After completion of the case study, the students will be able to identify key stakeholder groups (government, tourism businesses, residents, transport providers, health-care sector and environmental advocates) and analyse their competing interests, claims and potential contributions to workable solutions [Objective 1 – Stakeholder analysis (both levels)]; apply a power-interest grid to prioritise stakeholder engagement strategies, distinguish structural from situational power and anticipate coalition dynamics [Objective 2 – Power-interest mapping (both levels)]; evaluate the economic, social and environmental trade-offs associated with event-led tourism strategies under capacity constraints and assess how those trade-offs change over a three-to-five-year horizon [Objective 3 – triple bottom line (both levels)]; distinguish between maintaining the long-term viability of the island system and keeping tourism competitive and economically strong over time (considering arrivals, revenue and employment) and articulate the ethical and governance implications of each benchmark [Objective 4 – Sustainable development vs sustainable tourism (both levels, but master’s students are expected to engage at greater analytical depth)]; and formulate a strategy that balances growth objectives with resident wellbeing and sustainability commitments and justify implementation sequencing, accountability mechanisms and risk mitigation measures [Objective 5 – Policy recommendation (both levels, but master’s students are expected to engage at greater analytical depth)].
This teaching case study is set in Penghu at the end of 2023. The protagonist, Wang An-Cheng (pseudonym), was not a formal government officer but a consultant appointed by the Penghu County Government to review the strategic design of the 22nd Penghu International Fireworks Festival (PIFF) for 2024, with a specific task: assess whether the festival schedule should be extended. PIFF was Penghu’s flagship event and a critical economic lifeline. After the COVID-19 shock, local tourism businesses were eager to stabilise revenue and employment. They pressured the county to extend the festival beyond its usual spring to early summer window into July and August, the period of Taiwan’s school holidays, to reduce the post-festival drop in demand. Businesses argued that without this extension, the summer peak would remain below pre-pandemic levels and that many small operators might not survive another weak season. However, Wang quickly recognised that “more” might not mean “better”. Penghu’s island setting featured structural constraints that differed from those of many mainland destinations: transport capacity was limited; service labour was tight and public services (especially health care and emergency response) were vulnerable to seasonal surges. Residents complained about traffic congestion, waste, noise and, most crucially, that limited flight capacity was crowded out by visitors when locals needed urgent medical transfers to Taiwan’s main island or had to travel for family emergencies and bereavements. A further complication was whether Penghu’s environment and essential services could effectively support a longer peak season. Over the preceding decade, national and county policies had encouraged a shift towards lower-carbon and cleaner mobility, including renewable energy, green transport and environmental greening (Executive Yuan, 2017). In practice, however, extending the PIFF into July and August would have meant more weeks of concentrated visitor flows and higher daily pressure on waste collection, water and electricity demand, traffic management and sensitive coastal spaces. Fireworks nights also created short but intense pressures through air pollution, debris clean-up and crowd control. These effects were manageable over a limited period, but they risked becoming cumulative if the festival window expanded. For Wang, the key question was not slogans, but capacity: how far could Penghu’s system stretch before environmental quality and service reliability began to deteriorate? Wang had to recommend a feasible strategy that balanced pressure to accelerate economic recovery, resident wellbeing and environmental commitments. His recommendation would signal what “success” meant for Penghu’s tourism future, and who benefited, who paid and how risks were managed.
This case study is suitable for senior undergraduate (BA level) students in tourism, hospitality, public affairs, business or event management; and master’s-level students in tourism management, public policy, sustainability or regional development. Suitable for courses on destination management, sustainable tourism, tourism policy and event strategy.
CSS 12: Tourism and Hospitality
