Edinburgh Festival offers bigger boost to city's shopping than Christmas

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 30, 2019

The positive impact of special local events on shopping has been made clear by a new research that shows the Edinburgh Festival that takes place across almost a month during August, has a massive impact on shopping in the city.

In fact, it benefits Edinburgh’s stores and dining establishments far more than the two-month Christmas season, according to marketing technology and location planning specialist CACI.

It analysed the anonymous usage patterns of mobile devices across the UK, looking at how patterns of behaviour change during such major tourism events as the Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Fringe, which were attended by a combined 3.2 million people in 2018.

And that has implications for festivals large and small across the UK, especially as festival season gets under way.

CACI said that Edinburgh’s catchment triples in size during the festivals, with people travelling long distances to visit. Outside the festival period, the majority of visitors to the city travel from within a 69-minute drive time, rising to 125 minutes during Christmas. But this increases to 215 minutes in August, which means UK and foreign tourists are flocking to the city.

Tourists and residents both spend consistently during the festivals, with conversion at 67% for tourists and 69% for residents.

And while the festivals attract people from a much greater distance, demographically there is consistency with the non-peak visitor profile. Some 22% come from what CACI calls the Executive Wealth category; 12% being Career Climbers; and 12% City Sophisticates. All three are the highest spending of CACI’s profiles and if they rise proportionately during the festivals, then the implications for its premium and high-end fashion stores is enormous.

Alex McCulloch, Director of CACI Property Consulting Group, said: “For many years, the [festivals] have anecdotally been referred to as the equivalent of a second Christmas for retailers in the city. Our analysis, however, has revealed [they] are an even bigger commercial opportunity for businesses than Christmas due to their ability to attract tourists and encourage spend by residents. 
 
“The significance of the findings, however, goes beyond Edinburgh as they demonstrate the value for cities, and indeed the owners and managers of destinations in cities, of embracing culturally rich and diverse events. By doing so, it is possible to increase spend, conversion and the scale of the catchment area from which visitors are attracted. Events create additional reasons for consumers to engage with a destination, broadening its role in their lives by increasing its relevance.”