1.0 Introduction 

This paper will focus on the investigation into the impacts of Qingdao International Beer Festival on the destination, and the interview will be used as the research method to study this topic. In the first part, the aim, objectives, relevant literatures and methodology will be shown. Then in the next part, the nature of the festival, the interview design, process and outcomes, and the impacts of the festival will be discussed and analysed. In the final part, the marketing evaluation and corresponding recommendations will be offered based on previous discussion.
 

2.0 Proposal-Aim, objectives, literature review and methodology  

2.1 Title

An investigation into the impacts of Qingdao International Beer Festival on the destination based on the interview method of research

 

2.2 Aim

To research the economic, cultural, and political impacts of Qingdao International Beer Festival on the restaurants, shops and hotels as a tourist destination.

 

2.3 Objectives

To research the reasons behind the popularity of Qingdao International Beer Festival

 

To investigate the influence of Qingdao International Beer Festival on the development of local tourism industry

 

To investigate the influence of Qingdao International Beer Festival on the cultural exchange between visitors

 

To investigate the influence of Qingdao International Beer Festival on destination branding and political identity.

 

To investigate the marketing activities of the Qingdao International Beer Festival

 

To give recommendations based on the analysis of the current situation

 

2.4 Literature Review

Food is seen as the reflection of a country's culture background. Therefore, it can be regarded as the one of the most attractive commodities in the destinations which has several possibilities to be adopted as the tool in the marketing activities. Many studies have indicated that the food and wide can be regarded as the best description of a destination which can be used to market the destination. (Cohen & Avieli, 2004; Richards, 2002 ).

 

Several studies indicate the interrelation between the food and tourism. More importantly, the local development is put into practice all over the world in the way of either developing and promoting some specific commodities,service , course,event  or the combination of services and products (Corigliano, 2002; Boniface, 2003). A number of studies have shown that such interraltion in some nations like Australia,New Zealand and many other countries in EU(Murray & Haraldsdóttir, 2004; Hassan & Hall, 2003), in Canada(Telfer&Hashimoto, 2003) and many others nations (Haas, 2002).#p#分頁標題#e#

 

Some examples about the networks in the food tourism can be found in New Zealand and Australia, in the meantime, in a lot of cases the well-established food sectors can be treated as a motivating factor in the development process of the less developed food tourism industries (Cambourne & Macionis, 2003; Smith & Hall, 2003). Similarly, the promotion activities of regional foods in shops and restaurants can be helpful in establishing competitive advantages in the local tourism industries (Smith & Hall, 2003; Cambourne & Macionis, 2003). The ‘Culinary Germany’ campaign which is launched by the German Federal Government in the late 1990s has been proved to be helpful in establishing the marketing initiative of the food tourism based on the supports from its website.The 'Tourism New Zealand‘s web campaign concentrates on garden, wine and food tourism which provides the comprehensive experience for the tourists with the supports of well established attractions such as food tourism and it has been proved to be quite successful.

 

Many areas and regions in the Europe, particularly for some places in Italy and France, utilize their special and unique reputation for food or wine to promote the tourism industries in the local areas.(Corigliano, 2002, Santich, B.,1999). While some other nations develop food or wine tourism to be a vital part of the tourism strategic plan such as are Scotland, Britain,Singapore , Canada and China (Telfer & Hashimoto,2003; Quan & Wang, 2003).

 

2.4 Methodology  

The interview way of investigation will be adopted as the primary research method in this paper, the semi-structured interview approach was selected because of its flexible features. The interview is based on the aim and objectives of the research in this paper. There are many uncertainties regarding this issue, meanwhile, it is sensible to prepare some rough questions and then develop more detailed questions during the interview in this case.

 

3.0 Rationale and Discussion  

3.1 The nature of Qingdao International Beer Festival 200 

The Qingdao International Beer Festival is an international food and drink festival which is held once a year in Qingdao, China. This beer festival has a long history because the Qingdao City itself is also famous for the Tsingtao Beer which is among the top 10 beer brands all over the world. Therefore, Qingdao as a destination, also has the convention of holding such beer festival during every summer season of the year. In the meantime, as a city famous for its sea view and sea food, Qingdao is also attractive for visitors during the summer season each year.

 

The intention of holding Qingdao International Beer Festival is to attract visitors from both inside China and outside China, meanwhile, to facilitate the cultural exchange between people from different parts of the world, to boost the development and enhancement of local economy and branding, finally, build Qingdao to be a morel international city. Since this festival has been successfully help for a long period and therefore it has significant impacts on the local area which is also the tourism destination of visitors worldwide. Moreover, many related marketing activities have been conducted in order to advertise and promote the festival, all of the above issues will be located within the research scope of this paper which will be discussed in the following parts.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

3.2 The investigation into the impacts of Qingdao International Beer Festival on the destination based on the analysis and discussion from interview results 

 

3.2.1 Interview design and outcomes  

The semi-structured interview approach has been chosen to research the topic in this paper. The interview is based on the aim and objectives of the research in this paper. There are many uncertainties regarding this issue, meanwhile, it is sensible to prepare some rough questions and then develop more detailed questions during the interview in this case. The detailed design process involves three steps. Firstly, the interview questions is established and tested in advance in order to be more positive in the interview process. The main interview questions are listed as follow: There are many uncertainties regarding this issue, meanwhile, it is sensible to prepare some rough questions and then develop more detailed questions during the interview in this case.

