Hall Mark Event: The Notting Hill Carnival - Case Study Example

Hall Mark Event: The Notting Hill Carnival Introduction Event management can be seen as one of the strategies that can be used to market destinations. Marketing of events can reinforce, repackage or reimagine the destination where the events take place. Against this backdrop, this paper evaluates the annual Notting Hill Carnival as a significant event and assesses how the event reinforces the area of Notting Hill in London. Background to the event The Notting Hill Carnival is regarded as Europe’s largest street festival, which involves a celebration of the music as well as popular arts of a multiplicity of cultures (Carver, 2000: 34). The festival, which is essentially based on West Indian (particularly Trinidadian) tradition, is held over August Bank Holiday weekend. Sunday is committed to children’s carnival while the carnival proper is held on Monday. During the event, over one million people congregate in what is arguably a very small area in London (Carver, 2000: 35). In the past, the Notting Hill Carnival sometimes culminated in violence between the carnival goers and the police, and was thus broadly regarded both threatening and insignificant. However, in recent times, the magnitude, success and high media coverage of the carnival have handed it an admirable image (Carver, 2000: 34). The Notting Hill Carnival has thus won sponsorship from a number of commercial concerns, and has become one of the significant ways to market the Notting Hill area (Carver, 2000: 34). According to Raj and Musgrave (2009: 64), the Notting Hill Carnival has become a major component of the culture industry, and it accounts for the better percentage of economic growth for both local and national music as well as design artists. How the Notting Hill Carnival reinforces the Notting Hill area/London The Notting Hill Carnival reinforces Notting Hill in the sense that it is used for destination branding (Bowdin, 2010: 125). The carnival is firmly established as a major festival in the UK and Europe, thus attracting a lot of attention to Notting Hill when it is held every year. The event also encourages identity creation (Bowdin, 2010: 125) since Notting Hill has come to be well known as a region that is associated with the carnival. The idea behind reinforcing a destination is that the event markets the destination’s status due to the activities that are undertaken during the event and the services or products that are offered (Bowdin, 2010: 125 - 126). According to Tassiopoulos (2005: 3), if managed and coordinate efficiently, a well-designed event strategy has the prospect to deliver a number of benefits and achieve various objectives for a destination. First is that doing so offers a means by which to reinforce the destination’s benefits and attributes and thus generate a favourable image for the destination as a major tourist attraction. Second, effective management and coordination of an event establishes a destination as a major tourist attraction by attracting high value visitors, particularly repeat visitors. Third, effective event management enhances a destination’s competitive position within a country and places it on a global tourist map. The fourth point is well coordinated events reinforce a destination by generating an increased rate of tourist growth for the destination and fifth is that the event truly brings a destination to life by showcasing its brand personality and instilling confidence and pride in its local community (Tassiopoulos, 2005: 3). This is clearly true for the Notting Hill Carnival as in the past it was largely ignored as an event involving violence, but in recent times its has become a major crowd puller in the United Kingdom and Europe at large. The sixth point is that well managed events lead to maximal use of and collection of revenue from existing facilities (Tassiopoulos, 2005: 3) largely because the event is able to attract many attendees. The other benefits of well managed events stem from increased media coverage (as is the case for the Notting Hill Carnival), which makes the destination to be marketed beyond the normal communication reach; increased organisational marketing and bidding capacity of the community involved; and a general increase in community support for such events - which leads to better reception for visitors (Tassiopoulos, 2005: 3). The above benefits are clearly evident in the case of the Notting Hill Carnival. Generally, carnivals are one of the major sources of employment for the people involved in design work and the artists who perform all year round (Raj & Musgrave, 2009: 64). Specifically, the Notting Hill Carnival has created thousands of jobs for people in several industries including arts, clothing, hotels and catering, car rental, marketing and advertising, tour operations, and transportation (Raj & Musgrave, 2009: 64). For many communities, holding an event like the Notting Hill Carnival is a way of marketing its assets, to attract