News Release Archive
ECONOMIC RENEWAL-SUMMIT VISITOR SPENDING EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
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The thousands of visitors, delegates and international media
who attended the Halifax Summit in June spent an estimated
$8.1 million in Nova Scotia according to the visitor
expenditure study released today by Economic Renewal
Minister Robbie Harrison and co-chair of the provincial
Summit Cabinet Committee. The actual amount of money spent
by the 6,600 Summit delegates, staff and media exceeds, by
$800,000, a pre-Summit study released by the Department of
Finance.
Consistent with original spring projections, the largest
expenditure was concentrated in the accommodation and food
services industries. The 1,284 Summit delegates, 3,067 staff
and 2,266 international media consumed $7 million in food
and lodgings, a full million dollars more than the April
forecast.
Figures also show visitors spent $500,000 shopping in local
stores and boutiques, the second largest expenditure
category.
Mr. Harrison was pleased with the news. "When it came to
eating, and sleeping, people spent almost a million more
dollars than we expected. Beyond the pride, beyond the fun,
beyond the hospitality, it was a fantastic windfall for this
province."
"The Department of Finance included anticipated expenditures
by security personnel in the forecast last April.
Considering there is no credible expenditure model that
exists for people being housed on university campuses (where
many security stayed during the Summit) money spent by this
group is not included at all in the $8.1 million total," the
minister said. "However, let's not forget there were 2,200
security people living, eating and travelling through metro
for the event." Participants and visitors to the P-7 were
not included in the numbers either.
Expenditures from delegates, staff and media resulted in 200
person-years of direct and spinoff employment: $5.2 million
in household income including wages, salaries and benefits
and $600,000 in provincial government revenue.
In releasing the expenditure figures today, Mr. Harrison
said that the high hopes for quantifiable returns from the
investment of time, energy and dollars that were dedicated
to the Summit, are being realized on a daily basis.
"Regional, national and international business people,
influencers and media are seeing Nova Scotia through new
eyes, thanks in part to our high profile Summit success,"
the minister said. "Nova Scotians from Yarmouth to Cape
Breton are proud of the Summit as a provincial
accomplishment and one that will do us all good in the
future."
The Economic Renewal Agency and the Nova Scotia Marketing
Agency are strategically incorporating the images and
examples of Summit success into provincial information and
marketing tools to promote business, travel, meetings and
conventions. "We must take this success message to the right
marketplaces while the Halifax Summit is still a fresh
event.
"Our partners -- for instance Icelandair, which is preparing
to begin service to Halifax in the spring -- have told us
that the publicity Nova Scotia received from the Summit
makes their job of promoting a relatively unknown
destination in Scandinavian terms, much easier."
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Contact: Steve Warburton
Economic Renewal Agency
902-424-0927
trp Oct. 3, 1995