 

1. As a tourist, do you enjoy the Qingdao International Beer Festival and why? 

2. Do you agree that the festival is one of the main reasons for you to travel to this destination? 

3. Do you think the festival is worthy for your money? 

4. What do you think are the possible impacts of the festival on the destination and its tourists? 

5. What do you think of the marketing activities of the festival, what's your recommendations for future improvements?

 

Secondly, the ways to approach and communicate with potential respondents have been prepared and the countermeasures for possible unseen problems involved in the interview process have also been prepared. This step can help the interviewer well guide and obtain the answers and opinions that the paper needs from the respondents. This step has been proved to be quite necessary.

 

Last but not least, based on the collection of the answers to interview questions, the relevant analysis has been conducted. It could be found from these answers that most of the respondents quite like the atmosphere and activities created by the festival, it seems that these part of visitors have been totally attracted by the content of the festival and quite a lot of them agree that it is this festival that attracts them to this destination and travel around. Moreover, many respondents found more surprises and entertaining activities than they expected in the beginning, therefore, they feel the ticket for this Beer Festival is quite worth, they hope more festivals of such types could be held in future. Additionally, some respondents offered quite sensible opinions and thoughts toward the various impacts of the Qingdao Beer Festival and the marketing activities associated and then offered quite practical recommendations on the marketing problems involved. #p#分頁標題#e#

 

3.2.2 Political impacts derived from the interview outcomes 150 

The Qingdao International Beer Festival has significant political impacts on the destination which can be justified by the answers from the respondents and the facts in the real case. In the first place, the image and reputation of the local city can be improved and the nice impression on the destination can be therefore enhanced by the festival. It could be seen from the interview results that many tourists visit the destination mainly because of the festival, while it is just the festival that attract those visitors to other landscapes in the destination not just the festival. In the second place, the policy of boosting the tourism industry made by Qingdao city government can also be achieved with the help of the beer festival. In the meantime, the Qingdao International Beer festival can be regarded as a windows through which the city government advertise itself and it is also a platform on which the city government could show its new policies in the city development.

 

3.2.3 Economical factors derived from the interview outcomes 

The economic impacts of the Qingdao International Beer Festival is even more obvious which can be justified by the answers from the respondents. Based on the own opinions of the paper and the opinions from the respondents of interview, it could be concluded that the economic impacts lie in two aspects. First of all, the arrivals of tourists from all over the world can help to develop the local economy and the local tourism industries which is one of the backbone industries in the destination. They visit gifts shops, restaurants, hotels, cinemas which constitute a significant part of local consumption. In the second place, the commercial potential is huge because of the huge influence of the beer festival in the world. Therefore, the festival could be regarded to be a profitable program which can attract foreign and domestic investment with which the local economy and infrastructure can also be improved.

 

3.2.4 Socio-cultural factors derived from the interview outcomes 

The socio-cultural impacts of the Qingdao International Beer Festival is also quite significant which can be justified by the answers from the respondents. This point can be shown in the following two aspects. First of all, it is an international festival not an domestic festival which embodies the cross-cultural elements and characteristics. The tourists are from all over the world with different cultural background and diverse living habits including the dining habits which requires the diversity of the beer festival and the festival succeeded. The festival can also be regarded as a platform or a favorable opportunity through which people with diverse cultural background can exchange ideas and communicate with each other, of course, with beer and local snacks. This is the essence and initial intention of holding the festival. There is boundary for the living habits. While there is no boundary the beer and tourism, this is why the festival has significant influence on the cultural exchange between visitors.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

3.2.5 Catalyst for infrastructure expansion and destination branding derived from the interview outcomes

It could also be identified from the outcomes of interview that the Qingdao International Beer Festival could also help to expand the infrastructure of the destination because some public facilities need to be improved before the festival and get prepared for the commercial advertising and promotion activities, this requires the heavy investment from both city government and external investors which will in return help to facilitate the city construction. More importantly, the festival can also help to build the brand of the destination based on the successful marketing and promotion activities beforehand and on the spot. From this perspective, not only the festival is a brand, the destination can also be regarded as a international brand, the festival and the destination interact with each other and motivate each other. As a result, the destination and the beer festival could develop together.

