Impacts of community events and festivals on rural places

Photo by Abel Tan Jun Yang from Pexels

This week our work in building local events calendars took us in to discussions around the importance of local events in community for news publishers. We learnt that consumers, business owners, editors and news publishing leadership understood the value of local events in the community and wanted to invest time and money to grow this area of content delivery.

With this in mind we wanted to research exactly what impact local events have in the community.

• Increased expenditures Creation of employment.
• Increase in labor supply Increase in standard of living.
• Increased awareness of the region as a travel/tourism destination.
• Increased knowledge concerning the potential for investment and commercial activity in the region.
• Creation of new accommodation and tourist attractions Increase in accessibility.
• Construction of new facilities Improvement of local infrastructure.
• Preservation of heritage.
• Increase in permanent level of local interest and participation in types of activities associated with event(s).
• Strengthening of regional values and traditions.
• Increased local pride and community spirit.
• Increased awareness of non-local perceptions.
• Enhanced international recognition of region and values.
• Development of skills among planners.

USA

Economic Impact of America’s Nonprofit Arts & Culture Industry Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year—$63.1 billion in spending by organizations and an additional $103.1 billion in eventrelated spending by their audiences40.

The impact of this activity is significant, supporting 5.7 million U.S. jobs and generating $29.6 billion in government revenue. Arts & Economic Prosperity III is the most comprehensive study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted. It documents the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry in 156 communities and regions (116 cities and counties, 35 multicounty regions, and five states), and represents all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The diverse communities range in population (four thousand to three million) and type (rural to urban). Researchers collected detailed expenditure and attendance data from 6,080 nonprofit arts and culture organizations and 94,478 of their attendees to measure total industry spending. Project economists customized input/output analysis models for each study region to provide specific and reliable economic impact data.

The study demonstrates that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is an economic driver in communities—a growth industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism. Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year—$63.1 billion in spending by organizations and an additional $103.1 billion in event-related spending by their audiences.

The study is the most comprehensive study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted. It documents the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry in 156 communities 40 http://www.artsusa.org/information_services/research/services/economic_impact/default.asp 13 and regions (116 cities and counties, 35 multicounty regions, and five states), and represents all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The $166.2 billion in total economic activity has a significant national impact, generating the following: 5.7 million full-time equivalent jobs $104.2 billion in household income $7.9 billion in local government tax revenues $9.1 billion in state government tax revenues $12.6 billion in federal income tax revenues