CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

more visitors than FESTIMA. From the survey (Table 25), it appears that the top 10 festivals
have a total budget of CFAF 2.5 billion (€ 4 million). Because FESTIMA is located in the
countryside, its multiplier effect is likely to be lower than in the centre region where
Ouagadougou is located (due to a higher general level of prices). Therefore, the total local
economic impact of these 10 festivals can be estimated at CFAF 12.5 billion (€ 20 million) at least.
In addition to the numbers of foreign visitors and to their local economic impact, it is interesting
to look at the support that festivals can provide to the tourism sector. Thus the following figure,
that compares year-on-year arrivals between 2011 and 2010, indicates how two festivals
(FESPACO 2011 and SIAO 2010) could have impacted international visitors’ arrivals in Burkina
Faso.
Figure 7: Year-on-Year Differences for Arrivals in Burkina Faso by Category of Visitors
(2011–2010)
Source: Ministry of Culture and Tourism data – Annuaire statistique 2013.
We observe that business visitors are the most influenced by these two cultural events. That is
to be expected in any festival organised for the private stakeholders more than for the locals or
international tourists. The strong decline in visitor arrivals in March 2011 is explained by a
period of instability that started in March 2011 and lasted until the improvement in the political
situation at the end of 2011.
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