Karen A. Smith – författare

This timely handbook examines the most contemporary, controversial and cutting-edge issues related to the involvement of volunteers in the fields of events, sport and tourism.

Split into thematic sections, the primary areas covered include: key disciplinary approaches to understanding volunteerism, international contexts, managing volunteers, the impacts and legacies of volunteering and future trends in these sectors including online and digital volunteering. Commonalities and differences of volunteering in these sectors are drawn out throughout the volume. A diverse range of case studies are examined including the 2007 UEFA Under 21 Championship hosted by Poland, the development of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the Vancouver, London and Pyeong Chang Olympic Games, Belgium’s National Day in 2019, the Puffing Billy railway in Australia, as well as many other examples looking at destination services organizations, museums, grassroots associations, corporate events, community events and visitor attractions.

Drawing on the academic and practical expertise of over 50 authors from across the globe, the handbook provides an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in volunteering in these sectors, encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study in order to advance volunteering research and practice in the fields of events, sport and tourism.

This timely handbook examines the most contemporary, controversial and cutting-edge issues related to the involvement of volunteers in the fields of events, sport and tourism.

Split into thematic sections, the primary areas covered include: key disciplinary approaches to understanding volunteerism, international contexts, managing volunteers, the impacts and legacies of volunteering and future trends in these sectors including online and digital volunteering. Commonalities and differences of volunteering in these sectors are drawn out throughout the volume. A diverse range of case studies are examined including the 2007 UEFA Under 21 Championship hosted by Poland, the development of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the Vancouver, London and Pyeong Chang Olympic Games, Belgium’s National Day in 2019, the Puffing Billy railway in Australia, as well as many other examples looking at destination services organizations, museums, grassroots associations, corporate events, community events and visitor attractions.

Drawing on the academic and practical expertise of over 50 authors from across the globe, the handbook provides an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in volunteering in these sectors, encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study in order to advance volunteering research and practice in the fields of events, sport and tourism.

The growth of events and festivals has been significant over the last decade and a wide range of skills are essential to ensure those events are successful. This requirement has been instrumental in stimulating the creation of more tertiary education opportunities to develop events management knowledge. As the discipline develops, knowledge requires direction in order to understand the changing advances in society.

This is the first book to take a futures approach to understanding event management. A systematic and pattern-based understanding is used to determine the likelihood of future events and trends. Using blue skies scenarios to provide a vision of the future of events, not only capturing how the events industry is changing but also important issues that will affect events now as well as the future. Chapters include analysis of sustainability, security, impacts of social media, design at both mega event and community level and review a good range of different types of events from varying geographical regions. A final section captures the contributions of each chapter through the formation of a conceptual map for a future research agenda.

Written by leading academics in the field, this ground breaking book will be a valuable reference point for educators, researchers and industry professionals.

The growth of events and festivals has been significant over the last decade and a wide range of skills are essential to ensure those events are successful. This requirement has been instrumental in stimulating the creation of more tertiary education opportunities to develop events management knowledge. As the discipline develops, knowledge requires direction in order to understand the changing advances in society.

This is the first book to take a futures approach to understanding event management. A systematic and pattern-based understanding is used to determine the likelihood of future events and trends. Using blue skies scenarios to provide a vision of the future of events, not only capturing how the events industry is changing but also important issues that will affect events now as well as the future. Chapters include analysis of sustainability, security, impacts of social media, design at both mega event and community level and review a good range of different types of events from varying geographical regions. A final section captures the contributions of each chapter through the formation of a conceptual map for a future research agenda.

Written by leading academics in the field, this ground breaking book will be a valuable reference point for educators, researchers and industry professionals.

Volunteers make important contributions across the spectrum of event settings, most visibly at high profile mega events such as the Olympic Games they are volunteers are lauded as ‘Games makers’, ’unsung heroes’ and the like. Less visibly volunteers are the heart and soul of community events and festivals, often undertaking multi-faceted roles from event leadership through to operations and ensuring that these celebrations are made possible in the absence of big budgets and professional event staff.

This book is the first to showcase and advance international research into the volunteering experience at events, drawing on the work of key scholars in this field. Events of all sizes benefit from volunteer support but event volunteering research is frequently case study-based and individually these cases make a limited impact. This text brings together cases from around the world, specifically including those that expand theoretical and methodological boundaries. It features mega events like the 2012 Olympics and the 2011 Rugby World Cup, alongside music festivals and sports events. New areas that are examined include the benefits of event volunteering for students, the role of volunteers in social enterprise events and new methodological approaches to researching this phenomenon, specifically ethnographic and cross-national studies.

This innovative book acts as a global source of key information for practitioners and researchers, an important text for students of event management and will provide stimulus for further work in this emerging area.

Volunteers make important contributions across the spectrum of event settings, most visibly at high profile mega events such as the Olympic Games they are volunteers are lauded as ‘Games makers’, ’unsung heroes’ and the like. Less visibly volunteers are the heart and soul of community events and festivals, often undertaking multi-faceted roles from event leadership through to operations and ensuring that these celebrations are made possible in the absence of big budgets and professional event staff.

This book is the first to showcase and advance international research into the volunteering experience at events, drawing on the work of key scholars in this field. Events of all sizes benefit from volunteer support but event volunteering research is frequently case study-based and individually these cases make a limited impact. This text brings together cases from around the world, specifically including those that expand theoretical and methodological boundaries. It features mega events like the 2012 Olympics and the 2011 Rugby World Cup, alongside music festivals and sports events. New areas that are examined include the benefits of event volunteering for students, the role of volunteers in social enterprise events and new methodological approaches to researching this phenomenon, specifically ethnographic and cross-national studies.

This innovative book acts as a global source of key information for practitioners and researchers, an important text for students of event management and will provide stimulus for further work in this emerging area.

This book consolidates international, contemporary and topical case study based research in tourism, travel, hospitality and events. Case studies can make learning more attractive and interesting as well as enable students to understand the theory better and develop their analytical and problem-solving skills. Using industry as an open living lab, case study based research infuses scholars into real-world industry challenges and inspires them to theorise and advance our knowledge frontiers.

The book includes international case studies that can help tourism scholars build and advance (new) theories and enrich their educational practices. Case studies are accompanied with a teaching note guiding scholars to integrate case studies into instruction.

Dr Kirsten Holmes, Chair, Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) 

There is a vital need for contemporary and well-structured case studies for use in tourism teaching. By including case studies from Australasia and key destination regions in Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean, the book is helpful for tertiary teachers globally. 

The book inspires educators and students. The cases provide context to students’ learning and demonstrate the richness and variation of the industry. The book also clearly demonstrates how research can inform our teaching. 

Professor Brian King, Chair, THE-ICE Assessment Panel   

The book includes cases under five themes: experiences, operations, technologies, strategy and marketing, and destinations. The book provides subject lecturers with a structure to guide students of applying theory into practice. 

Dr Paul Whitelaw, Academic Director, Southern Cross University

This book marks a significant contribution to hospitality, tourism and events pedagogy at undergraduate and postgraduate level.  At a time when the industry is demanding that our graduates have a strong grasp of “real world issues”, the case study approach provides an accessible, meaningful and relatable means by which students can engage in real world issues.