Literature Review #4

Source

Citation:

Terry, Neil et al. "Bikers, Aliens, And Movie Stars: Comparing The Economic Impact Of Special Events". Journal Of Business & Economics Research (JBER), vol 7, no. 11, 2011. Clute Institute, doi:10.19030/jber.v7i11.2356.

The article explains the history of three towns in brief detail as well as the origins of each town’s respective festival, though my main interest was in the UFO Festival of Roswell, New Mexico. In the section following these backgrounds, the authors compared some economics from the residents as well as the average economic stats of each festival, and then discussed some potential reasons behind the size and profit of each festival. The biggest draw of the article was the data on the profit of the UFO Festival, which I needed to help prove that paranormal tourism is a viable economic option.

All three authors are professors in Economics/Finance at the West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. Dr. Neil Terry is also a dean at the university, and has a Ph.D. in Economics from Texas Tech University. Dr. Anne Macy also has a Ph.D. in Economics from Texas Tech University. Dr. James Owens is a department head at the university, and has a Ph.D. in Finance from Harvard University.

Key Concepts:

• Traveling to festivals can be good opportunities for people to explore less popular interests, such as the paranormal, without it affecting their home life and reputation.
• Paranormal Tourism would struggle due to the fact that most tourists would be able to fully understand the respective local phenomena after one visit, so they need to do more to attract repeat tourists.

1. Festivals and special events are one of the fastest growing types of tourism attractions (Terry et al. 1)
2. They suggest that tourism increases pride and creates cultural identity, cohesion, and an opportunity to exchange ideas (Terry et al. 2)
3. The second festival and 50th anniversary celebration attracted an estimated 48,000 attendees (Terry et al. 3)