IATE Research Seminar Series
Seminar of the Tourism Economics in Focus: IATE Research Seminar Series, delivered by Prof. Andrea Saayman (North-West University).
Title: Why are the Crowds Shrinking? A Pseudo-Panel Analysis of Afrikaans Festival Demand
Authors: Andrea Saayman and Elmarie Slabbertb (North-West University)
Abstract:
South Africa is a multicultural society, with 11 official languages. After the democratic elections of 1994, there has been a boom in festivals within the country with a number of these festivals focusing on celebrating specific cultures. The Afrikaans culture has especially experienced an increase in the number of festivals, with only 1 designated festival during the early 1990s (the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival – KKNK) to 5 festivals by 2010. The festivals encompass theatre, music and literary productions, mostly in the Afrikaans language, and are held in different towns spread throughout the country. However, there is a notable decline in demand for these festivals, which leads to the question of what is causing this decrease in demand. This research aims to analyse trends within the Afrikaans festivals using, among others, pseudo-panel analysis to determine both the (i) macro (or external) drivers and the (ii) micro (individual) drivers of demand. Our approach relies heavily not only on the theory of demand for cultural goods, but also the drivers of cultural consumption, against the backdrop of Butler’s tourism area life cycle model. We use survey to construct pseudo-panels based on year of birth, as well as organiser data from two of the largest Afrikaans festivals, Aardklop (2004-2024) and Innibos (2011-2024) to shed light on attendance, ticket sales, and
spending behaviour at these festivals.
📅 Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2026
🕒 Time: 3:00 PM CET (UTC +1; Madrid Time),
🌐 Format: Online — open to all
We look forward to seeing you there!
For any queries, please contact the seminar organizers: veronica.leoni@uib.es & oriol.anguera@cett.cat
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