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Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine the direct economic and social benefits accruing from the Birdsville Races. The paper also explores how strategic place marketing has been used to shape the image of the destination, and how this has provided a boost to tourism visitation to periods outside of the event. Design/methodology/approach – This study was based around a textual analysis of online discourse, interviews with local residents and business owners and a survey of visitors. Findings – The data indicate that the Races make a solid contribution to the local, regional and state economy; however the local economic benefits are relatively limited due to the high level of leakages. It is also clear that the Races provide important social benefits by generating a strong sense of history, togetherness and engagement among the local community. Another important benefit is the national and international exposure the event receives, enabling the generation of additional economic benefits. Research limitations/implications – The practical implications of this study are that regardless of its size and/or location, the staging of a high-quality event or festival can help a destination to market itself effectively, both nationally and internationally. This exposure will generate additional benefits to the destination, region, state and nation. A successful event can also enable a destination attract substantial government funding that can further enhance the event experience. Originality/value – This paper illustrates that an event hosted in a very remote destination in outback Australia can provide direct benefits as well as indirect benefits. Place marketing can also allow the generation of an “iconic” image for a destination.

Greater attention is now being given to the increasing popularity of the Internet as a communication tool, particularly social media and other forms of user-generated content (UGC). Social media websites, representing various forms of UGC, are also specifically gaining considerable attention from tourists and potential tourists. Now, tourists have the option of seeking information from "new media," such as the Internet and social media, as well as traditional media, including films, television, books, magazines, and newspapers. Whereas both new and traditional media will play key roles in influencing the destination choices of tourists, research must also consider the influence of social groups that then translates through word of mouth (WOM). The youth and student travel market is a valuable segment of the overall tourism market, although it is often dismissed or ignored by tourism operators as youth tourists are wrongly perceived as having little financial value. This is, perhaps, because youth and student tourists are generally perceived as having a low income, and thus little disposable income to contribute towards travel. This research addresses this lack of attention by examining and exploring the international destination choice influencers of students with regard to peer and social pressure, traditional WOM, online social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and other UGC websites. The research used a qualitative, focus group study strategy. The results found that all 24 university student participants indicated some level of apprehension about the reliability of information found on the Internet and social media in particular, and there were also varying degrees of reluctance to utilize social media as a credible destination information source. This contradicts previous research suggesting young people such as university students do not generally show concern about the credibility of information found in social media.

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