ECONOMIC IMPACT OF PIFA
Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) is an arts festival organized by the Kimmel Center, originally produced in 2011 with a $10 million grant from Lenore Annenberg. Following the resounding success of its inaugural production, the Kimmel Center has continued the PIFA vision with follow-up festivals in 2013 and 2016.
Urban Partners has assisted the Kimmel Center document the significant economic impact the Festivals have had in the Philadelphia region since 2011. The aggregate economic impact of PIFA 2011 and PIFA 2013 is $79.3 million for the Philadelphia region (measured in 2013 dollars), contributing a total of $2.93 million in tax revenue for the City of Philadelphia and $2.78 million for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As part of our work, Urban Partners designed customized audience survey instruments administered by Kimmel Center staff that informed the out-of-facility spending patterns for a variety of audience segments. Using the survey results, as well as the proprietary methods developed by Urban Partners in previous studies of exhibitions and cultural districts in the Philadelphia region, off -site expenditures related to lodging, dining, shopping, and local off –street parking expenses were calculated for all categories of visitors.
