An exploratory study of the impact of The Edinburgh Hogmanay Festival on local businesses.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to develop an understanding of the impacts faced by local businesses with regard to the Edinburgh Hogmanay Festival. Firstly, a detailed review of literature was undertaken to allow the researcher to gain a better understanding of the festival and events industry. This enabled the researcher to discover the different themes relating to this project. These themes allowed the researcher to discover the most appropriate methodology to use for this project. A qualitative method was used to obtain data in order for the researcher to understand personally how the impacts on each business differed. Six interviews were conducted with a range of local businesses all of which were in the vicinity of the road closures over this period. Data from the research project was transcribed through the use of digital audio recordings from each individual interview. The data was then analysed using the method of coding in order to depict recurring themes. This found the following themes: - Knowledge of the Festival - Disruption to the local community - Communication - Sense of pride - Tourism - Culture These impacts were looked into in more depth, a process during which the researcher observed that the majority of the impacts were positive. However, most negative factors were found to diminish after the festival finished therefore leaving no long term impacts. Businesses within Edinburgh were found to tolerate the negative impacts because the positive impacts, on many occasions, outweighed those of a more negative nature. This report finishes with recommendations for three key organisations that play a part in the Edinburgh Hogmanay Festival. These recommendations look to help make the festivals' impact for local businesses more beneficial for all local stakeholders.