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ABSTRACT
Accounts on how creative strategies and paradigms have been copied and circulated from one city to another are not new in tourism studies. However, they are traditionally characterized by arguments of serial reproduction that tends to conceptualize the process of policy circulation like a linear adoption of exogenous prescriptions copied by another city. As such they tend to share a negative viewpoint on the results of this strategy of policy emulation. Yet, the emergence of light festival events at a global level does not conform to such theorization. Largely inspired by few ‘best practice’ cases, like Lyon's Fête des Lumières, more than 100 light festivals are nowadays active around the world, experiencing a constant growth both in revenues and number of visitors. To examine how mechanisms, actors, concepts, strategies and artefacts related to the successful global circulations of light festivals, a ‘policy mobilities’ perspective has been adopted and semi-structured interviews were conducted with key personnel to track the relationships fostered through international networks of experts and lighting professionals. The results show how, even if the circulation of light festivals reflects a strategy of policy emulation, these events are not replicated in a serial and unproblematic way, but are selectively acknowledged and appropriated by local actors. This process of adaptation allows them to be successfully transplanted from one city to another, escaping the problem conventionally related to the ‘serial reproduction’ process. Yet, most of these events do not conform to models of tourism based on endogenous creative capital. Light festivals are often big-budget events, driven by commercial imperatives, characterized by a strong top-down approach and endorsed by international networks and agreement.
摘要
有关创意策略与范式如何从一个城市复制和传播到另一个城市的论述在旅游研究中并不陌生。但是这些论述传统上都有系列复制的观点, 倾向于把政策传播的过程概括为线性地接受其他城市复制过的外部 “处方”, 因此这些观点对政策效仿的结果都有一个负面的看法。但是, 全球范围灯光节事件的出现并不符合这种理论概括。这些灯光节事件绝大部分受少数最佳实践案例 (比如里昂的灯光节) 的激发, 现今全球范围内活跃着100多个灯光节, 它们无论从收入还是访问人数都实现持续的增长。为了研究灯光节在全球范围成功传播的机制、行动者、概念、策略与结果, 本文采用政策迁移的视角对相关人士进行了半结构访谈, 记录国际专家网络与灯光节专业人员形成的关系。结果表明, 即使灯光节的传播反映了政策效仿的策略, 这些事件也不是连续地、毫无问题地复制, 相反当地人士是有选择地接受与利用。对外地灯光节改编的过程使这些灯光节成功地从一个城市移植到另一个城市, 而不致于产生传统上与系列复制相关的问题。但是, 这些事件绝大部分并不符合基于内生创意资本的旅游模式。灯光节经常是耗资巨大的事件, 有商业行为驱动, 具有强烈的由上至下推动的特征, 并且有国际网络与协定的支持。
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Claudio Minca, Rachel Grace Bok and Tim Oakes for their enthusiastic assistance. We would also like to express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers of the paper for their constructive suggestions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Emanuele Giordano
Emanuele Giordano is currently a PhD student at Montpellier Paul Valéry University. His current research centres on the use of illumination as a tool for tourist development.
Chin-Ee Ong
Chin-Ee Ong is currently a lecturer in Human Geography at National University of Singapore. His current research centres on the post-socialist aspects of Chinese outbound tourism and critical theory.