THE IMPACT OF FESTIVALS IN PROMOTING CULTURAL

TOURISM: A CASE STUDY ON GOPALPUR BEACH FESTIVAL,

ODISHA.

*Susanta Ranjan Chaini

Head of Department, Ranjita Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology , Bhubaneswar (Odisha)
susanta_chaini@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT

Background: Fairs and festivals are important part of life. It contributes peace and imparts
relaxation, pleasure to human being. In India we observe number of festivals throughout the year.
Odisha is known for its festivals and folk cultures. In Odisha different fairs and festivals attract
culture tourists and promote tourism in the state. Objective: The objective of the study is to identify
the important attributes to attract tourists at GopalPur beach festival of Odisha. Methodology:
The study was conducted by taking 100 tourists as the sample size. The survey questionnaires were
administered along with face to face interviews with the tourists or the respondents. A 5-Point
Likert scale was used to measure tourist’s satisfaction. Results: The findings of this research
revealed that attributes like Art and Craft, Sand Art, Local community etc. had contributed in the
development of GopalPur Beach festival of Odisha. Conclusion : Cultural tourism can thus help in
the economic and social development of the state.
Key Words: Impact, Festivals, Culture, Tourism, Economy

INTRODUCTION

In developing country like India, Tourism is considered to be a tool for development. Several countries
depend on Tourism industry for their Growth & Development. Inspite of the global recession tourism
industry has been continued to be one of the leading industries of the world. Tourism helps in
development of infrastructure of a premise, improves the local economy of a place, increases social
understanding among people and finally brings peace & brotherhood.

India is a vast country having diverse culture with a spectacular heritage and tradition. It is considered
as one of the greatest civilisation of the world. India is now considered as one of the important cultural
heritage site of the world. Any one visiting India will find monumental & architectural heritage,
religious places, natural flora, fauna, music & dance and traditional arts & crafts. Odisha is a state
especially rich in culture and heritage. Presently many tourist destinations have entrusted cultural
festivals for the economic & cultural development of a tourist destination. Mostly tourism planners

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are portraying cultural themes to conduct annual events like beach festivals, dance festivals etc at local
level in order to attract more and more tourists to a particular destination. Conducting of such annual
events helps in development of tourism as well as pours more of economic and cultural benefits.
Many of the researchers have stated that involvement & participation of the local public of the host
destination is always having a pivotal role.

Cultural Tourism can be defined as moving out or travelling for experiencing and learning about the
heritage, various art forms, fairs, festivals and the other cultural characteristics of an area. Therefore
cultural tourists move out from their own place of residence to other places for experiencing and
learning the culture of host destinations. The actual purpose of visiting is to explore the cultural
heritage as well as monuments. Fairs and festivals are important part of life. It contributes peace and
imparts relaxation, pleasure to human being. In India we observe number of festivals throughout the
year. Odisha is famous for its cultural activities among tourists. Odisha is known for its festivals and
folk cultures. In Odisha different fairs and festivals attract culture tourists and promote tourism in the
state. Festivals are now a days are used as an important tool for promoting tourism and boosting the
local economy of a place. Hence festivals have to be organised in an effective manner so as to fulfil the
economic benefits of tourism to the destination. GopalPur is a cultural city of Odisha situated on the
Bay of Bengal coast in Ganjam district of southern part of Odisha. It is known for its famous sea beach
and an important tourist destination. Many tourist destinations are now giving more importance to the
cultural festivals for the economic as well as cultural development of that particular area.

As per the view of WYMAN Culture has a special and inevitable role in the society. “In an economic
environment when people often concern about health and education, it is also essential to think
about the culture which is an important element of a healthy society. Because culture makes the life
worth living just as the way health is necessary for life”. Cultural tourism is defined by international
cultural Tourism charter professionals as “Domestic and international tourism continues to be
among the foremost vehicles for cultural exchange, providing a personal experience, not only of
that which has survived from the past, but of contemporary life and society of others”. Therefore
culture is an identity as well as the importance on work, leisure and religious activities.

Today festivals are contributing significantly to the cultural and economic development of a tourist
destination. Festivals have a great impact on the development of cultural tourism. The organisers are
using the cultural as well as historical themes to develop the annual events to attract the tourists and
create a cultural image of the destination by organising the festivals. Organising such events helps
the host destinations in many folds. Many researchers have stated that the local communities of the
host destinations play an important role in developing cultural tourism through festivals. Festivals
have a great potential to showcase the traditional cultures, handicrafts, monuments, folk dances of a
particular destination. Hence Getz,1997 stated that events have the potential to generate a vast amount

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of tourism when they cater to visitors from other generating zones as well as potential for grants and
sponsorships, either by direct or indirectly. Now Government and respective state tourism departments
support and promote such fairs and festivals as a part of their strategies for economic development and
cultural tourism. Such fairs and festivals are an important mechanism to attract tourists to a particular
destination.

