Event sustainability and transportation policy: A model-based cluster analysis for a cross-comparison of hallmark events

Transportation is one of the main topics in the wide-ranging theme of event sustainability. The aimof this article is to make a contribution towards the evaluation of the sustainable transportation policies implemented by the organizers of hallmark events, to establish an accurate and objective methodology for a cross-comparison. The organizers, policy makers and the host community are the main stakeholders interested in an evaluation of the degree of sustainability implicit in the mobility policy of an event. A non-hierarchical model-based clustering is performed, using a sample of periodical Italian hallmark events, and then examined to determine whether there is a difference in the distribution of a selection of auxiliary variables among the clusters. The results show that neither visitor number, nor the number of inhabitants in the host city, is associated with the cluster membership. However, the theme of the event appears to be associated with the estimated partition.