ESADE study: Fira de Barcelona generates an annual economic impact of more than 2.6 billion euros
A new ESADE study has found that Fira de Barcelona supports more than 40,000 jobs and generates an annual economic impact of €2.624 billion, with a gross value added (GVA) equivalent to 1.21% of Catalonia’s gross domestic product (GDP). The study also measured the extent to which the trade fair venue benefits the local community through contributions of social and public value.
The study, carried out by ESADE’s Institute for Public Governance and Management, was presented today at Círculo de Economía. It focuses on Fira de Barcelona’s activity from 2012 to 2014, during which period the institution hosted nearly 200 events with more than 27,000 exhibitors and welcomed more than 2 million visitors per year. The study shows that Fira de Barcelona is a major wealth creator that helps to make the local economy and community more dynamic, as well as an important asset that generates a diverse range of benefits for event organisers, participants, stakeholders and the surrounding region.
Josep Lluís Bonet, chairman of the board of Fira de Barcelona, commented: “I would like to highlight the recent economic and social impact of Fira de Barcelona, which is now overcoming the difficult economic crisis and consolidating its position in the international exhibition circuit, thanks to its diversified portfolio of products and services and its increasingly global outlook.
Job creation
The exhibitions, conferences and events organised or attracted by Fira de Barcelona have a very positive impact on the city and the country as a whole because they promote economic activity in multiple sectors, help generate business for event participants and for local industry, and create thousands of jobs.
In order to determine Fira de Barcelona’s overall impact, the study used 2011 input-output tables for Catalonia, focusing on four basic variables: expenditures by visitors and exhibitors, operating expenses, investment in infrastructure and facilities, and the creation of business and economic activity for participants. The final figures represent the sum of direct, indirect and induced effects.
According to the study, the total annual economic impact of Fira de Barcelona is €2.624 billion, which generates a GVA of €2.36 billion (1.21% of Catalonia’s average GDP). The facility’s economic activity also supports 40,580 jobs, of which 43% are in sectors such as catering, accommodation, retail, transport and leisure. The study also found that events held at Fira de Barcelona generate €782 million in tax revenue annually through the value-added tax, income tax, and business tax.
Visitors and exhibitors
According to the new report, expenditures by exhibitors and visitors attending events at the Montjuïc and Gran Via facilities account for a significant portion of Fira de Barcelona’s economic impact (more than €1 billion). Attracting professionals to these events brings international business travellers and tourists to Barcelona and the surrounding area and helps to distribute the tourism flow throughout the year while increasing the quality of the city’s visitors.
One of the goals of Fira de Barcelona is to support local companies and provide leverage in the creation of business opportunities for the local economy. Besides the return on investment generated for event attendees, the study notes that the operation of Fira de Barcelona itself has a major impact on certain sectors, particularly catering, accommodation, technology, retail, leisure, agriculture, real estate and transport services.
Fira de Barcelona’s social values
Beyond Fira de Barcelona’s economic impact, the interaction of the institution’s activity with the local community creates other benefits that are more difficult to quantify – namely, social impact and public value. The new study marks the first time that the impact of Fira de Barcelona has been evaluated methodologically and its main potentially measurable value contributions have been identified, as a first step towards further analysis in the future. Specifically, the ESADE study identifies six major areas of value contribution:
- Economic and productive development: Fira de Barcelona makes the economy more dynamic by providing opportunities for business and internationalisation, encouraging entrepreneurship, supporting small and medium-sized companies and business associations, and encouraging innovation by hosting cross-sector events.
- Public space: The facilities managed by Fira de Barcelona (totalling nearly 400,000 m2) provide added value to citizens as well as a venue for socialisation and leisure. The fact that Fira de Barcelona organises trade-fair and social activities on its premises, as opposed to other uses, unquestionably represents a contribution of value to the city.
- Hubs of urban centrality: With its two venues – Gran Via and Montjuïc – Fira de Barcelona helps to create two hubs of urban centrality by attracting local activity and encouraging improvements in infrastructure (public transport, airport links, etc.).
- Social cohesion: Fira de Barcelona’s events and visitors create a vital, multicultural experience for participants and generate value that can be considered a contribution to social cohesion.
- Positioning and identity: With its activity and the attraction of events and visitors to the Barcelona metropolitan area, Fira de Barcelona gives the city a more international identity and fosters business-related values, giving Barcelona a global image that goes beyond conventional tourism. Barcelona gives Fira de Barcelona the hallmarks of its identity, and in turn Fira de Barcelona provides the city with elements of its identity.
- Knowledge and innovation: The events hosted by Fira de Barcelona are a source of knowledge creation and transfer, as well as a showcase and channel for publicising the latest innovations in multiple economic and industrial sectors.
