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Issues of Tourists and Locals Behaviour: the Case of International Kotka Maritime Festival
This paper is aimed to differentiate types of visitors’ behavior at one of the biggest event in Finland - International Kotka Maritime Festival. Based on 367 questionnaires the research revealed that behavioral practices of local residents, domestic and international tourists differ, though not radically. Despite its international character the festival is more significant and interesting for locals, who spend more money and participate in more activities of the festival comparing to other groups. These trends can be explained by involvement of local residents and their families or friends into organisation of some of the festival’s events and possibility to spend time together. While developing a concept of the festival, organisers should consider a context and features of international tourists arriving to Kotka, but focus on raising level of satisfaction of the local community through more active engagement in preparation and conduction of the festival, diversification of the events and taking into account interests of all the stakeholders.