Il mega evento: creazione di valore per la destinazione. Il caso studio di Matera “capitale europea della cultura 2019” di Angela Pepe

The ‘Mega Event’: Value Creation for the Destination. The Case Study of Matera ‘European Capital of Culture 2019’

ABSTRACT

The growth of events importance has become clearer for some time now, both at national and international level. Thus, there are several interpretations of events: from marketing tools for promoting other products or services, nowadays they are increasingly being recognised explicitly as real businesses with their own independence and professionalism. They are elements of tourist attractiveness and entertainment that determine also an “important social impact on the hosting community because they contribute to the formation of a strong sense of belonging and a sense of place”.

As Resciniti and Fortuna noted, “the basic principle is that value creation through events is strictly linked to the ability to involve people on the cognitive, emotional, sensorial level, giving them the possibility to live experiences based on their needs and wishes, coherently to their expectations”. Starting from these considerations, this study focuses on aspects of evaluation determined by the events on a territory and its hosting community.

In detail, the focus is on events as unique opportunities to seize with positive effects on the concerned territory. In this case, a strategic role in the planning process and in the city image relaunch is covered by what also literature calls “mega events”, as catalysts of territorial transformations, since they contribute to the positioning and branding of the city image itself. In fact, in the competitions among geographical areas, “mega events appear as an instrument apt both to create value in the context and to promote the territory image in the perception of external people ”.

In particular, this research is a work in progress on the empirical case “Matera European Capital of Culture 2019”: it focuses on the local people involvement and the value created by the big event on the perception and the culture of welcome, and it outlines the specifics concerning chances for development, opportunities to

seize, territorial impacts, goals and organisational setup for their management. A participative process can result more efficient and sustainable in the long term than a top down management. Participation proves to be a tool used by local community for creating a sustainable tourism development, that is based on local people’s

needs and it has benefits on their territory itself.

In this case, thanks to its election as “European Capital of Culture 2019”, Matera enhances its cultural value and moreover achieves a new model of territorial development. Passing its geographical borders, the city transforms its creativity into a laboratory and its culture into a driving force and an encouragement for the

creation of new wealth, involving its territory in a social and economic challenge.