DO CULTURAL TOURISTS GOING TO REGIONAL CONCERT HALLS BENEFIT LOCAL ECONOMIES? A COMPARATIVE INDUCED IMPACT ANALYSIS IN LATVIA

Abstract

This study contributes to the field of the cultural economics by conducting an economic impact assessment of the three recently established regional concert halls in Latvia while focusing on induced impact. The overall aim of this study has been to calculate the indirect impact of each regional concert hall on its home-economy in 2016 and to analyse the attendee profiles and what their spending habits reveal about each concert hall and its mission fulfilment. During the research, the author has used a quantitative research methodology based on the best practices of economic impact assessment. The main source of data is the attendee survey, which is aimed to find out the attendee profile of three regional concert halls (place of residence, distance covered to arrive to the event, the type of event chosen, the size of the group, use of lodging) and their consumption habits (spending on cafes, indirect spending, spending on souvenirs etc.). The main findings show that induced impact on their home economies is significant. The author has measured the induced impact that stems from non- resident attendee consumption habits in each of the newly constructed concert halls for 2016. The main factors that create divergence in the final induced impact are proximity to Riga, the capital city of Latvia, purchasing power, size of the host city in terms of inhabitants, access to alternative sources of entertainment and the number of years in operation. The distinction between attendee profiles in each of the concert hall creates a great base for further and better targeted attendee attraction.