GoWest Heritage Week Music Festival 2015 Research Report

GoWest Heritage
Week Music
Festival 2015
Research Report
1
Contents
• Research objectives
• Introduction and background
• Research methodology
• Demographics
• Question summary
• Satisfaction ratings
• Additional insights
• Key take-outs
2
Research objectives
To explore the motivations and experiences of
the Go West Heritage Week Festival attendees
as well as the overall perception of the logistics
of the festival.
3
Introduction and background
The impact of events and festivals as a driver of local economic prosperity is one of the
most significant and fastest forms of tourism activity which is required to stimulate and
bolster local economies. Festivals and events that have been executed with great
success in the past have assisted in attracting people to regions that traditionally have
a seasonality in terms of tourist appeal. Moreover, these events present an opportunity
to reach new untapped markets that would otherwise not be attracted to a
particular region. As a whole, the additional exposure acts as an indirect form of
marketing for the region. Interestingly, it has been found that the scale of an event has
a direct relationship with the impact to a region as a result of the event. Thus, by
measuring economic impact, this not only allows public sector bodies to evaluate
economic return on investment, but it also demonstrates how events drive economic
benefits - allowing event organisers to develop practices which maximise these
benefits.
The study set out to address the nature of the Go West Festival, its attendees, their
motivations, behavioural patterns and potential tourism and economic impact on the
Westrand region. 300 Go West Festival attendees were interviewed after the event. The
interviews were conducted telephonically, when respondents had already
experienced the Festival. The findings from this study contribute to the limited academic
research on attendees at festivals in Gauteng and will be beneficial for festival
organising committees, sponsors, destination management organisation to determine
future strategies on gaining a larger market share of attendees at the festival.
4
Methodology
A 10 minute CATI Questionnaire was
administered to 300 respondents from
a contact list that was provided by
the Gauteng Tourism Authority.
7
Demographics: Who attended the festival?
•
58% Female attendance and a 42% Male
attendance.
•
63% of the attendants were within the 25-
34 age group.
•
98% of the attendants identified as black,
1.3% coloured and 0.3% white.
•
95% of these attendees reside in Gauteng
(similar to 2014).
8
Demographics: Who attended the festival?
Q5. What is your current income level per month?
25%
22%
20%
16%
16%
15%
10%
9%
6%
6%
5%
5%
5%
5%
2%
0%
R0 - R2999
R3000 R5999
R6 000 - R7 R8 000 - R9
999
999
R10 000 R12 999
R13 000 R16 999
R17 000 R19 999
9
R20 000 R29 999
4%
3%
R30 000 + Don_t know
Refuse
None
Demographics: Who attended the festival? Cont…
Q7. In which province do you reside?
Q7.1 Where do you currently live in Gauteng?
1% 1 %
74%
3%
21%
95%
Gauteng
North West
Free State
KwaZulu-Natal
West Rand
Johannesburg
2%
1%
1%
Ekurhuleni
Other Gauteng
Tshwane
Clearly the festival is experienced as a regional event with
strong geographic considerations. Even within the province of
Gauteng, regional preferences are observed
10
11
Travel and accommodation
Q8. Did you come to Gauteng specifically for this event?
70
Q8.2 Did you use paid accommodation?
50%
50%
89%
60
50
Yes
40
30
20
Open
No
High
Q8.1 Did you spend the night?
Low
Close
11%
44%
56%
10
Yes
0
2002-05-01
Yes
2002-06-01
No
2002-07-01
2002-08-01
No
Caution: Small
sample base
2002-09-01
12
Travel and accommodation cont…
Q10. How many people travelled with you to the Go West
Heritage Week festival?
Q9: How much did you spend on the following categories at the Go West
Heritage festival?
Column1
5
9+
Category
11%
4,5
4
7-8
7%
Average spend per
category
Petrol
R259
Accommodation
R746
Food and drink
R528
Tourism activities and
experiences
R338
Other (includes photos, tshirts, hats, glow in the dark
stickers, and taxi fare) No
R180
3,5
3
5-6
19%
2,5
3-4
43%
2
1,5
1-2
19%
1
0,5
0
1%
0
Yes
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Column1
13
Marginal increase in
spend compared to
2014
Tourism activities and attendance
Q11. Are you aware of other tourism activities and attractions in
the Gauteng area?
Q14. How many times have you attended this event before?
58%
5+
42%
2%
3-4
Yes
27%
No
Q12. Did you partake in any other tourism experience in Gauteng
during your trip?
1-2
Other tourist
activities
included visiting
the Cradle of
humankind
40%
82%
0
30%
18%
0%
Yes
No
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
70% of respondents
attended previously,
compared to almost
50% in 2014
Influence to attend the event
Q15. What influenced you the most to attend this event?
