The Festival Internacional Cervantino is one of the leading art and culture related
events in Latin America, celebrated every year in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. The
objective of the present research is to analyze the impact of this event in number and
profile of visitors, as well as how its celebration affects anthropologically the
symbolic perception of the city for both locals and visitors. This research is part of the
ATLAS Events Monitoring Project – Comparing Event Experiences, where experts
from ten countries are developing a common methodology to produce a comparative
analysis in major events worldwide. In all cases, the Events Experience Survey (EES)
is being applied. It consists of a 18-item scale, comprised of 4 dimensions: affective
engagement, cognitive engagement, physical engagement and experiencing newness.
In this case, 230 surveys that incorporated EES were applied on 7-25 October 2015,
coinciding with the celebration of the 43rd edition of the Festival Internacional
Cervatino. In the case of Guanajuato, the survey has been compared to official data
from the festival and completed with interviews to civil officers related to tourism
management, documentary sources and direct observation. Conclusions show a gap in
how the event is perceived among residents and tourists, which ultimately highlights
an overconcentration of activities and an increasing difficulty in granting high quality
public services during the celebration of the event. Application of EES has proved
successful in terms of offering information that is not reflected in official data and
contrasting them. The Festival Internacional Cervantino is one of the largest cultural
events in Latin America in number of visitors and media coverage. However, it is also
perceived as a meeting point for young people mostly interested in leisure activities.
Application of EES reinforces this idea.
Real Time Impact Factor:
Pending
Author Name: Daniel Barrera-Fernández, Marco Hernández-Escampa & Leticia Arista Castillo
URL: View PDF
Keywords: city branding, culture, events, tourist profile, urban planning
ISSN:
EISSN: 2241-8148
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