We were so excited to hear the news from our friends over at the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance that our little 2015 wine festival had a HUGE positive impact on our town’s economy. They put on a brilliant event that continues to draw in new visitors, as well as keeps bringing people back year after year. Congrats to the PRWCA for yet another job well done, and thank you to our local wineries for pouring their liquid excellence that keeps ’em all smiling! Check it out:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Christopher Taranto
Economic Impact Report Reveals Strong Statistics for 33rd Annual Celebration
Paso Robles, CA (July 8, 2015) The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance (PRWCA) has released the 2015 Paso Robles Wine Festival Economic Impact Report, and the statistics are strong for the City of Paso Robles and County of San Luis Obispo economies. The report, conducted by Productive Impact LLC, shows a total economic impact of the 2015 Paso Robles Wine Festival on San Luis Obispo County to be $2.14 million. Direct spending by attendees on lodging, food and beverage, gasoline, wine to take home, and souvenirs totaled $1.115m, combined with indirect and induced spending results in a Total Economic Impact from Attendee Spending of $1.68m.
The 33rd Annual Paso Robles Wine Festival was held May 14 to May 17, 2015 with a total of 3,699 unique attendees, including attendance at the Winemaker Dinners, RESERVE event, and Grand Tasting. Local festival goers accounted for 10.8% of attendees with non-locals accounting for 89.2%, with 52.5% of them being first time attendees. Non-locals drove the majority of visitor dollars spent with an average of $316.65 per person, not including tickets to the Paso Robles Wine Festival. Non-locals visited an average of 5.4 winery tasting rooms while in the area, spending an average of $86.07 per person (average party size 4.9 people) on wine to take home.
“It is thrilling that after 33 years we continue to produce a vibrant wine festival that draws new visitors to Paso Robles Wine Country and the county,” said Jennifer Porter, Executive Director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. “We are delighted to discover attendees of Wine Fest provide a large economic impact to the city and county.”
Another measure of economic impact is the taxes which directly or indirectly support local governments. The report estimates that the county experienced additional sales tax revenue of $62,531 and additional property tax revenue of $47,095, as well as an estimated local Transient Occupancy Tax of $39,701 generated from this four-day celebration of Paso Robles Wine Country.
Attendee spending data was captured by implementing an after-event online survey. From this data and other data supplied by the PRWCA, Productive Impact LLC was able to estimate the direct impacts that the Wine Festival had on San Luis Obispo County. These direct impacts were applied to multiple IMPLAN models, which in turn showed the ripple effect of the expenditures throughout the county. Also measured was general sentiment, which showed 86.3% of the respondents rating the Wine Festival as Very Good or Excellent, 74% were at least Very Likely to return, and 82.9% were Very Likely to recommend attending the Wine Festival to a friend. This bodes well for future tourism and the local economy, as the Paso Robles Wine Festival continues to attract visitors to the region.
Click here to view the Economic Impact Analysis for the Paso Robles Wine Festival 2015
About Productive Impact, LLC
Productive Impact LLC specializes in the analysis of data to create economic impact studies, business plan development and coaching and mentoring for businesses. This San Luis Obispo based firm is led by Kenneth D. Riener, PhD and Patrick D. Mayeda. Productive Impact LLC has produced economic impact reports for other local projects like the California Space Center, Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Community Action Partnership and Savor the Central Coast.
About Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance
The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance represents wineries, growers and businesses in Paso Robles Wine Country. Centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, along California’s Central Coast, Paso Robles Wine Country is California’s third largest wine region. It encompasses more than 32,000 vineyard acres and 200 wineries. For more information, visit www.pasowine.com. Social – #pasowine, @pasorobleswine (Twitter and Facebook)
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Christopher Taranto
Communications Director
Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance
c: 805-712-5445
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