Getz (1997) states festivals events as a: “Events constitute one of the most exciting and fastest
growing forms of leisure, business and tourism related phenomena”. In today’s arena organising
festivals initiates and meets the demand of the tourists as well as the local public. Festivals showcase
and promote the local culture to the tourists and give an identity and pride to the local people and
host destinations. Goldblatt (2002) states festival events as a: “kaleidoscope of planned culture,
sport, political and business occasions: from mega events like Olympics and world fairs to
community festivals; from programmes of events at parks and attractions to visit by dignitaries
and intergovernmental assembles; from small meetings and parties to huge conventions and
competitions”.

The study of festivals and events is now considered as an important and prolific area of tourism
research enquiry. India has a long history with diverse culture. The Indians celebrate various fairs
and festivals. Most of the Indian festivals are seasonal or religious in nature. The unity of this diverse
country like India can be seen at the national festival like Independence day, Republic day etc.
There are ample substantiations on how Cultural Tourism festivals benefit the tourist destinations.
Festivals gives a new look to the destination. Festivals contribute significantly for the promotion and
rejuvenation of a particular destination. At the same time it also helps in creating the employment
opportunity for a destination. Many times festivals also helps in development of infrastructure for a
destination. Bachleitner and Zins (1992) conveys that festival tourism increases learning of residents,
ethnic identity, generates a sense of community pride and helps in opening up of many medium size and
small family enterprises. At the same time it is also noted that Cultural events and festivals encourage
the cross cultural communication which helps in promoting proper understanding between the guest
and the host. Falassi ( 1987) “ cultural festival- a periodically recurrent, social occasion in which
different forms and a sequence of coordinated events, participate directly or indirectly and to a
diverse extent, all members of a whole community, united by race, language, religion, historical
bonds and sharing a world view.”

When a festival is hosted at a particular destination, every stake holders like Governments, private
sectors and finally local people’s needs are fulfilled. Festivals have both positive and negative impacts
on a particular destination. Hall (1992) stated that the ability of major events perceived to attract
economic benefits. “Economic analysis of events provides one aspect of why events are held and
the effects that they have on a origin. However, while many of the economic impacts of events are
quite tangible many of the social are not”

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A festival plays a vital role in uplifting economy of a particular destination. It helps in income
generation for the local business. For promoting festivals, organisers use new technology and media.
Wider publicity attracts both domestic as well as foreign tourists to a destination. Goldblatt(1997)
states that “ some communities use these events to boost tourism during the low or off-season and
other focus primarily on weekends to appeal to leisure travellers”. Hence it is rightly said impact
of festivals and events can greatly affect the quality of life of the local publics in host destinations.
Festivals are considered as a tool for economic development and cultural development of a tourist
destination. Events have the potential to generate a vast amount of tourism activity when they cater
to out-of-region visitors, grants, or sponsorships, (Getz, 1997) of direct or indirect intent. Now a
day the Government is organising, supporting and promoting festivals to promote an unknown place
or tourist destination. Hence these are the strategies of the Government for economic development
and nation building. “In an economic climate where we hear so much about crisis in health and
education, it is important to remember that culture, too, is an essential element of a healthy society.
It’s not an either-or situation. Health is necessary for life; culture makes life worth living”(www.
culturematters.ca).

Since culture gives a special identity, hence host destination tales a pride in showcasing their culture.
In any location, harmony must be sought between the needs of the visitor, the place and the
host community (English Heritage, 2000). The impact of festivals is very much judged by the local
public and when the same festival is organised year after year it states there is a positive impact on
community or on the host destination. Economic analysis of events provides one aspect of why
events are held and the effects that they have on a region. However, while many of the economic
impacts of events are quite tangible many of the social are not (Hall, 1992). To attract more and
more tourists it is very essential that tourist’s needs and demands should be met. Hence to attract the
most variable segment of the market it is essential that a tourist must be satisfied.
In this era of Globalisation, Cultural Tourism is making its own image and have a separate specific
market throughout the world. Because of the fast movement of communication and promotional
activity more and more domestic as well as foreign tourists are showing interest towards this market,
the objective of current study was:

1. To identify the important attributes to attract tourists at GopalPur beach festival

METHODOLOGY

The study area was GopalPur, which is a small beach town in the Ganjam district located in the state
of Odisha. This small town is well known for its rich culture and spectacular beach. The study mainly
focuses on GopalPur beach festival, which is big and a standardised as well as well organised event that

