Birds of a Feather

The 2005 Victoria Tall Ships Festival finished $50,000 in the black last June, attracting nearly 40,000 paid visitors and sinking $5.2 million into the local economy.

The positive results were announced Wednesday as part of a long-awaited economic analysis completed by the University of Victoria's Faculty of Business.

"I think this was probably the largest family event of the year in Victoria. Every sector of the industry benefited," said Lorne Whyte, chief executive officer of Tourism Victoria.

"Hotels were full and WestJet was booked solid. You couldn't even get into the city that weekend."

But the strong numbers may not be enough to bring the tall ships back in 2008, when Victoria has first right of refusal to host the four-day maritime celebration again. A return engagement will depend on continued community support, and funding commitments from all three levels of government, say festival organizers.

"We've been clear about that policy from the start. It takes more than us to make an event like this work," said Bernard Brown, executive director of the Victoria Tall Ships Society.

"But if we do go ahead in three years, this study gives us a barometer for gauging our performance."

Data for the UVic analysis is based on 550 random surveys of paid festival goers leaving the Inner Harbour, as well as Tourism Victoria questionnaires and feedback from the tall ships society.

The numbers were then run through a nationally-adopted formula specially designed to measure the economic impact of cultural events.

Of paid festival goers, 52 per cent were from Victoria and 48 per cent were out-of-towners. Most (51 per cent) came from Greater Vancouver and elsewhere on the Island, but 23 per cent visited from Alberta.

"We marketed there three to four months before the festival. Those were are strongest numbers from Alberta since Eternal Egypt," said Whyte.

American tourists were likely no shows at the Inner Harbour since Tacoma was hosting its own tall ships extravaganza in July.

"We didn't do much advertising there for that reason," added Whyte.

Tickets sales for the local festival came in at nearly $470,000 and concession revenue topped $100,000.

The $5.2 million in net income impact (GDP) is based on $2.4 million in direct spending, combined with subsequent spin-offs. On average, out-of-town visitors spent $158 a day between June 23 and 26.

"Our members felt their sails were full as well," said Downtown Victoria Business Association president Matt McNeil. "The feedback they got was fabulous from tourists and locals alike. I hope you proceed with that option to get it (the festival) back for 2008."

Initially, the tall ships society forecast there'd be 250,000 visitors during the maritime celebration, contributing $25 million in economic benefits.

Brown said the gap was due to using a model based on sporting, not cultural events.

The UVic formula puts Victoria on comparative ground with the 2001 Kingston Tall Ships Challenge, which brought in $7.4 million.

Local organizers donated $5,000 of their $50,000 surplus to the Maritime Museum Wednesday, as part of its educational mandate.

It cost about $1.1 million to host the four-day festival.