visitors from diverse regions, and to build the community spirit. However, the capacity of an event to achieve these objectives can only be attained if the event that is held is unique and of high quality, and is well managed as discussed above. The event should also be well marketed including by way of extensive media coverage, be in an appropriate location, and of good reputation. Over the years, the Notting Hill Carnival has attracted numerous sponsorships from trusted brands, making it appear like a very special event. For instance, between 1995 and 1997, it was sponsored by Lilt, a fizzy soft drink manufactured by Coca-Cola (Carver, 2000: 34). In 1998, the carnival was supported by Virgin Atlantic after initial plans by Nestle to sponsor the event were withdrawn, and in 1999 it was sponsored by Western Union (Carver, 2000: 34). This association of the carnival with major global brands indubitably portrayed the event as valuable and reinforced Notting Hill and London in general as a destination to visit every August. The fact that the Notting Hill Carnival has enhanced the position of the arguably small region in London can be supported by looking at various developments associated with the event. According to Raj and Musgrave (2009: 64), the carnival has created a notable economic impact on the local region since the late 1980s. In 2004, the Greater London Authority (GLA) reported that the Notting Hill Carnival was a critical resource to the growth of local businesses and the local community. The GLA noted that by 2004, the carnival had contributed £93 million to London’s economy, and provided 3000 full-time jobs (Raj & Musgrave, 2009: 64). Additionally, it was reported that 1.2 million people attended the festival over three days, spending £45 million. Further, the GLA indicated that individuals and firms involved in the carnival realised a financial boost of £50 million during the period of three days (Raj & Musgrave, 2009: 64). The benefits of the Notting Hill Carnival to the Notting Hill area and the greater London city are well discussed by Smith (2003: 150). Smith argues that the festival has become London’s most outstanding cultural festival and a showpiece for the vivacity and diversity of the city. According to Smith (2003: 150), the Notting Hill Carnival is an embodiment of the international character of London as a truly global city. This is because the carnival, which is London’s most popular street festival, is inspired by the traditions of the African Caribbean society and enjoyed not only by Londoners but by tourists of all conceivable ethnic origins across the world (Smith, 2003: 150). It is therefore worth saying that by holding the Notting Hill Carnival, London markets itself as a region that embraces cultural diversity; and the festival reinforces both London and Notting Hill as areas to visit not only to attend the carnival but also to enjoy many other products services offered in the greater city of London. Another hall mark of the Notting Hill Carnival is the fact that like all other important events, it gives greater economic sustainability to the host city and raises the city’s profile by increasing opportunities for employment, trade, as well as business development (Raj & Musgrave, 2009: 64). Conclusion In summary, the Notting Hill Carnival is hall mark annual event in London which depicts how an event can reinforce a destination. The carnival markets London and the smaller Notting Hill region as places that embrace cultural diversity. The fact that the carnival nowadays receives positive coverage unlike the situation in the past when it was associated with violence is also an indicator that Notting Hill and London in general can host festivals successfully and peacefully. Importantly, the event has been associated with major global brands, which gives it a global image and promotes London as a major tourist attraction. Further, the importance of the festival to London is emphasised by its contribution to creating employment, increasing community participation and the recent form of wider media coverage. The presence of the Notting Hill Carnival in the midst of media coverage means that more and more tourists will continue to visit London every year for the festival and also get to view the city’s other attractions. This can largely be attributed to the role played by the carnival in reinforcing London as a destination. References Bowdin, G 2010, Events Management 3rd edn, Routledge, New York. Carver, G 2000, ‘The effervescent carnival: performance, context, and mediation at Notting Hill’, in New Theatre Quarterly 61: Volume 16, Part , Barker, C & Trussler, S, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 34-47. Raj, R & Musgrave, J 2009, Event Management and Sustainability, CABI, London. Smith, M K 2003, Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies, Routledge, New York. Tassiopoulos D 2005, Event Management: A Professional and Developmental Approach, 2nd edn, Juta and Company Ltd, London. Read More