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showcase the traditional dances of India. The study was conducted on GopalPur beach festival-2015.
The study involved the convenience sampling method. The study was conducted on 100 tourists as
the sample size. The survey questionnaires were administered along with face to face interviews
with the tourists. Information from department of tourism, Government of Odisha have been taken
into consideration. A questionnaire relating to various attributes of the GopalPur beach festival was
prepared and feedback was taken from tourists. A 5-Point Likert scale was used to measure tourist’s
satisfaction as follows which comprised of Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Neither Satisfied nor dissatisfied,
Dissatisfied and Very Dissatisfied.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

There were 74% male and 26% female in the study (table 1). The dominant age group who visited
festival was 41 to 60 years that is 42%, followed by 21 to 40 years that is 32 %, 60 years and above
was only 8% where as under 20 years was only 18%. Most of the tourists lived in Odisha i.e 62%,
from other states 24% tourists have visited where as foreign tourists were only 14%. In terms of level
of education most of the tourists were graduates (54%), followed by post graduates (20%) and 26%
belonged to other categories. More number of professionals visited the GopalPur beach festival that is
24%, followed by self employed that is 21%. With regard to level of income, the largest group includes
those with a monthly income of INR 21,000 to 40, 000/- that is 35% of the total tourists, followed by
41,000 to 61,000 that is 27%, followed by below 20,000/ that is 24%, INR 61,000 and above that is
14%. It was seen that most of the people were of age group from 41 to 60 having good income have
visited the festival out of the sample survey.

Table 1: Demographic Profile of Subjects

Variable Frequency Percentage

Gender -Male 74 74
Female 26 26
State – Odisha 62 62
Others 24 24
Abroad 14 14
Age Below 20years 18 18
21 to 40 years 32 32
41 to 60 years 42 42
60 years and above 08 08
Education level
Graduate 54
Post graduate 20
others 26

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 Variable Frequency Percentage
Employment level
Un employed 18 18
Self employed 21 21
Retired 12 12
Business person 18 18
Professionals 24 24
others 07 07
Income(INR)
Below 20,000 24 24
21,000 – 40,000 35 35
41,000 – 60,000 27 27
61,000 and above 14 14

Table2: Festival Attributes Perception by Tourists

Festival Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very

attributes (1) (2) (3) (4) Dissatisfied
(5)
Music and Dance 33 63 2 2 0
Ambience 46 31 14 5 4
Art and craft 39 43 10 6 2
fair
Cuisine 41 37 12 6 4
Safety and 38 47 12 3 0
security
Sand art 58 32 10 0 0
Friendliness of 47 39 12 2 0
local community
Accommodation 14 47 35 4 0
Infrastructure 17 34 31 15 3
Promotion 28 24 26 17 5
Total (%) 36.1 39.7 16.4 6.0 1.8

The researcher has identified that 36.1% respondents are very satisfied and 39.7% are satisfied on
all attributes of the GopalPur beach festival. English Heritage, 2000 in their study reported that any
location, harmony must be sought between the needs of the visitor, the place and the host community.
The current study also reports that the friendliness of the local community is crucial to promote culture

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tourism. Tourists are more dissatisfied on promotional activities. Hence it was found that the factors
like infrastructure, cuisine and ambience needs to be developed in order to attract the tourists.

The study reveals subjects dissatisfaction towards certain attributes of the GopalPur beach festival.
There is a great tourism potential

CONCLUSION

Cultural tourism is one of the emerging area and festivals are viewed as an important tool for promoting
the cultural tourism in the world. Tourism planners and event organisers have used festivals or events to
attract tourists and promote cultural tourism for a particular tourist destination. Promotion of fairs and
festivals at a destination improves the destination image. Odisha government is planning to organise
a lot of festivals to attract the tourists throughout the world. To enhance and uplift the economic
condition of a tourist destination regular promotional activities like organising fairs and festivals are
vital. Tourism festivals have a great effect on the local economy of a destination either directly or
indirectly. Palm trees, sea waves, spectacular beach, pleasant weather and great tradition with culture
attracts tourists to GopalPur on sea. Hence immediate attention to be given to the recommended
measures so that in future more and more tourists can be attracted to this beach festival and finally it
will promote tourism.

REFERENCES

1) Getz, D. (1997). Event management and event tourism. New York, Cognizant communications
corporations.

2) Goldblatt. (2002). Special events best practices in modern event management (3rd ed). New
York: International Thompson publishing company.

3) Hall, C. (1992) Hallmark Tourist Events: Impacts, Management and Planning

4) www.odishatourism.gov.in

5) Falassi, A. (1987). Festival: Definition and morphology

6) UNEP. (2002). www.unep.org/gc/gc22/Media/UNEP_Annual_Report_2002.

7) Odisha post

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