Address by Pietro Leoni Director of the Strategic Planning Office of Rimini Borough Council

2. Address by Pietro Leoni Director of the Strategic Planning Office of Rimini Borough Council Slide contents are partially taken from the paper: Events, territorial marketing and images of cities by Ferrari Sonia, Adamo Giuseppe Emanuele, Calabria University, Department of Corporate Sciences

3. “On a street corner Karl saw a placard with the words…..Everyone is welcome”, “A lot of people were standing before the placard,….. but for Karl there was something about it that attracted him strongly: everyone is welcome, that’s what it said. Everyone, so that meant Karl as well….. He didn’t read the placard a second time, but singled out the words, everyone is welcome.” This is how Franz Kafka, in his novel “America”, describes how the main character, Karl Rossmann, first met the Great Natural Theatre of Oklahoma. Hospitality is the true essence of social cohesion

4. 8 paradigms for a hospitable city • Everyone is welcome • The doors of the city are always open • Interpersonal relations are friendly • Development models are sustainable in environmental, cultural, social and economic terms • Capable of being at the service of users (permanent or temporary!) • Provides and enforces rules of living well together • Is creative and welcomes artists, respects and give value to art and culture • Seeks, gives value to, communicates and is proud of its identity

5. Hospitality is the certainty of being welcomed, of being “at home”, of sharing a place Hospitality is sharing, a “crossroads of paths” Edmond Jabès

6. The value of tourism • Places of production and use coincide in time and space • Complex and intense interdependencies between producers • Is exchange, sharing, buyer and supplier are both active subjects • The supplier-customer relation goes beyond aspects of conflict and is distinguished by a strong orientation towards collaboration and development of a reciprocal commitment to mutual success • For success of the transaction the diffusion of a system of values common to all parties is fundamental Tourism is a dynamic system of interpersonal relations Persons are central!

7. Ways of using the city are changing

8. Tourist demand is changing All observers of tourist demand note a growth of interest at international level for a tourism of discovery of the territory and its distinctive features. In particular, the new tourists are stimulated by: • different motivations that can be included in the concept of living culture • search for authentic experiences of the locality • rediscovery of local traditions and resources • interest in new holiday models combining normal recreational activities with new cultural experiences

9. Tourist demand is changing The profile of values that identifies the new tourist demand can be summarized as follows [1]: • independence- experience - capable of using new technologies- attentive to value for their money and quality/price • ratio (value for money) (quality of tourism is perceived • as equilibrium between expectations and satisfaction) • desire to pursue a number of activities and to learn • from other cultures • shorter but more frequent holidays throughout the • year • sensitive to broader values of sustainability • (environmental, socio-cultural, authenticity, local • identity) [1]World Tourism Organization, 2005

10. Tourist demand is changing In general, surveys show that attention towards authentic experiences and sustainable development by now characterize a growing proportion of the demand for holidays; the new tourists are more mature and are abandoning traditional destinations because they are looking for more genuine emotions and experiences, in closer contact with the nature, culture and people of the places visited. [1]World Tourism Organization, 2005

11. What were thousands of people doing at 6 a.m. on an August morning at the Vaiolet Refuge, 2243 metres above sea level?There’s no subway line to Vaiolet, you have to start in the middle of the night to catch the bus that leaves Pera di Fassa at 3.30 a.m., and then from the Gardeccia Refuge it’s a brisk uphill climb to reach the Vaiolet Refuge in time.And why?

12. To listen to Stefano Benni and Paolo Fresu, an event organized as part of the Trentino’s summer arts programme.The performance by the two artists was an intelligent excuse to offer a memorable experience: the sun rising over the world’s most beautiful mountains. “High above the seas, with mountains and abysses and clouds that the earth holds not”.

13. An event like this highlights the distinctive features of the new tourist, increasingly motivated by the quest for authenticity, meaning and sense: tourism as experience, the result of a strong and subjective emotional impact with something true (meaning something that does not exist just for tourists).

14. Tourism is moving beyond the confines of the service economy, approaching the wide horizons of the economy of experience.The aim of this shift is to conquer a new dimension of authenticity, based on a number of key values: centrality of the person sustainability of impact on the economy, society, environment and culture of places and the local communities with which it comes into contact

15. The new tourist demandstrongly and at times clamorously expresses its distinguishing values, and it is these that underlie the success of rural and cultural tourism, and tourism for meditation, wellness, etc. Sometimes the offer, above all at mass tourist destinations, has difficulty in satisfying these innovative needs and lifestyles.The growing attention to this way of experiencing holiday time is also evident in Philip Gröning’s film “Into Great Silence”, a film on the force of silence and voluntary detachment from the world, set in the Carthusian Grande Chartreuse abbey in the French Alps. .

16. Tourism is one of the most complex relational processes [a huge factory of relations…] In the United States, the economy of experience is structured prevalently in the theme park model, DisneyWorld & Co. This is a partial approach, and from a certain viewpoint, misses the essence of the question.

