Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to find out how local residents perceive the socio-economic benefits of the festival and to examine the residents’ decision-making process when participating the festival in their community. Using data collected from 334 local attendees of Kafkasör-Culture Tourism and Art Festival in 2016, this study examined the relationship between the socio-cultural impacts of a festival and the decision-making process of attending the festival of local residents. Factor analysis and correlation analysis were conducted in the study. The results indicate that perceived positive socio-economic impacts simultaneously increase the residents’ willingness to revisit the festival. Findings also suggest that the dimension of behavioural desire and intention is the most important factor in explaining directed behaviour.  Festivals and special events have increased in number worldwide due to their significant economic, social, and cultural impacts on the destination and the hosting community. The role of the socio-economic impacts of the local residents’ decision-making process has not been taken into account when examining the effects of festivals in the previous literature. 

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