Bristol Rhythm Generates $16 Million in Economic Impact

Bristol Rhythm Generates $16 Million in Economic Impact

The BCM revealed results of an economic impact study of the 2015 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival at a presentation held at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The analysis was prepared by Destination Services, a professional destination consulting service based in Saint Charles, Missouri. During the presentation it was revealed that Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion generates approximately $16 million in total economic impact for the cities of Bristol TN/VA and the surrounding region.

The purpose of the study is to estimate the economic impacts of the 2015 Bristol Rhythm and Roots in Bristol VA/TN during the period September 18-20, 2015. The 2015 attendance to Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion (BRRR) was 49,896.

Results of Economic Impact Analysis

Direct visitor spending at BRRR is $9.86 million that has an indirect spending impact of $2.86 million, and an induced spending impact of $3.34 million, for a total economic impact on the BRRR area of $16.06 million.

Direct business taxes generated by direct visitor spending in the BRRR area is $1.13 million that has an indirect tax impact effect of $117,407, and an induced tax impact of $202,255, for a total business tax impact as a result of visitor spending at BRRR of $1.45 million.

Direct labor income (paychecks) generated by visitor spending at BRRR is $3.21 million, and an indirect worker income (paycheck) effect of $915,575, and an induced worker income (paycheck) impact of $1.06 million, for a total labor income (paycheck) impact of $5.19 million.

Direct jobs generated by visitor spending in the BRRR area are 125 jobs, which in turn generate 24 indirect jobs, and an induced jobs impact of 29 jobs, for a total job impact of visitor spending at the BRRR of 178 full-time, full-year equivalent jobs.

Direct impacts are defined as those attributed specifically to the new spending by visitors in the BRRR area. Direct spending impacts occur when visitors from outside the BRRR area purchase goods and services directly from sectors like hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, attractions, events & festival, and transportation business. For example, spending by visitors to the BRRR area at area restaurants leads to the employment of wait staff, cooks, and cashiers, and direct labor incomes (paychecks) of these employees.

1. Indirect impacts arise from businesses expenditures on raw materials, services, supplies, utilities, and other operating expenses which go to help support jobs in these businesses. For example, a restaurant may have increased sales from visitors to the BRRR, thus requiring more purchases from food service wholesalers and, potentially more utilities, accounting and marketing services from other local businesses. These indirect impacts also have an impact on jobs created in businesses that supply raw materials and services, like additional jobs in the utilities, and restaurant food wholesale business. Thus the size of the firm’s indirect impact on local incomes depends primarily on the dollar value of locally produced goods and services, and whether or not these same goods and services are locally produced or imported into the community by businesses outside the community. The visitor spending multiplier the model uses for the indirect impacts is 1.63, in other words for every dollar spent by visitor to the BRRR area, an additional $0.63 in economic activity is generated in the BRRR area.

2. Induced impacts or ripple effects are created in the area when new worker income and paychecks generated by the direct and indirect is spent and re-spent in the local area economy. For example, part of the paychecks workers earn (because of visitor spending) will be spent on housing. When a restaurant employee rents an apartment in the Bristol VA/TN area, a portion of the rent payment will be used to pay local employees of the apartment complex. These apartment complex employees will spend a portion of their income in the local community on groceries, housing, utilities, and transportation, thus adding to the amount of local personal income attributable to the firm’s activities. In turn paychecks are earned from employees in the grocery, housing, utilities and transportation firms that each generate subsequent rounds of spending, all attributable by the initial injection of direct spending by visitors to the BRRR.

2. Total impacts = direct impacts + indirect impacts + induced impacts. The input-output model used to generate indirect and induced impacts is the IMPLAN input-output model for the designated area of the BRRR. Input-output models analyze the interdependence of industries and institutions through market based transactions. Output from the model includes descriptive measures of the total industry output, indirect spending, indirect business taxes, indirect labor income (paychecks), and indirect jobs created. The model also estimates the induced or ripple multiplier effect of induced spending, induced business taxes, induced worker incomes (paychecks), and induced jobs created through the re-spending and ripple effect on the area economy.