Media influences
Social media
30%
Television
16%
Radio
12%
Internet
7%
Billboard
6%
Newspaper
2%
Pamphlet/flyers
1%
Note: Was multi-mention in 2014
15
14
Satisfaction with the event
Q16. On a scale from 0-10, How satisfied were you with the event information provided?
48%
Extremely Satisfied
9-10
39%
13%
Not Satisfied
0-6
Satisfied
7- 8
Q17. How satisfied were you with the Go West Heritage Week Festival?
62%
27%
11%
Extremely Satisfied
9-10
62
62%%top
topbox
boxVs.40%
Vs.40%inin
2014
2014 (note,
(note,different
different
scales)
scales)
Not Satisfied
Satisfied
0-6
7- 8
Q19. How likely are you to attend the Go West Heritage Week Festival in the future?
19%
73%
Extremely likely
9-10
8%
92
92%%indicated
indicatedlikely
likely
totoattend
attendagain
againVs.
Vs.
98
98%%inin2014
2014
Extremely unlikely
0- 6
Likely
7- 8
Q21. How likely are you to recommend the Go West Heritage Week Festival to your family and friends?
73%
Extremely likely
9-10
20%
Likely
7-8
7%
Not at all likely
0-6
Note: Different scales from 2014
17
Satisfaction with the event and developments
Q23. To what extent does the performance line up influence your decision to attend the event?
65%
Extremely likely
9-10
26%
8%
91% top box Vs. 93%
in 2014 (note,
different scales)
Not at all likely
0- 6
Likely
7- 8
Q24. Do you think that ticket price for the Go West Heritage Week Festival is fair for the experience?
57%
Extremely
reasonable
9-10
23%
Reasonable
7- 8
20%
Extremely
unreasonable
0- 6
57% top box Vs.44% in
2014 (note, different
scales)
Q22. Do you think that the event can be developed into a major Provincial or National event
3%
YES
97%
NO
18
19
Improvements and developments for the event
Q18. What would you improve or change?
Top areas of improvement for the festival
The artist line up and music genres should be reconsidered
The actual organisation of the event was not up to scratch
Sanitation and/or toilets needs to be improved
Security should be bolstered
The actual venue needs to be re-evaluated
Artists needs to arrive on time or performances need to start
on time
There should be more local community involvement
20
Other festivals/events attended by these respondents
Q20. What Other events/festivals have you attended within and outside Gauteng in the past year?
The main events/festivals that respondents had
attended
Macufe festival
Moretele festival
Spring fiesta at the Vaal
Cape Town Jazz festival
Soweto Jazz festival
DJ National annual bash
OppiKoppi
Durban Jazz festival or the Durban July
60’s music festival
21
Additional feedback
Q25. Are there any other comments regarding the events you would like to share with us?
Main themes regarding additional comments for the event
The event was highly enjoyable
Venue access and the parking need to be improved
There needs to be better security at this event
The actual venue needs to accommodate colder weather
There need to be more toilets
Lighting needs to be improved
Need to improve the food/catering offering
Time management needs to be improved
Need to improve on the artist line up and DJ line up
22
Take-outs
The key take-out from the research is that despite a change in methodology and research
approach from 2014, there are high level of consistency in the results, indicating a congruence in
festival goers’ experiences.
The attendees are generally from Gauteng and the West Rand, indicating the regional nature of the
event and local marketing of the festival. In contrast 97% of respondents thought that the event can
be developed into a major provincial or national event, widening the scope for marketing and
celebrating the event on a larger scale.
Satisfaction with the event was exceptionally high with 2 out of 3 respondents extremely satisfied
with the event and 3 out of 4 promoting the festival via word of mouth (even months after the
event).
Intended repeat attendance of the event is at 92% and is comparable to the previous results despite
changes in the way the question was phrased. The high loyalty indicator coupled with the good
satisfaction levels suggest that there is strong potential to expand the event beyond its current
scope with the general public support that exists. This should however be coupled with wider
communications to ensure that awareness of the event is sufficiently wide-spread, possibly testing
awareness pre-event in the general population.
Also, from an awareness perspective social media (30%) was the most influential source of
information for the event, a shift from 2014 and possible indication of a growing trend towards
electronic communication. Could this possibly be a reflection of the social nature of the event?
23
Take-outs
START
• Ensuring sanitation facilities
are sufficient
• Beef up security, especially
in the parking areas and
atfemale ablutions
• Providing adequate traffic
flow in the parking areas,
prior and after the event
Continue
STOP
• Not meeting the event
schedules
• Deviating from the lineup promises
• Providing food stalls
that are not
acceptable and use
local producers / sellers
• Providing relevant entertainment to the festival-goers
in terms of the genres of music
• Effort-free experiences at the festival
• Selling tickets at relevant price-points
Wishes from respondents: Have the event more frequently and larger
scale
24
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