LAST SUMMER’S Worcester Stands Tall giraffe art trail provided an £800,000 boost to the city, new figures have revealed.
Studies by MEL Research, funded by Worcester BID, revealed WST app users alone spent £104,200 to £156,000 in the city during the trail which ran from July to September 2018.
Footfall figures from Crowngate Shopping Centre and the Tourist Information Centre reveal an increase of 44 per cent compared to the same period in 2017 – and based on average spend this could have contributed a boost of up to £846,000.
Meanwhile, a net profit of £233,000 was raised for the hospice’s Build 2020 Appeal – a project which will create savings for the county’s health economy.
Tricia Cavell, the hospice’s fundraising director, said: “We are thrilled to see how much value our lovely giraffes brought to the city last year.
“We already knew the sculptures were very well loved by the community here in Worcester – but to understand the level of positive impact the trail had on areas such as the city’s economy and tourism is just fantastic.
“It is wonderful to know the trail brought so much to the city as a whole – while being of phenomenal support to our own fund-raising. Thank you to everyone who supported Worcester Stands Tall.”
The survey also showed 99 per cent of app users rated the trail positively and 71 per cent explored parts of the city they wouldn’t normally visit. In addition, a total of 99 per cent of those responding to a survey of city businesses said the trail had a positive impact on their revenues.
Other findings from the evaluation research include: 5,210 people downloaded and paid for the WST app, more than 14,000 paper trail maps were collected from outlets across the city while 79 per cent of app users spent £30 or more during their WST visit
The WST auction in October saw 31 sculptures sold for a total £210,400. This followed the 10-week trail featuring 57 giraffes from July to September. WST was a Wild in Art project, brought to the city by St Richard’s Hospice.
Visit www.strichards.org.uk for more.
