South African Cultural Observatory Launches Updated South African Festival Economic Impact Calculator (SAFEIC)

The South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) released its latest SOUTH AFRICAN FESTIVAL ECONOMIC IMPACT CALCULATOR (SAFEIC) version 2. SAFEIC is designed to provide credible, conservative estimates of the economic impact of festivals and events – and is accessible via the SACO website for all organisers of events and festivals from small to large. Cultural events and festivals have both social and economic value. SACO has developed a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, which seeks to capture a wide range of these values.  The economic value of cultural events is what the South African Festivals Economic Impact Calculator (SAFEIC) can help organisers estimate in a valid and reliable way. 

SAFEIC is a free online tool developed by the South African Cultural Observatory specifically for South African cultural festivals and events. The tool is based on a regional economic impact calculator developed for cultural events in the US and adapted for South Africa with the assistance of the original modeller.

To run SAFEIC, a minimum of five pieces of information are needed. Ideally, some of this information should come from a visitor survey, but if a survey is not possible, SAFEIC uses default values derived from reliable sources, such as the South African Domestic Tourism Survey.

Minimum Data Required for SAFEIC

 
SAFEIC has three categories of data:

• Required information without which SAFEIC cannot run
• Default values that can be overwritten if organisers or researchers have more data (from a visitor survey for example)
• Default values that cannot be overwritten (technical coefficients derived for economic modelling and research)

SAFEIC was developed and updated by two experienced cultural economists: Prof Bruce Seaman from Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, and Prof Jen Snowball, professor of Economics at Rhodes University, a researcher partner of the South African Cultural Observatory.

According to Prof Snowball, “The South African Cultural Observatory is committed to providing cutting-edge tools and research to support the growth and development of the cultural sector. SAFEIC is a significant step forward in measuring the economic impact of festivals and events, and we encourage all event organizers to utilize this valuable resource." Furthermore, “What SAFEIC does is to help cultural festivals to measure the economic impact of the event, which can be a powerful supporting document when applying for funding and the contribution it would make to South Africa’s creative economy.” 

For more information on the SAFEIC, visit our SACO website:

For more information, interviews on the SAFEIC, please contact:

SA Cultural Observatory
info@southarficanculturalobservatory.co.za

About the South African Cultural Observatory
The South African Cultural Observatory is a national research institution dedicated to providing insights and data-driven solutions for the cultural sector.