An analysis of the role of live entertainment at English seaside resorts, with particular reference to the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century

This study has demonstrated that, at the beginning of the 21st century, live entertainment remains an essential part of the cultural offer at English seaside resorts. Changes in tourism, changes in cultural attitudes, changes to local government policy-making and changes within the live entertainment industry itself have been investigated and suggest that such changes have not fundamentally altered the place of live entertainment as an expected part of the cultural experience at the seaside.

Live entertainment does not generally influence people’s decision to visit seaside locations, but it is important to tourists once they are staying in the resort. It is increasingly important within the social and cultural life of the resort, especially in relation to residents. In these respects, live entertainment is not provided for economic reasons per se, but more as a part of the total cultural offer - for tourists and residents alike.

Local authorities are the key supporters of seaside live entertainment. They provide financial subsidies but also the administrative structures that allow live entertainment to continue. However, despite national government initiatives such as the need for all local authorities to provide inclusive local cultural strategies within their strategic planning, the rationale for the support of ‘low’ culture live entertainment of the seaside ‘variety’ is not clearly understood. This is partly because seemingly similar resorts have different priorities and practices towards live entertainment, but mainly due to a general lack of understanding of the place of live entertainment in the ‘mosaic’ that makes up the total seaside destination offer. This lack of understanding extends to the social, cultural and economic consequences of providing live entertainment. The study has identified the need to develop the findings of this work to explore the true significance of live entertainment within the cultural part of leisure/tourism policy-making at seaside resorts related to attracting and retaining visitors and residents.