FBTS22 DELIVERS £6.4M ECONOMIC BOOST FOR LOCAL ECONOMY

Yet again Fringe By The Sea has proven that not only does it bring 10 days of fantastic entertainment to North Berwick, but it is responsible for helping the local economy.

An independent report by MKA Economics suggests that the net additional economic impact of visitor spend as a result of Fringe by the Sea was in the region of £6,428,785, a 105% increase on the 2021 figure. The Scottish Tourism Multiplier Study (STMS) provides standard supplier and income multipliers for the tourism sector.

There were 57,250 visits to the festival, with more than 35,000 tickets to events sold.  The 2022 event encouraged more overnight stays in the area, and with lower levels of those staying with friends/family and higher levels of nights in paid accommodation. Therefore, the event will have played an important economic role for local businesses, which will have aided the Covid19 economic recovery.

Overall, in terms of event ratings, the 2022 event scored considerably higher in terms of the number of people claiming it to be ‘Excellent’ (64%, compared to 62% in 2021 and 46% in 2019) and rating it as ‘Ten out of Ten’ (47%, compared to 45% in 2021 and 31% in 2019).

This rating has helped in encouraging more visitors to consider re-attending in future, with 90% indicating that they would ‘Definitely’ attend future Fringe by the Sea events, compared to 86% in 2021 and 80% in 2019. Similarly, 90% of respondents indicated that they it would be ‘Very Likely’ that they would recommend the event, compared to 87% in 2021 and 78% in 2019.

The 2022 festival was again successful in bringing new people to the event with 28% of respondents were new visitors to Fringe by the Sea

In order to ascertain the role of Fringe by the Sea in attracting visitors to North Berwick, non-local survey respondents were asked about their motivation in visiting the area. 37% (36% in 2021) of respondents noted that Fringe by the Sea was ‘only reason’ they were visiting North Berwick

The festival is also good news for sponsors with, one in three of the respondents (34%, compared to 29% in 2021) would be more likely to engage with that sponsor

Director of Fringe By The Sea Rory Steel says: “This is yet another year in which Fringe By The Sea proves that all the hard work put in to organising 10 days of events is of huge benefit to the local economy.  Shops, restaurants, bars, accommodation providers in North Berwick as well as local production suppliers and artist all gain from bringing people to the area which in turn is good news for all the residents of this town.  The feedback on our sponsors is also heartwarming – without them we could not survive.  So thank you again to everyone who helped us make 2022 a bumper year for Fringe By The Sea”