17. The authenticity of experience and emotional involvement are achieved when the original experience derives from the identity of the territory, when it is the expression of its genius loci.“A place is a space with a distinctive character. The spirit of a place is composed of at least three interdependent factors: morphological, social and cultural. The stratification of these three elements determines a place’s vocation.” [1][1] Satti Moreno Elio, “Il genius loci” in Interfaces culturelle, March 2002

18. In this sense, theItalian way towards the economy of experience has tremendous potential, based as it is on the value of places and the persons who live there (it is people who make the difference and determine the quality and authenticity of the place!), on local identities and on the authenticity of the offer.Authentic is the opposite of what is generic, repeatable, banal. It is what we can define as real: real buildings, real persons, etc.

19. An authentic place offers unique and original experiences.Uniqueness and authenticity are the two poles of a single strategy that can represent an antidote for thesense of rootlessness and the loss of identity/recognizability of the local community. For a tourist destination it could therefore be necessary to possess not so much a series of strong and magnetic attractions, but more to maintain spaces where real life is possible, and to make them accessible.

20. The combination of local identity, authenticity and uniqueness is the framework of values that defines the image of the city and of its marketing.What happens or is represented in a place is therefore an important lever for marketing, but at the same time is the representation of the system of values in which the community recognizes itself.

21. An event can have a significant effect on the image of the place hosting it, both for residents and for temporary citizens, determining for these latter a greater propensity to return in future The image of a place is the representation of that place present in the consumer’s mind (Jaffe-Nebenzahl, 2001). It can be defined as “a set of beliefs, ideas and information acquired more or less directly that the public has for a place” (Kotler-Haider-Rein, 1993). The image is a product created by the mind, attempting to elaborate and select essential information from a large quantity of information about a place (Kotler-Asplund-Rein-Haider, 1999). It is in fact a mental construction, a simplification of reality, that attempts to enclose an enormous amount of information about a place and that is a function of the subjective perception of this information (Leisen, 2001).

22. For the image to be effective, it must be coherent with the area’s identity. The image in fact must first and foremost propagate the spirit of the place, namely the local vocation, understood as the result of the territory’s history and the evolution over time of the area’s tangible and intangible resources (Caroli, 1999). As the spirit of a place cannot be modified, it is advisable for image-building policies to focus on the elements that are most coherent with the needs and preferences of the desired target segments, attempting to enhance their value. The image is often based on visual symbols (monuments, works of art, architecture, etc) or on famous flagship projects (major events), and that for both residents and the external public represent the territory and constitute immediately recallable elements, nothing less than trademarks (Ostillio, 2000; Caroli, 1999)

23. Events and territorial marketing • Territorial marketing or the marketing of an area can be defined as “a set of collective actions applied to attract new economic and productive activities into a specific area or territory, to encourage the growth of local businesses and to promote a positive image” (Kotler-Haider-Rein, 1993). • This definition interprets an “area” as a territory with its socio-economic and demographic characteristics, its history, traditions and culture, and all the other elements (presence of infrastructures, etc) that can have an effect in determining its overall value in the eyes of present and potential purchasers and users. The various territorial marketing strategies can therefore be based on the enhancement of the value of existing elements and/or on innovative projects. These latter have a strong impact on the area’s structural characteristics and on its image, and also include the organization of major events.

24. Events and territorial marketing Uniqueness is a specific feature of major events that unlike other types of innovative projects generally have their origins in local cultural traditions and characteristics, and therefore express continuity with the history and vocation of the territory (Caroli, 1999). One example is the “Palio di Siena” (from the Latin Pallium, a banner of precious fabric awarded as a prize to the winner, and known by the locals as the “cencio”), which more than a tourist event capable of attracting thousands of visitors from all over the world is in fact the focal point of a tradition experienced and renewed year by year for many centuries by the local community. The saying “The Palio lasts all year” is not casual, and all the most important moments in the lives of Siena’s citizens, from baptism and marriage through to death, are accompanied by the colours of the flags of the city’s quarters, kept alive by the local “Società di contrada” clubs, which are modern meeting places for leisure and recreation, and the museum of each “contrada”, or ward, where past trophies and mementoes are conserved. For the citizens of Siena, the Palio is thus “the ritual representation of a concept of the world” (Falassi, 1987).

25. Events and territorial marketing • The organization of an important event somewhere can allow a positive image to be created, or can improve the image of an area if this is negative, and if possible the transformation of the area, for example from a predominantly industrial city into a tourist destination. Events can have also an effect on territorial branding and image on a permanent basis. Exhibitions, conferences, trade fairs, concerts, sport meetings and other events can have significant immediate effects on image, or can have a less direct but more long-term influence on public opinion and an area’s positioning. In addition to ensuring this informative function, they can therefore constitute occasions to contact potential consumers. Major events have an important communicational role, not only with regard to an external public but also for local stakeholders, increasing their level of interest in the territory and their self-esteem, and also their level of involvement in specific projects (Valdani-Ancarani, 2000). Another significant effect of important events, particularly if on a very large scale, is that they promote the construction of significant public works and infrastructures, with an overall improvement on a place’s quality of life and image (Caroli, 1999; Latusi, 2002).

