Banksy's Bristol exhibition brought £15 million into city
The estimate from tourism body Destination Bristol is up to £5m higher than previous estimates of the value to businesses in his home city of the elusive artist's free summer show and represents three times the estimated economic value of the Harbour Festival or Balloon Fiesta.
A final tally showed 308,719 people visited Bristol City Museum and crackerjack.co.uk/bristol/art" target=_blank>Art Gallery to view the street artist's display over its 12-week run.
The exhibition attracted visitors from as far afield as the US and Japan, with people queuing for an average of three hours to view the attraction.
Destination Bristol found seven out of 10 people from outside the city who visited the exhibition were only in Bristol to see it – a total of 140,170 people who would not have come were it not for the Banksy show.
About 55,000 extra hotel and bed and breakfast rooms were occupied by Banksy fans staying in the city.
And visitors who came to the city solely to view the exhibition spent £10.3m.
This included £6.1m spent by staying visitors, on items such as food, drink, shopping and hotels.
Visitors who came on day trips but who did not live within a 25-mile radius spent about £4.2m.
But locals also contributed to the local economy, spending £4.3m in shops, pubs and restaurants while on a day out to see the exhibition.
Just over one in three exhibition-goers – 106,744 in all – lived within 25 miles of the museum and 201,975 lived further away, with 6,482 people – about one visitor in every 48 – coming from overseas.
John Hallett is managing director of Destination Bristol, which markets and promotes the city to visitors.
He said: "We can't think of a similar event which has come close in terms of revenue.
"Things such as the Harbour Festival, or the Bristol Balloon Fiesta each bring in about £5m to the local economy but nothing like the £15m we saw with Banksy."
Commercial property agents King Sturge have carried out a series of polls about the commercial impact of Banksy on Bristol business.
Partner Ned Cussen said: "It is a fantastic example of what can be achieved by an exhibition such as this.
"It developed an immense sense of civic pride and was a welcome boost for businesses who have been finding it tough in this current climate.
"I kept waiting to go to the exhibition, thinking the queue to get in would get shorter – in fact it just got longer and longer.
"All sorts of other businesses benefited from the Banksy effect, as more people flocked to the city."
Deputy city council leader Simon Cook said: "We are absolutely delighted to hear the figure of £15m. I've always believed that culture pumps the economy.
"We were told by Banksy's PR people that we would get 100,000 people to the exhibition – in fact we got more than 300,000.
"I think there is a great feeling of warmth towards Banksy with his legacy of artwork around Bristol and beyond.
"He isn't just a tagger but a gifted artist in his own right. He is slightly off-the-wall and he has a strong kind of chemistry, which fascinates people.
"And it wasn't just young people who came to see his work, it was people of all ages."
Banksy was unavailable for comment.
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