If Posidonia cost you and your company a fortune this year, just know you played a part in giving a hefty cash injection to the Greek economy.
A new report has quantified the value of this year’s event, estimating that the week-long show contributed €80m ($84.9m) to the local economy in Athens — nearly as much as a Taylor Swift concert brings in.
Although Swift was not there, Kylie Minogue helped propel this year’s Posidonia to be the biggest in its 55-year history in terms of visitor numbers, exhibition space and publicity received, according to the organisers.
Around 41,838 people attended the event, of whom 32,527 were visitors.
Visitor numbers were up by almost 13% since the last event in 2022.
About 13,000 people travelled from abroad to Posidonia this year.
It also generated €212,104 that supported charities, non-governmental organisations and other social and environmental initiatives.
Of this figure, some €70,786 went to educational initiatives including Posidonia scholarships, local universities and maritime training centres.
Visitors to Posidonia stayed for four days on average and the 2,038 exhibitors usually stayed for seven.
Trade exhibitions in Greece directly contributed €246m to national gross domestic product in 2022 and indirectly generated just under €500m for the economy.
The impact of large events on local economies has been highlighted in recent years by Swift’s influence, giving rise to the term Swiftonomics.
Her Eras Tour, which began in 2022 and will end next month, has been credited with boosting local economies worldwide as fans flock to host cities for concerts, spending over $1,300 per person on average in the US.
Her concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, last year was estimated to have boosted local spending by $92m — just a few million more than a week of Posidonia.
