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It’s been said that success breeds success.
Such appears to be the case with the Savannah Food & Wine Festival, which drew more than 5,000 people and generated an estimated $1.8 million in spending during its inaugural event last year.
This year, organizers are reporting record ticket sales and sold-out events in advance of the festival’s Nov. 10 start.
“Ticket sales for both the River Street Stroll and Taste of Savannah have doubled this year from the same time last year,” said Jan Gourley, festival co-founder and director, adding that the majority of the festival’s online ticket sales are from outside the Savannah market area and accommodations in the Historic District are mostly sold out for the week of the festival.
According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, last year’s festival drew 5,240 attendees, which translated into 3,523 room nights sold, 8,418 total visitor days, $1,079.345 in direct spending and another $708,618 in indirect spending.
Numbers were based on the Georgia Event Impact Calculator.
This year, based on how ticket sales are trending, the number of
attendees and vendors is expected to push 7,500, said Michael Owens, president of Savannah’s Tourism Leadership Council.
“We’re way ahead of our goals and expectations, just as we were last year,” Owens said. “The inaugural festival beat every marker for success that we had set out. Clearly, Savannah was ready for this kind of event.”
Tickets sales, which at one point last month were 80 percent outside of Savannah, are now leveling off to about 60 percent out-of-town and 40 percent local, he said.
“That’s pretty typical two weeks out,” he said, adding he expects more local sales as the festival start draws closer.
The out-of-town visitors come from such relatively nearby markets as Atlanta and Hilton Head to such far-flung U.S. markets as Boston, New York, Chicago and New Orleans. Australia, Canada, Europe and South America also are represented.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with our partnership with the Savannah Food & Wines Festival,” said Mark Spadoni, general manager of the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa.
“Not only does the festival sell out our hotel in a time that has historically been a softer market, it brings national attention to our city because of the quality events the festival produces.”
Whip Triplett, executive vice president of North Point Hospitality — which owns the Hilton Garden Inn and the Doubletree by Hilton, both in Savannah’s Historic District — agreed.
“The festival is a home run,” Triplett said. “It’s a strong economic driver in a month that in the past has been considered off-peak. With such an overwhelming success in the first year we’re delighted to have a community event that’s already a favorite for both Savannahians and our visitors.”
But you don’t have to be in the Historic District to benefit from the festival, said Kal Patel, chief operating officer of Image Hotels.
“Most of our hotels are outside of the historic district at the airport, and we’ve still seen the positive economic impact of the festival first hand,” he said. “We’ve seen a huge amount of reservations coming in from visitors coming to Savannah for the festival. This festival has been a positive for all of us.”
That, Owens said, is by design.
“We developed the festival around three goals — to have a positive impact on the city as a whole, to contribute to Savannah’s nonprofit community and to create an event Savannah would be proud to host,” he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
The 2013 Savannah Food and Wine Festival
5,240 – attendees
$1.8 million – estimated economic impact
$874,194 – spent on lodging
$195,774 – spent on food and beverage
$104,038 – spent on retail
$74,810 – spent on recreation
39 percent – number of attendees with post graduate/masters degrees
49 percent – number of attendees who stayed in a full service hotel/resort
1 in 4 – attendees traveled to Savannah by air
84 percent – attendees whose income totaled $50,000 or more
56 percent - attendees whose income totaled $100,000 or more