A 'ticket to ride' or 'a hard days night'? The importance of music tourism to Liverpool.

Abstract

This paper is written to facilitate discussion about the importance, if any, of Liverpool’s musical heritage to our enjoyment of the city during our visit to the conference. The consumption of both music and tourism are a ‘given’ in contemporary Western societies. However, the blend of music and tourism has been insufficiently researched. Gibson and Connell (notably: 2004, 2005, 2007) have dominated the literature on music tourism and its significance in the UK has only been touched upon. The context for this paper is research undertaken for UK Music on the economic impact of UK Music Tourism. The rationale for the overall research was that it was thought that the importance of music to UK tourism was not being recognised and therefore leveraged as effectively as it could. Feargal Sharkey (2010), Chief Executive of UK Music said: ‘Music is one of the UK’s crown jewels. It is a significant and powerful magnet for both overseas and UK tourists - whether they’re attending one of our many music festivals, visiting our music heritage sites or simply drawn by our reputation as the world’s pre-eminent music-producing nation.’ Understanding how important music is to tourism is more than economic. The aim of this paper is therefore to further develop our understanding of the consumption of music tourism by: 1. identifying live music and tourism consumption; 2. conceptualising how we can better understand the relationships between music, tourists and place in forming brand identity; 3. discussing this through the case study of Liverpool’s music tourism and the issues that this raises for tourism promotion. The method used here is based on a review of the data and literature on music, tourism and music tourism. A case study approach is taken to assist in conceptualising how best we could understand the different factors that make up the music tourism experience.