The ninth edition of the Malta Arts Festival has set new records for revenue and audience numbers. The figures are stilll coming in but it is already clear that ticket revenue is higher than in 2013 and much higher than 2012’s €20,000.

The appropriate pricing of festival tickets is crucial as the demand for some performances is more inelastic than for others. But the council’s remit is not to maximise revenue but to promote the arts, so this year it reduced the prices to €10-15, and offered a €30 ticket which allowed access to three events.

Over 100 bought the trio ticket, up from just 46 last year.

“The reduction in price was clearly effective,” artistic committee member Toni Attard said.

Ticket sales were also boosted by having an info point at the old Opera House, which allowed the organisers to sell tickets up to the last minute.

The festival costs around €400,000, mainly from public funds with the support of a few sponsors.

“It doesn’t generate a profit but it is not expected to; few festivals anywhere in the world would survive on ticket revenue alone. But here in Malta we only have a handful of private sponsors . We do not have a very strong culture of private business partnering with the public sector; unfortunately they do not see it as an opportunity to brand and to be associated with quality projects,” he said with a shrug.

“And the businesses that benefit from association with a museum or festival are happy to reap the rewards but not always as happy to contribute towards them financially. All businesses look forward to Notte Bianca but how many contribute towards the cultural content?”

The reduction in price was clearly effective

This year’s event will give an even better return than the €1.3 for every €1 of the arts festival, calculated by a 2012 study carried out as part of the Creative Economy project.

The study found that festivals and concerts generated €1.2 million direct revenue and €345,000 in indirect revenue, while Heritage Malta museums give an even better return on investment at €2 for every €1 spent, thanks to the impact they have on restaurants, bars and shops nearby. They bring in €5.6 million in direct revenue and €9.2 million in indirect.

“It is important to calculate the impact on Valletta and to understand the spill-over on to businesses,” Mr Attard said.

“It is true that abroad, because of the lengthier commute, patrons tend to make an evening of it and have dinner and drinks etc. But there are 900 people at the Pjazza Teatru Rjal, and another 2,000 from events at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, St James Cavalier and the Manoel Theatre.

“Although there are many bars and restaurants that now make it a point to cater to theatre patrons, there are many that still close too early. Look at the business generated for those who stay open for Notte Bianca!”

We are seeing more and more tourists who drop in; what we want to do is put the events on the cultural calendar so that tourists come here deliberately to attend.

“We have managed to do this with the Baroque Festival after just two editions,” he said.

“The important thing is to launch the programme months in advance and encourage international agents to book packages to Malta, as they did for the Baroque Festival.”

The flight element boosted the returns from the festival to €1.5 for every €1 spent.

“We are not yet reaping the full benefit of the festivals. This year the Malta Tourism Authority invited foreign journalists to attend and it might be a good idea for the team working on 2015 to pay special attention to the tourism aspect.”

With Valletta preparing to take on its role as the European Capital of Culture in 2018, Mr Attard believes the time is ripe for the economics of art to be given more emphasis.

“Of course, there is art for art’s sake. But that does not mean that we should not make art a part of our marketing as a tourism ­destination.”

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