Research shows events mean business

Recently-published research suggests that even modest-sized events can generate thousands of pounds of additional spending in the area.

Last year Shropshire Council commissioned studies of four sample festivals in Shrewsbury to identify the value of events to the local economy.  The findings showed that the events surveyed generated between £166,000 and £548,000 of extra spending in Shrewsbury shops, restaurants, accommodation and attractions.

Face-to-face interviews were carried out at the Cartoon Festival, the River Festival, Food Festival and Folk Festival.  The festivals were chosen to represent a mix of themes, free and charged for admission, one day and multi day, new and established events, with results that might also be useful for other event organisers.

The study showed the value of events and festivals in attracting first time and infrequent visitors, as events provide a new and ‘time limited’ reason to visit somewhere.  The four events sampled were rated very highly for enjoyment (96%-98% said good or very good) and also left people feeling good about Shrewsbury itself (96% -100% reported good or very good impressions).  A majority of visitors to all the events expressed a wish to return and said they were likely to recommend Shrewsbury to family and friends.

Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for leisure, libraries and culture, said:

“Festivals and events help to make Shropshire a great place for both visitors and local people.  We are lucky to live in a county where entrepreneurs and many volunteers contribute their time and expertise to staging such a diverse range of cultural events. Communities and businesses benefit greatly from their efforts.”

Tina Woodward, Shropshire Council’s deputy Cabinet member responsible for tourism, said:

“The contribution that events and festivals make to the local economy is evident from these studies.  With current constraints on public spending, it is more important than ever that organisers can prove the worth of their event.  We hope this information will help organisers to harness support from external grants and sponsors.”

Food Festival organiser, Andy Richardson, said:

“This is brilliant information.  We’ve further anecdotal evidence of the economic impact of our event – it generated substantial new incomes for many in the town.”

The work to assess the economic value of events was a key action in the Visitor Economy Strategy for Shrewsbury. 

Further information

The full report can be downloaded via the attachment here.