LT2025-006 LAUGHING HORSE ARTS FOUNDATION

Home Browse Search

Response 2.1: Why would tourists travel to Kittitas County to attend your event/activity/facility?* The Summer mainstage production is a two to three-hour event held over two weekends in the summer when families are more likely to travel. These factors encourage people traveling from over 50 miles to stay locally for the night at hotels or with family and friends. Attendees that stay overnight in lodgings also make in-town purchases. Tourists drawn by our show are more likely to return next year to make an experience out of the trip. And the larger the cast/crew of a production, the more family and friends come to see the production. The cast/crew of our summer productions average between 50-75 people. We expect to draw on college student talent as well. It is reasonable to assume that personal invitations (esp. from college students not local) will generate 400-500 out-of-town tickets from 2000 total attendees. Attendees may come for dinner and the show, or stay with friends, but generate revenue at our grocery stores, gas stations, etc. Out of state visitors are likely to be friends and family, as well as business/pleasure travelers in town for other events and looking for entertainment options. Current Kittitas County Tourism data provided by the Chamber of Commerce shows that day attendees on an average day trip into the county will generate $205 (gas, food, shopping, recreation). And the hotel occupancy rate in Kittitas County for the first two weekends, July 2024 was 82-95% filled. Our summer plays make a great opportunity for visitors looking for local entertainment. As reported by the State of Washington Economic Model and Ecosystem Analysis, October 1, 2022, Washington state’s creative economy contributed $119.2 billion to the gross domestic product(GDP) of the entire economy of Washington–a 19.6% share of the total economy, and Music, Performing Arts and Visual Arts is the second largest creative sector contributing to the state’s employment. The GDP of Music, Theater, Dance, and Visual Arts is $4.7 billion, comparable to the state’s distinctive Culinary Arts and Beverage sector with a GDP of $4.9 billion. The output of the creative economy in the South Central region amounted to $1.8 billion in 2019, which made up 6.9% of output across all industries in the regional economy. In 2019, the household demand for the goods and services produced by the Music, Theater, Dance, and Visual Arts in the region was $135 million, or $1,202 per household. 2500 character limit