3 1,6 0,5 0,0 0,0
Theatre Festival Kontakt 50,0 9,6 15,4 5,8 3,8 3,8 1,9 7,7 1,9 0,0 0,0 0,0
Od Nowa Jazz Festival 52,1 13,7 11,0 9,6 1,4 0,0 1,4 2,7 4,1 4,1 0,0 0,0
Alternative Theatre Meetings Klamra 56,0 18,0 10,0 2,0 0,0 0,0 2,0 2,0 4,0 6,0 0,0 0,0
Toruń Book Festival 56,7 10,0 13,3 8,3 3,3 0,0 3,3 1,7 3,3 0,0 0,0 0,0
Festivals organized by theatres (Horzycy or Baj Pomorski) 58,0 8,0 10,0 10,0 4,0 0,0 2,0 4,0 2,0 2,0 0,0 0,0
May Day in the Old Town 59,0 8,4 8,4 9,6 2,4 0,0 1,2 1,2 4,8 4,8 0,0 0,0
Toruń Blues Meeting Festival 60,0 6,7 11,7 6,7 1,7 1,7 1,7 3,3 5,0 0,0 0,0 1,7
Permanent residence of tourists able to identify the specific events
Explanation: voivodeships: a) Kujawsko-Pomorskie, b) Warmińsko-Mazurskie, c) Mazowieckie, d) Wielkopolskie, e)
pomorskie, f) Małopolskie, g) Zachodniopomorskie, h) Łódzkie, i) Dolnośląskie, j) Podlaskie, k) śląskie, l) Opolskie
Source: own elaboration on the basis of questionnaire survey
Santa Claus Run, Toruń 2016r.
Source: Izabela Frej, Paweł Smoliński
Bella Skyway Festiwal
Source: Izabela Frej, Paweł Smoliński
Tab. 2: Evaluation of the features of the studied events
Event Event features
Total
a b c d e
Gingerbread Day 3 3 3 3 2 14
International Film Festival Tofifest 3 2 1 1 3 10
Santa Claus Run 2 3 1 3 2 11
Bella Skyway Festival 2 3 1 3 2 11
Festival of Science and Art 2 2 2 2 1 9
Probaltica Festival 3 1 1 1 3 9
Juwenalia Student Festival at NCU 3 1 1 2 1 8
Theatre Festival Kontakt 3 1 1 1 2 8
Od Nowa Jazz Festival 2 1 1 1 2 7
Alternative Theatre Meetings Klamra 3 1 1 1 2 8
Toruń Book Festival 3 1 1 1 1 7
Festivals organized by theatres
(Horzycy or Baj Pomorski) 3 1 1 1 2 8
May Day in the Old Town 1 1 1 3 1 7
Toruń Blues Meeting Festival 3 1 1 1 2 8
Explanation: a) cyclicity (1-new, 2 - average, 3- well-founded); b) uniqueness (1 - low, 2 - average, 3 – high); c) cohesion with the image of the place (1 - low, 2 average,
3 – high); d) mass availability (1 – narrow, 2 – average, 3 – broad); e) spatial dimension or star recognition level (1-local, 2-national, 3-international)
Source: own elaboration on the basis of questionnaire survey
Fig. 1: Permanent residence of tourists recognizing the following events: A – Gingerbread Day, B – Tofifest,
C – Santa Claus Run, D – Skyway
>20.0
10.1-20.0
0.1-10.0
0,0
Fig. 1. Permanent residence of tourists recognizing the following events: A – Gingerbread Day, B –
Tofifest, C – Santa Claus Run, D –Bella Skyway
Explanation: administrative regions of the 1st order: 1 – Zachodniopomorskie; 2 – Pomorskie; 3 – Warmińsko-Mazurskie; 4 – Podlaskie; 5 – Kujawsko-Pomorskie; 6 – Lubuskie; 7 – Wielkopolskie;
8 – Mazowieckie; 9 – Łódzkie; 10 – Lubelskie; 11 – Dolnośląskie; 12 – Opolskie; 13 – Śląskie; 14 – Świętokrzyskie; 15 – Małopolskie; 16 - Podkarpackie
Source: own elaboration on the basis of questionnaire survey
Conclusions
• To achieve the optimum marketing effect, it should be ensured that
the given event is unique, cyclically repeated and available to a large
population,
• It is also important that the events should match the promoted image
of the town well,
• As it was pointed out in the introduction, events can fulfill various
roles, yet with a view to tourism development in the city, it is
important to create an offer with the described features, which will
thus facilitate improved promotion of the city.
Thank you for your attention
Dr. Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska
MSc Michał Kwiatkowski
Dr. Jadwiga Biegańska
Dr. Eng. Krzysztof Rogatka
Dr. Stefania Środa-Murawska
Dr. Justyna Chodkowska-Miszczuk,
Department of Urban Studies and Regional Development
Faculty of Earth Sciences
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń