Coastal Uncorked Festival provides $3 million local economic impact
The Brittain Center researchers calculated the direct impacts from tourist spending in 2011 to be $2,578,371, up from $847,607 in 2010, an increase of more than 300 percent. The Center also estimated indirect and induced impacts of spending at the event based only on spending by new visitors to the area drawn by the festival.
Brittain Center researchers estimated direct spending for each of three types of tourists: 1) ‘New Tourists’, those who have not historically traveled to the area at least one time per year and for whom Coastal Uncorked was a of high importance to their decision to do so this year; 2) ‘Switchers’ or tourists for whom Coastal Uncorked was of high importance but who already travel to the area one or more times per year; and 3) ‘Casual’ event participants, those tourists who attended Coastal Uncorked events this year but for whom the events were not the primary reason for their decision to come to the area. Indirect and induced impacts are calculated only on the spending by new tourists.
In 2010 the Center surveyed 145 tourist parties. Of those, 28 percent were Type 1 tourists, 24.1 percent were Type 2 tourists, and 47.9 percent were Type 3 tourists. In 2011 the Center surveyed 96 tourist parties. Of those 41.1 percent were Type 1 tourists, 27.4 percent were Type 2, and 31.5 percent were Type 3 tourists. Though the differing sample sizes make statistical comparison of the results across the two years difficult, the results do indicate that a greater proportion of the visitors sampled in 2011 characterized the event as being highly important to their choice to visit Myrtle Beach as a destination during the event than had done so during the 2010 Coastal Uncorked event.
For more information, please contact L. Taylor Damonte, Coastal Carolina University, 843-349-2698.