Royal British Columbia Museum Corporation - Royal BC Museum

TITANIC ECONOMIC IMPACT
Visitor numbers
• The Royal BC Museum presented Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, April 14 – Oct. 14, 2007.
• Titanic is the most highly attended special temporary exhibit hosted by the Royal BC Museum in
more than a decade, in terms of total attendance numbers.
Exhibition
Total Paid
Attendance
Exhibit
Duration
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition 451,120 6 months
Leonardo da Vinci (1999) 416,000 5 months
Eternal Egypt (2004) 316,000 3 months
• Based on admissions per month, Eternal Egypt (105,000/month) still ranks as the most popularever
Royal BC Museum exhibit – followed by Leonardo (83,200/month) and Titanic (75,200/month).
• Of the 451,120 paid visitors to Titanic, 346,985 came from outside Southern Vancouver Island
region (south of Nanaimo); 165,947 came from outside BC.
Economic Impact
• The incremental visitors from outside the region – i.e. the people who came to Victoria solely to
see the Titanic exhibition – comprise 26.3 per cent (or 126,000) of the total number of visitors. It is
the tourist spending of these incremental visitors that forms the basis of the economic impact to
the local region.
• Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition generated more than $30.2 million in incremental income – and
more than 742 full‐time jobs – for the Southern Vancouver Island region; it generated more than
$12.5 million for the province of BC.
Exhibition
Incremental Income
($ million)
South Vancouver Island
Additional Jobs
(FTE)
South Vancouver Island
Incremental Income
($ million)
British Columbia
Titanic (2007) $30.2 742 $12.5
Leonardo da Vinci (1999) $16.1 499 $3.8
Eternal Egypt (2004) $9.2 229 $10.4
• Incremental visitors from outside British Columbia to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition generated
$4.5 million in tax revenues, as follows:
o Federal: $2.1 million
o Provincial: $2.1 million
o Municipal: $0.3 million
• Of the money added to the Southern Vancouver Island economy by these incremental visitors,
17.5 per cent was spent on accommodation, 14 per cent on restaurants/bars and 11.6 per cent on
transportation within the region.

TITANIC ECONOMIC IMPACT
Economic impact of annual operations of Royal BC Museum
• In fiscal year 2006/2007 (ending March 31, 2007), the operations of the Royal BC Museum are
estimated to have had an economic impact in the Southern Vancouver Island region of $11.7
million and 497 full‐time jobs. This increases to $15.7 million – and 561 jobs – when impacts to
other areas of the province are included.
• Tax revenue resulting from 2006/2007 museum operations are estimated at $4 million, as follows:
o Federal: $1.0 million
o Provincial: $1.7 million
o Municipal: $1.3 million
• In fiscal year 2005/2006, the operations of the Royal BC Museum are estimated to have had an
economic impact in the Southern Vancouver Island region of $10.6 million and 447 jobs. This
increases to $14.3 million – and 511 jobs – when impacts to other areas of the province are
included.
• These benefits are in addition to the incremental economic impacts generated during major
exhibits.
Exhibition background
• Created by Atlanta‐based Premier Exhibitions Inc., Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition features 281
artifacts recovered from Titanic’s undersea resting place in a series of galleries that trace the life of
the “unsinkable” ship. RMS Titanic Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc.,
is the only company in the world authorized to recover artifacts from the Titanic wreck site.