2009 Antigonish Highland Games Economic Impact Assessment Released

The economic impact assessment of the 2009 Antigonish Highland Games was released today by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA). The event was held in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, from July 15 - 18, 2009.

September 18, 2009

The study measures the increase in economic activity in Antigonish County arising from the operational expenditures of hosting the event as well as the combined spending of the more than 2,000 out-of-county spectators and 600 out-of-county participants. The combined expenditures of visitors to the county and the operational expenditures of the host organizing committee exceeded $1 million, which generated an estimated $2.6 million in economic activity for the Province of Nova Scotia, of which $1.6 million occurred in Antigonish. These expenditures supported $877,000 in wages and salaries in the province through the support of 30 jobs, of which an estimated 21 were in Antigonish. The net economic activity (GDP) generated by the event was $1.2 million throughout the Province of Nova Scotia, with $638,000 occurring in Antigonish.

Considerable tax revenues were also produced by the Games, totaling $537,000. The event supported federal government tax revenues of $249,000, while an additional $226,000 in taxes accrued to the provincial government. In addition, $62,000 in taxes was supported in Nova Scotia municipalities, of which $43,000 accrued in Antigonish.

“I think this assessment puts the economic impact of the Highland Games in a very favourable light,” says Danny Gillis, president of the Antigonish Highland Society. “With out-of-county visitors driving $1.6 million of new economic activity in Antigonish town and county alone, the Games can be seen as the cornerstone of the local summer tourist season and a tremendous financial boost for the community. The economic impact on the province is also very significant, showing why the Games remain one of Nova Scotia’s signature tourist events.”

“The financial impact emphasizes the importance of festivals and sporting events to our community,” says Gerry Grant, executive director at the Antigonish Regional Development Authority (ARDA). “What they bring to our community from an economic perspective also compliments the social, recreational, and cultural advantages and emphasizes the value of investing in infrastructure to support such activities.”

The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance conducted the analysis in conjunction with ARDA, the Antigonish Highland Society and the Province of Nova Scotia. To conduct the assessment, the CSTA used STEAM PRO (Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model – Professional version), which measures the economic impact of a sport event on a community.

Of the 2,000 spectators and 600 participants, ARDA surveyed 223 parties which represented 684 out-of-town spectators. This provided a confidence interval of +/- 3%, 19 times out of 20. The survey was conducted using the Techneos Entryware Pro System, which features the Entryware™ Designer software program for preparing the questionnaires as well as Entryware™ for Palm OS running on handheld PDA’s for data collection.

A copy of the full report is available online at:
http://www.canadiansporttourism.com
www.antigonishrda.ns.ca