The 2012 World Choir Games will produce substantial benefits for the economy of Cincinnati USA through the operational expenditures required to organize and run the Games and the associated spending that occurs because the World Choir Games will attract participants and visitors who will travel to Cincinnati USA.

The 2012 Games will produce a total economic impact of $73.5 million for the Cincinnati USA economy, which will include $22.3 million in household earnings, according to a study conducted by the Economics Center for Education and Research at the University of Cincinnati that was released in July 2010.

All together, these economic activities will generate more than $1.8 million in tax revenues for the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and other local governments within the metropolitan area. Through the attraction of 20,000 participants and 200,000 spectators, mostly from outside the area, the World Choir Games will bring new money into the region, replenishing and expanding the Cincinnati USA economy.

• The Games Operations: Spending associated with the organization and running of the World Choir Games is projected at $10 million. The economic impact of this spending is $21.1 million.
• Spending by Participants: Based on projections of 20,000 participants (choir members, jurors and other delegation officials) who are anticipated to account for 45,000 hotel room nights, direct spending of $13.4 million results in an economic impact of $26.7 million.
• Spending by Spectators: The combined events of the 2012 World Choir Games are expected to attract 200,000 spectators. Considering that spectators will attend multiple events, the estimated total of visitors is 90,000, with 65 percent (58,500) of them being visitors from outside the Cincinnati USA region. These visitors are projected to directly spend $12.6 million generating $25.7 million in economic impact.

“There isn’t a single event that’s bigger,” says Jeff Rexhausen, associate director of research for the Economics Center for Education and Research. “The magnitude of this impact would rank the World Choir Games ahead of the year-round impact of almost every indoor arts, culture or recreation venue in the region.”

A substantial portion of this total economic impact will flow directly into the pockets of local workers in the form of wages and benefits. Slightly more than 30 percent of the overall economic impact will take the form of increased earnings for area households, a total of $22.3 million.