Cultural Festival Branding and Stakeholders’ Constraint in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial Districts, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the challenges in cultural festival branding and the multifaceted constraints imposed by stakeholders on festival tourism in the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, Akwa Ibom State. It aimed to examine the involvement of various actors and propose a workable marketing strategy for the industry's revival. Employing a Survey Design approach, the research gathered both qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires and Focused Group Discussions with 357 respondents from 17 communities. Key participants included government agencies, traditional councils, private sector entities, and crucially, a large segment of Non-Governmental (NGOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), whose bottom-up perspectives significantly shaped the findings. Descriptive statistics revealed that the perceived effectiveness of stakeholder promotion efforts was highly non-uniform across communities, demonstrating wide disparities in performance and perception. The most pronounced constraint hindering collaboration and growth was overwhelmingly identified as the "Lack of Resources", closely followed by insufficient awareness. The study concludes that the festival tourism industry's future hinges on implementing structural reforms. Based on these insights, a multi-tiered strategic marketing blueprint is proposed, focusing on governance reform, dedicated financial investment, and digital modernization to transition these rich cultural assets into sustainable, globally competitive tourism products.