26. Events and territorial marketing Growing competition between cities at both national and international levels and the urban crisis faced by cities in western countries since the early 1970’s gave rise to a series of marketing strategies for cities, aiming to attract resources and visitors, as well as residents, to keep business concerns and the persons living and working in the the city, and to improve employment and investment levels in urban areas (Van Den Berg-Van Der Borg-Van De Meer, 1998), affected not only by the phenomenon of movement away from city centres but also but other problems, such as the increase in crime rates and pollution levels. Another element that has encouraged the development of urban marketing policies has been the growth of financial independence of cities from central governments, with the consequent need to attract increasingly higher levels of investment flow (Robertson-Guerrier, 1999). On the current panorama, few cities seem to have managed to attract national and international attention as a result of marketing actions different from those of competitors, and indeed, the uniformity of images transmitted and perceived appears quite evident, and only rarely does a capacity to exploit specific aspects to be emphasized or to appeal to a segment of the potential market emerge, so as to better cater for the needs of the single segments.

27. Events and territorial marketing In this context, the cities that have benefited most have been those who have successfully highlighted elements that differentiate their image from those of competitors (Golfetto, 2000) Communication based on components of a city’s offer like artistic, cultural, sport, religious or other events at an international level represent in particular a form of communication of facts that in many cases is far more valid than the explicit communication policies proposed by urban marketing experts (Golfetto, 2000). events should be firmly linked to the image of the city hosting them, and if possible over the years should become a clear symbol and an essential component of the image and offer of that city

28. The image of an event The image of an event is a very important variable, as it can influence the image of the place that hosts it, the organizer, the participants and the companies that help to present the event as sponsors, as well as determining the level of attention attracted from the public and mass media. • The image of an event, according to the model developed by Gwinner (1997), is determined by three variables: • Type of event • Characteristics of the event • Factors regarding the subjective characteristics of the spectators who are the desired target

29. The image of an event

30. The image of an event • The image and positioning of a location can result in the establishment of an effective territorial brand, an important element in terms of territorial marketing and the differentiation of the local offer (Morgan- Pritchard, 1999). The great number of information sources, the complexity of the concept of a location’s image and the amplitude and depth of the attributes of a territorial brand determine numerous problems in terms of communication policies and cooperation between the various parties involved and interested at different levels, meaning stakeholders like commercial operators, public authorities, basic resources (including the local population) and other subjects such as the media, event organizers and potential consumers. The process of branding a location is relatively recent, combining marketing policies for products and services and the “commercialization” of local culture and environment.

31. The image of an event The organization of events that attract the attention of a very high number of potential consumers to a location is extremely beneficial in terms of destination marketing policies aiming to launch a territorial brand, and above all to enhance its fame. This is particularly important, because awareness of the brand (or brand knowledge), which has two components, brand awareness and the image of this, has a positive effect on the decision to purchase. The great number of information sources, the complexity of the concept of a location’s image and the amplitude and depth of the attributes of a territorial brand determine numerous problems in terms of communication policies and cooperation between the various parties involved and interested at different levels, meaning stakeholders like commercial operators, public authorities, basic resources (including the local population) and other subjects such as the media, event organizers and potential consumers.

32. The image of an event The decision of the persons responsible for territorial marketing policies to organize, host and/or sustain and event in various ways (with sponsoring, patronage, etc) also affects another element that influences the purchasing process, namely the brand image, which can be defined as the set of mental associations of the consumer relative to a brand. These associations represent the significance of the brand for the consumer. The more these associations are favourable, strong and unique, the more effective the brand image will be. The aspect of uniqueness is particularly interesting, as it can be achieved by combining the location with a particular type of event or a specific event that competing territories have never proposed, thus creating the premises for the formation of unique mental associations that differentiate the area brand from competitors.

33. From the event image to the image of the city Rimini, city of international relations and exchanges. A creative city and meeting place for the young people of the new Europe. Pink Night Paganello Frisbee Tournament The Wellness Beach Europe Festival

34. Event impacts • Territorial marketing • Brand • Image • Competitive capacity • Differentiation from competitors • Visitor faithfulness • Location status • Force of attraction • On infrastructures • ……………….. We will attempt to assess the dimensions of an event as a factor of social cohesion. Various matrices have been developed to measure the different impacts of events. We do not know of the development of a matrix that measure event impact in terms of social cohesion.

35. Initial elements for the definition of a matrix for measuring event impact in terms of social cohesion