OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BASED ON ATTRACTING VISITORS AND TOURISTS
- The Salzburg Festival is still the biggest tourist event of Austria’s summer
season. Since 1920 its reputation has risen steadily and in recent years it has
attracted more than 200,000 visitors a year (Frey & Pommerehne, 1989). It incurs
high costs, and its deficit is covered by the federal government to the tune of
40%, while the region, the city, and the local tourism promotion fund pick up
the remainder (60%) in equal shares. According to some observers, guaranteed
public coverage of the deficit has caused the Festival to let costs get out of hand
without raising prices. Everyone is convinced, however, that the local benefits
justify these efforts, and that the territory makes up for the fiscal burden through
the spending of tourists. Yet it is by no means certain that this is the case, apart
from the impact on the local image.
- The cancellation of the Avignon Festival in July 2003 because of a strike by freelance
performing artists and technicians (les intermittents du spectacle) 53 brought to the
fore the question of economic returns from this type of event. A number of studies
have evaluated the economic impact of this Festival at different periods (Pflieger,
1986). They all concluded that there was a positive local economic impact. But
the dimensions of that impact vary sharply from one study to the next, because
they used different methodologies to evaluate direct, indirect and induced effects,
or because they took areas of study of differing breadth (for example, looking
only at the “official” or “in” Festival, or considering also the “off” Festival).
The 1986 study (Pflieger, 1986) identified several categories of spin-offs:
• Direct spin-offs, in this case production spending generated by the festival
itself. This spending was evaluated at €2.12 million, 66% of which flowed directly
to the Avignon area, and 10% to the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur). Of
these €2,12 million 0.6 million went to wages and 1.05 million to purchases from
local firms. Finally, when the “off” festival was included, there was a further flow
of revenues to the local performance hall rental market, estimated at €0.53 million 54 .
• Indirect spin-offs, representing tourist spending (accommodation, restaurants,
etc.). The calculation method used was able to dissociate Festival-specific
spending from what tourists spent on visits to the nearby city of Avignon, with
its architectural heritage. That spending amounted to €1.66 million.
• Induced spin-offs could not be accurately measured: they consisted of the
drawing power of the city of Avignon at the national and international levels,
thanks to the indirect publicity carried by the various media present at Avignon
during the festival. The spin-offs break down into two groups:
• Cultural spin-offs in the broad sense (including training), with a lively
theatrical scene that functions throughout the year (three permanent
CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005 75