248 PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW

Small Tropical Islands: The Importance of Being Small, H. M. Hintjens and

M. D. D. Newitt, eds., pp. 18±28. Exeter: University of Exeter Press.
Richardson, B. C.
1992 The Caribbean in the Wider World, 1492±1992. New York: Cambridge
University Press.

Submitted 26 May 1999. Resubmitted 25 August 1999. Accepted 17 December 1999.

PII: S0160-7383(00)00009-8

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 248±250, 2001

Printed in Great Britain
0160-7383/00/$20.00

Festival and Special Event Management

By Ian McDonnell, Johnny Allen and William O'Toole. Wiley (33 Park
Road, Milton, Qld 4064, Australia) 1999, xii+300 pp (®gures, tables, refer-
ences, index) $50.00 Pbk. ISBN 0-471-33934-2

Philip Feifan Xie

University of Waterloo, Canada

Festival and Special Event Management is described as ``the ®rst Australian

textbook to provide [for] students, and anyone involved in event pro-
duction'' (back cover). The book focuses on the aspects of event manage-
ment in the Australian context and is amply illustrated with Australian
case studies. With the Sydney Olympics marking the new millennium, the
timing of the book is opportune.
The book's 12 chapters are grouped into four parts. Part one introduces
event creation and development; part two addresses event marketing and
management, part three examines event administration; and part four
details event coordination. The objective of the organization is to provide
``the reader with both a tool for greater understanding of events manage-
ment and a framework for planning and implementing events'' (p. v).
The three chapters in part one examine the evolution of events and the
events culture in contemporary Australia. The authors suggest the ®rst
``event'' in Australia was probably a bush party to celebrate the coming
ashore of women convicts in 1788. Since then, festivals and events became
part of the cultural landscape connected again to people's needs and lives.
The term ``special events'' has been coined to describe ``speci®c rituals,
presentations, performances or celebrations that are consciously planned
and created to mark special occasions or to achieve particular social, cul-
tural or corporate goals and objectives'' (p. 10). From mega-events, such
as Olympic Games and World's Fairs, to local venues, it seems at times
that special events are everywhere. Two driving forces in modern Australia
are multi-culturalism and a ``new age'' movement that offer fertile ground
for the development of festivals and events. For example, the Sydney Gay
and Lesbian Mardi Gras evolved from a street march to protest against
 PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW 249

discrimination in 1978 to now one of the biggest events in the Southern

Hemisphere.
A range of impacts on the host communities and stakeholders are
identi®ed and discussed. In terms of economic impacts, festivals, and
special events have long been regarded as an impetus for economic
development and job creation. In particular, event tourism can level
off seasonal variations so that ``additional economic bene®t is derived
when visitors use what would otherwise be under-utilized tourism in-
frastructure'' (p. 29). As to physical and environmental impacts, they
are brie¯y discussed yet lack in-depth analysis. In particular, the re-
lationships between the environment and the Sydney Olympic Games
appear to be super®cial. Given that the Olympic bid included a set of
environmental guidelines to showcase the ``transition to an ecologically
sustainable city'' (Chernushenko 1994: 4), the environmental impacts
of festivals and events merit greater attention.
Part two emphasizes the importance of planning and marketing in the
success of an event. A number of generic strategies adopted by festival and
event managers are summarized. The authors argue that effective plan-
ning depends on the measurable objectives. ``[I]f the outcomes of an event
are not measurable, then there is no way that management or team suc-
cess can be judged'' (p. 75). The authors assert that human resources and
leadership are an essential if management is to achieve ``a customer-
focused festival'' (p. 83). Concepts relevant to the motivation of volunteers
are introduced to help managers set up an effective team. The skills of
recruiting staff are also detailed. The chapter on marketing of events
describes how the marketing concept can be nicely applied to festival and
special events. Even though these principles of marketing theories are
stereotyped, the authors illustrate them with Australian examples.
Part three examines sponsorship and other sources of funds, and pro-
vides guidance on budgeting and ®nancial control mechanisms. The
authors point out that sponsorship has nothing to do with philanthropy
but, rather, is a promotional technique. A variety of business skills are
addressed to attract and work with sponsors. The chapter also covers gen-
eral administrative issues such as contract negotiations, taxation, insur-
ance, and copyright control. The authors provide sample forms for use in
sponsorship and partnership management. Another topic considered is risk
management. Special events are particularly susceptible to risks, and the
authors offer an overview of techniques to identify, evaluate, and control
risk exposure.
The ®nal part introduces logistics management, stage management, and
evaluation. The former is de®ned as ``the planning, implementing and con-
trol of the ¯ow and storage of products and their related information from
production to the point of consumption'' (p. 210). Event logistics are both
daunting and crucial. They include identifying customer ¯ows to and
onsite; parking; the acquisition, storage, and distribution of supplies; and
development of information networks. Event logistics, the authors observe,
have ``more in common with military logistics than modern business logis-
tics'' (p. 211). The chapter provides a step-by-step guide for dealing with
choice of venue, staging, power management, lighting, sound systems, and
so on. Finally, it is stressed that evaluation must be done throughout the
event management cycle to identify and correct problems.
The book is a practical, reader-friendly introduction to event manage-
ment. Each chapter provides learning objectives, detailed content, a sum-
mary, questions, and a case study. One of the few weaknesses in the book,
besides the limited coverage of environmental impacts, is a lack of atten-
250 PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW

tion to attendance forecasting. Because this is the most important element

in the planning for a special event and in assessing its economic and ®nan-
cial success, attendance forecasts are a basic building block for all planning
(Mules and McDonald 1994). The authors recognize the needs to forecast
probable demand for an event in the learning objectives; however, not a
single forecasting model is discussed. Some speci®c models, such as pen-
etration rate models originating from gravity modeling, which play an im-
portant role in event planning, are ignored.
Festival and Event Management provides good value for students and
instructors involved in the ®eld. As the preface notes, event management
is a creative process. Although the focus of the book is on Australia, it
should serve to stimulate greater interest in other nations in this young
and exciting industry.&

Philip Feifan Xie: School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario,

Canada N2L 3G1. Email < fxie@fes.uwaterloo.ca >.

REFERENCES
Chernushenko, D.
1994 Greening our Games: Running Sport Events and Facilities that Won't
Cause the Earth. Ottawa: Centurion Publishing & Marketing.
Mules, T., and S. McDonald
1994 The Economic Impact of Special Events: The Use of Forecasts. Festival
Management and Event Tourism 2:45±53.

Assigned 11 January 2000. Submitted 31 January 2000. Accepted 3 February 2000.

PII: S0160-7383(00)00024-4

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 250±251, 2001

Printed in Great Britain
0160-7383/00/$20.00

Circular Tour: Seaside Pleasure Riding by Tram

By Brian Turner. Rio Vista Publishing (19 Norfolk Rd, Lytham,
Lancashire FY8 4JG, UK) 1999, 144 pp (black and white photographs,
maps) £18.95 Hbk. ISBN 0 9535763 0 2

Judith Ross-Kirkham
North East Institute for Higher Education, UK

No attempt is made within the text to provide the reader with the objec-
tives of the book or its intended audience. However, the contents suggest
that there are two target markets for this glossy book: tram enthusiasts
and the nostalgia market. The book would be at home in transport
museums' souvenir shops, where it could be purchased on impulse as a