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Tourism – whether intrastate, interstate or international – is an important driver of South Australia’s economy. Much of the economic benefit it brings to the state, flows to regional communities and it has a positive impact on other industries such as agriculture, wine, retail, education, real estate and transport. Arts and culture destinations are key factors in determining where people choose to travel. Tourism is a business that contributes economically and socially to our communities, and cultural tourism is even better business.
The South Australian Government sets out its ambitions and priorities for the state’s tourism sector in its South Australian Visitor Economy Sector Plan 2030 where it recognises the visitor economy as a super growth sector and a key contributor to the economic prosperity of the state. This Plan identifies ‘leisure and business events’ as one of its six priorities for growing the visitor economy.
Furthermore, the South Australian Government recognises that arts and cultural tourism is an important part of the South Australian visitor experience and is vital to the South Australian Visitor Economy, contributing $1.4 billion of the overall $8.1 billion Visitor Economy and supporting 7,500 jobs pre-COVID. In 2021, the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) and Arts South Australia released their joint South Australian Arts & Cultural Tourism Strategy 2025. This strategy includes ‘festivals and events’ as one of the key pillars of South Australian ‘Arts and Cultural Tourism’.
Traditionally, the majority of attendees at Adelaide’s festivals are South Australians, but many are also tourists — visiting the state from overseas or interstate to experience something new . These tourists spend money beyond the festival gates which flows throughout the economy, stimulating activity in downstream industries as well as the city’s bars and restaurants.
Tourist expenditures tend to be higher among visitors visiting for cultural tourism than other types of tourism. For example, in 2019, international holiday visitors who participated in cultural and heritage activities spent an average of $2,975 per trip in Australia, compared to $2,596 for all international holiday visitors. It is estimated that 76,000 tourists attended Festival City Adelaide festivals in 2018, spending $94.0 million during their stay (excluding ticket expenditure).
Adelaide’s festivals can positively contribute to tourism in South Australia by marketing Adelaide as a destination for cultural and creative tourism. ‘Festival tourism’ is a recognised form of cultural tourism, where visitors are encouraged to actively interact and engage in local creative and cultural festival experiences. Arts and cultural festivals have been recognised to be able to be used to help boost tourism development by enhancing the image of the region, making them a popular strategic initiative used to attract visitors to cities and regions globally. Importantly, the benefit of marketing Adelaide’s festivals is not limited to attendance at a singular event. As demonstrated with Edinburgh’s Festival City branding, incorporating festivals into destination marketing can promote a particular brand for a city as a whole, while also supporting visitation at individual festivals. As highly visible public events, Adelaide’s festivals can help to broadcast the positive aspects of South Australia’s reputation interstate and overseas, branding the state in a way that may appeal to potential visitors. Additional tourists at festivals — while paying the same ticket prices as locals, from a festival perspective — assist in boosting the broader visitor economy, an important outcome given the increasing hotel room supply expected in the coming years.
In evaluating the potential economic impact if five of Adelaide’s major festivals achieve their ten-year attendance growth targets, with an associated increase in tourism visitation and expenditure, Deloitte Access Economics estimate an additional 24,900 tourists could be attracted to South Australia on average annually, who would spend an extra $182 million over ten years in net present value (NPV) terms.
