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The Lord Ashcroft International Business School (LAIBS) tourism team at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (UK) has been working closely with a network of European universities (including University of Bergamo in Italy and the University of Girona in Spain) to analyse the role of ‘slow tourism’ for the management and development of a new type of ‘sustainable’ tourism system for historic cities (see Wilbert and Duignan, 2015). The research has engaged with a host of regional stakeholders, from local authorities, NGOs, to cultural and food and drink festival directors to small businesses and – to establish local needs, perspectives and to gather data. Over the past two years, since the beginning of 2014, business school academics have sought to bring regional stakeholders and the public together with academics, undergraduate and postgraduate and tourism students to open conversations around the importance and practices of ‘slow tourism’, and to invoke newer, more responsible, forms of tourism management and development in such contexts. In recognition of this work, in December 2015, the staff and student research team won the Association of Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE) national award for tourism contributions and leadership in the visitor economy, presented by VisitBritain at the University of Oxford, St Anne’s College. in December 2015

Purpose-\ud The purpose of this paper is to explore a resource-constrained Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) to assess the power struggles inherent in community tourism initiatives when leadership is weakened through shrinking resources.\ud \ud Design/methodology/approach-\ud Using a comparative instrumental case study approach, this paper analyses three separate studies within Experience Bedfordshire to develop a comprehensive picture of governance within a single tourism destination.\ud \ud Findings-\ud The results show that privately held attractions, hospitality businesses, and transportation authorities retain control over key marketing messages. Visitor and stakeholder surveys indicate that a more sustainable form of rural development, based on natural/cultural attractions and the development of bed and breakfast and artisan small businesses is the preferred development path. Unfortunately, the increasing use of Tourism Information Centres by local residents, as opposed to tourists, has reduced support by key power holders in the community, thereby forcing major industry restructure.\ud \ud Research limitations/implications-\ud This research was conducted during the transitionary period as the Rural Development Agencies were being dissolved in the UK and the new Local Enterprise Partnership system was being implemented in early 2011. It is still too early to anticipate how this new system will affect destination marketing in the long run.\ud \ud Practical implications-\ud This paper argues that commercial interests ultimately control the destination image in this resource-constrained region, and its marketing messages which are currently focused on high adventure and large scale development are pursued to the detriment of local wishes and rural landscape development.\ud \ud Originality/value-\ud This paper is the first article to address the transition from the Rural Development Agencies to the Local Enterprise Partnerships within a tourism and destination marketing framework.

No product or destination will survive without positive and impactful web presence and continuous investment. A positive food image is crucial in destination promotion and a key factor in the selection of a destination (Beerli and Martin, 2004). Consequently, consumer-generated media is increasingly the most powerful vehicle for destination marketing which is challenging and disrupting traditional approaches. Social media and the internet have helped businesses galvanise the potential for promoting regional tourism, given they are relatively inexpensive compared with other advertising media. It is acknowledged that an effective website or social media presence can help products reach global audiences; accessible all day, from anywhere in the world. For tourists, the multimedia and interactive nature of social media is now fundamental, adding a new dimension to destination and product marketing. \ud \ud Findings are presented from a two-year study of the historic city of Cambridge. It is a city which has increasingly become regarded as a ‘clone town’ where alternative food producers are forced to occupy a periphery physical location because of the exorbitant cost of retail space in the heart of the city (a not uncommon situation for historic touristic cities). In this paper we present findings from a research project of the city’s main food event, the ‘Eat Cambridge Festival’ (#EAT). Eat Cambridge is a not for profit festival showcasing the city’s independent food scene. In 2014, a survey of 29 food traders and two interviews with key gatekeepers was undertaken to explore the impacts of the event. In 2015 the research was expanded to include 52 in-depth interviews with the event’s Director and all the producers trading at the event. Using Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, #EAT supports local producers and provides a vehicle for celebration, collaboration and networking via its physical site and its online presence. \ud \ud This paper highlights the increasingly important role that social media has in marketing alternative food markets and for generating business. Moreover, the paper suggests that social media and the fostering of ‘digital capital’ is vital in helping local food producers resist the influence of powerful commercial interests in line with theoretical frameworks such as Chalip’s (2004) ‘event leverage model’. We found that #EAT is an example of an organisation using social media to disrupt ‘core’ food and drink offerings in the form of subtle resistance against powerful and economic forces. This paper presents rich and insightful qualitative and quantitative data to theorise how social media is being used to transcend core/peripheral spaces. The paper firstly draws on concepts of resistance (and specifically notions of ‘creative resistance’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987) and the transcendence of third spaces to explain the situation for local producers in the city. Secondly, #EAT is presented as an example of an event that provides a physical ‘in person’ catalyst to generate a long term relationship and nurture social media engagement, and helps solidify existing networks, whilst providing other alternative events that small businesses can benefit from. Finally, we argue that social media offers a vehicle of ‘traceability’, allowing consumers to literally ‘follow’ the producer and the food throughout the year; #EAT offers an ongoing digital presence and a ‘core’ position long after the temporary physical event is over.

A festival implies a special use of space for both the organiser and the visitor.\ud On the practical level of events management, it is a series of temporary per -\ud formance venues presenting special organisational problems. For the festivalgoers,\ud it is a space set apart to which they come seeking an extraordinary\ud experience. This experience can have an emotional and symbolic significance,\ud which they then come to associate with the place itself.\ud For this reason, festivals and special events are increasingly used as part\ud of strategies to regenerate or reposition urban areas or coastal resorts. Events\ud attract additional visitors, creating economic benefits for retail, leisure and\ud other businesses. The publicity can be used for place marketing aimed not\ud only at attracting visitors but also new businesses and investment to the area\ud (Jago et al., 2003; Morgan et al, 2002). They can also give a boost to the\ud cultural or sporting life of the residents and increase local pride and selfesteem.\ud Festivals are part of the area’s ‘experience economy’ to use Pine and\ud Gilmore’s (1999) term, creating a temporary ‘creative space’ which can attract\ud visitors (Richards and Wilson, 2006).\ud But how should that space be designed to optimise the experience of the\ud festival-goers and contribute to the success of the event? Answering this\ud question requires an awareness of how festival-goers perceive the impact of\ud the location and its layout on their enjoyment of the event. The role of space\ud can best be explored within a wider conceptual framework that maps the\ud visitor experience of the event.\ud This chapter is based on research into the 2005 Sidmouth Folk Festival,\ud a long-established event which saw a significant change in ownership and\ud organisation from previous years. This sparked a lengthy discussion on an\ud enthusiasts’ internet message board about how successful it had been. One aspect of this was the rival merits of a festival based in a showground and\ud one spread over existing venues around the town. An analysis of these\ud discussions was used to explore the elements of the event experience and the\ud ways in which festival-goers evaluate it