 

4.0 Marketing Evaluation and Recommendations  

4.1 The marketing platforms and strategy involved in Qingdao International Beer Festival 

During the Qingdao International Beer Festival each year, various marketing activities are carried out to establish the brand image and enlarge the influence of the festival. The entire marketing activities and marketing strategies involves could be divided into two groups: the marketing platforms and the marketing strategies involved. It is also worthy to mention that the marketing activities are conducted not only by the city government but also by the investors of the festival. In the meantime, the partners and the merchants of the festival will conduct their own marketing activities which are separated from the official marketing activities. The following marketing activities and marketing strategies have been identified based on the answers provided by the respondents of interview. The discussion and analysis toward these marketing of festival are as follows.

 

In the first place, the sponsor of the festival usually use the new media forms to advertise and promote the festival including cable TV, internet, mobile TV in the bus, taxi and plane, electronic magazine and newspaper. Some traditional marketing media are also adopted including home TV, newspaper and outdoor posters. With the help of these marketing platforms, the festival is well-known before it is held. This way of marketing can not only make the festival become famous rapidly but also make its destination famous mainly because the name of the festival begins with the destination of the festival, in the meantime, the city government of Qingdao also adds the city elements and characteristics in the advertising activities of the beer festival each time. However, the new media way of marketing for the festival has certain limitations which should be paid attention to in the marketing process. One of the most significant feature and advantages of the new media marketing for the festival is that it's too board and covers a wide range of potential visitors, while, this point is also a problem because according the analysis of the answers from the respondents of interview, it is found that many of them are not directly and well targeted and positioned by the marketing activities of the festival which shows that the marketing activities are not so effective and should be improved based on the segmentation and positioning strategies in the marketing process.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

In the second place, the marketing strategies are adopted in the marketing process in order to enhance the effectiveness of the marketing activities. From the talks with the interviewees and also from the background investigation toward the beer festival, it could be discovered that the main marketing strategy for the festival is the 7Ps marketing strategy which has been proved to be successful and has positively influence the image of visitors toward the Qingdao International Beer Festival and the city of Qingdao as the destination for visitors. 7Ps refers to process, people, product, physical evidence, price, place and promotion. The implementation of the 7Ps marketing strategy in the beer festival shows the attention paid to the satisfaction of visitors. The focus is on the whole process of offering services for the customers and visitors of festival, it should be paid attention to the fact that the requirements from visitors is crucial and vital ,putting the customers in the centre of the marketing process, it is a customer-oriented strategy. Besides this point, other elements in the 7Ps marketing strategy are some important for the festival. For example, the prices of products during the festival is made acceptable and reasonable for all visitors and the quality of products are of high quality and the range is wide enough to meet the taste of all sorts of visitors which show the 7Ps marketing strategy is adopted by the sponsor of festival properly.

 

4.2 Recommendations 

The paper recommends the festival to take the segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies in the marketing process of the festival in future.

 

The market segmentation could be seen as the strategy with which market division could be achieved, in which a process, the marketing managers decompose the whole market in relation to a sort of commodity into different segments of consumers through the market investigation and based on the diverse desires from customers, purchasing habits and behaviour. The market segmentation is based on consumers not products. After the market has been decomposed into several parts, the marketing managers will select a segment and then target this segment. Furthermore, efforts and resources will be targeted in the divided markets to set up advantages in the market. The market positioning refers specify and satisfy the various requirements from consumers. It focuses on looking for purchasing diversity of customers on the basis of the consumer psychology and purchasing motivation. On the basis of the above marketing strategies introduced and together with the already implemented 7Ps marketing strategy of the beer festival, it could be believed the sponsor of the Qingdao International Beer Festival could hopefully achieve a better outcome and functioning of the festival in future.

 

5.0 Conclusion #p#分頁標題#e#

This paper has discussed the significant influence of Qingdao International Beer Festival on the destination Qingdao, and the interview was adopted as the research method. The aim, objectives, relevant literatures and methodology about the topic have been shown and the nature of the festival, the interview design, process and outcomes, and the impacts of the festival have been discussed including the political, socio-cultural and economic impacts posed by the festival on the destination. Moreover, the marketing evaluation and corresponding recommendations have been offered. It is finally recommended that the sponsor of the Qingdao International Beer Festival could try to carry out the segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies in the marketing process.

 

Reference 

Boniface, P. (2003) Tasting Tourism: Travelling for Food and Drink. Hampshire: Ashgate.

 

Corigliano, M.A. (2002) The route to quality: Italian gastronomy networks in operation. In A. Hjalager and G. Richards Tourism and Gastronomy. London: Routledge.

 

Cohen, E. and Avieli, N. (2004) Food in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 31, 755–78.

 

Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (2003) Linking food, wine and tourism: The case of the Australian capital region. In C.M. Hall, L. Sharples, M.A. Mitchell, N. Macionis and B.Cambourne Food Tourism Around the World. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

 

Haas, R. (2002) The Austrian country market: A European case study on marketing