East Coast Music Week 2011 Announces Direct Revenue Report

Posted on July 15, 2011 at 5:25pm

(Charlottetown) - Tourists attending the 2011 East Coast Music Week in Charlottetown injected more than $2.4 million into the Prince Edward Island economy, according to an economic impact study commissioned by the East Coast Music Association (ECMA), with assistance from the Province of Prince Edward Island and the Department of Canadian Heritage under the Federal Provincial Territorial Tourism Initiative.

During ECMA's East Coast Music Week 2011, the Dunne Group conducted data collection and generated an estimate of the economic impact of non-resident visitor expenditures over four days between April 13 and 17, 2011.

Using the results from a structured framework of attendee intercepts at East Coast Music Week events by field researchers and total audience attendance at East Coast Music Week events, it is estimated that approximately 3,000 non-resident, non-ECMA delegate/industry visitors from the general public attended East Coast Music Week. Overall, the mean per person expenditure estimate is $637.70 with the 95% confidence interval of the standard error being $511.68 to $767.73. Multiplying the per person expenditure estimate by the total non-resident visitor estimate results in a total non-resident visitor expenditure estimate of $2.48-million.

"What underscores the veracity of this study," says Su Hutchinson Executive Director, East Coast Music Association, "is that it was executed under a stringent federal reporting model - the Economic Impact Model for Arts and Heritage (EIMAH) - created to ensure balanced and comparable reporting for events across the country."

Although the study focused on tourism spending, East Coast Music Week resulted in millions of more dollars for the Island economy, thanks to exposure through national and international media, the world wide webcast of the gala, the upcoming television documentary (Birth Place of the Beat airing on CMT on July 30, 2011 - 8 pm ADT) and the operational budget spent within the province.

"East Coast Music Week 2011 was a huge success and created a great buzz of excitement on Prince Edward Island," said Prince Edward Island Tourism and Culture Minister Robert Vessey. "Cultural events such as East Coast Music Week not only enrich the lives of residents, they are also important contributors to our tourism industry and economy."

The event attendee intercepts were also used to recruit non-resident visitors to participate in a post-visit survey. This survey was used, in part, to capture data on the influence that East Coast Music Week had on decisions to visit Prince Edward Island during the week of April 11 and expenditures made while visiting PEI. In calculating a mean estimate of per person expenditures, individual expenditures reported were weighted by the influence that ECMW had on the decision to visit. Over 85% of non-resident visitors attending East Coast Music Week were primarily motivated to visit Prince Edward Island during the week of April 11 because of ECMW itself.

"It was exciting for Charlottetown to host East Coast Music Week 2011 - a cultural explosion - during a year in which our city has been designated a Cultural Capital of Canada," said Mayor Clifford Lee. "The excitement and sounds of music, artistry and cultural diversity covered our city. To host events such as this during the tourism shoulder season also brings tremendous economic and tourism prosperity."

Copies of the complete study are available by contacting ECMA.

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For more information, please contact:

Su Hutchinson

Executive Director

East Coast Music Association

902-393-4754

su [at] www.ecma.com

Mary Moszynski

P.E.I. Department of Tourism and Culture

City of Charlottetown

1-902-368-5535