Co-creation of value for cultural festivals: behind the scenes in Macau

ABSTRACT

In their capacity as performative cultural assets located in destinations, festivals offer visitors potentially convivial and memorable experiences. Though previous studies have examined the psychologies of festival attendees, few have considered the perspective of festival stakeholders towards the co-creation of cultural value. The present study examines the case of a traditional festival that epitomises intangible cultural heritage – the Feast of Na Tcha in Macau. The researchers examine how organisers, performers, government officials, local shop owners and tourists play roles in co-creating value for the festival. The paper examines an overlooked dimension – contributions from multiple stakeholders to the multifaceted concept of value in cultural festival settings. The findings present a value co-creation paradigm that may inform prospective creative enhancements to the festival experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Traditional festivals
• value co-creation
• festival experience
• stakeholders
• Macau

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Zhaoyu Chen graduated from her Bachelor’s degree in Heritage Management at Institute for Tourism Studies, Macau and proceeded to complete a Master’s degree in the Division of Architectural Conservation Programmes (ACP Division) in the University of Hong Kong (HKU). She had internship experience in both UNESCO Bangkok and UNESCO Beijing. Chen completed her PhD degree in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2019.

Brian King is a Professor and Associate Dean in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He previously occupied senior roles at Victoria University, Australia including as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Industry & Community) and Head of the School of Hospitality, Tourism & Marketing. He has published extensively on tourism in the Asia-Pacific region, is joint editor-in-chief of Tourism, Culture and Communication. He holds a number of industry board positions.

Wantanee Suntikul is an Assistant Professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Besides working in teaching and research, she has been involved in several tourism related consultancy projects in Southeast Asia. Her core research interests and expertise are in the political, social and environmental aspects of tourism planning and development and poverty alleviation.