Four of the top ten revenue producing events in the greater Harrisburg, PA area are equestrian events held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center, a report from the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau said in May.
The report ranks events by general attendance, the economic impact of direct and indirect spending by vendors and attendees, and the number of jobs each event supports. It also projects the federal, state and local taxes for that particular event.
The four equestrian events – Pennsylvania Horse World Expo, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, the Pennsylvania State 4-H Show and the Black Book Standardbred Sale -- together had an economic impact of $28.7 million in the greater Harrisburg area, the report said. They drew 42,300 attendees and supported 7,384 jobs.
Pennsylvania Horse World Expo, which had its 13th run March 3-8, 2015, had an estimated attendance of 20,000, including 300 exhibitors, an economic impact of $5.2 million, and supported 1,017 jobs. The Pennsylvania National Horse Show, which will hold its 75th show October 8-19, 2015, has an estimated attendance of 15,000, including 4,400 participants, and supports 2,083 jobs. The report estimated economic impact of $13.7 million, while noting that the show organizers estimate the economic impact at $38.9 million based on an Equine Industry standard that calculates these shows produce a higher level of spending based on the demographics of attendees.
The Pennsylvania State 4-H Horse show, which will be held October 23-25, 2015, has an estimated attendance of 2,300, supports 468 jobs, and has an estimated economic impact of $1 million according to the report. The Standardbred Horse Sale, which will be held November 2-7, has an estimated attendance of 5,000, an economic impact of $8.8 million and supports 1,984 jobs.
While not exclusively equine, the Pennsylvania Farm Show and Keystone International Livestock Exposition both have strong equine components. The Farm Show, which had its 99th run January 9-16, 2015, drew 600,000 attendees including 300 vendors, an estimated economic of $95 million, and supported 18,032 jobs. The Keystone International Livestock Exposition, which will be held September 26-October 4, 2015, has an estimated attendance of 18,000, supports 1,408 jobs and an estimated economic impact of $8.9 million.
The Pennsylvania Farm Show, claimed the top ranking in both the Attendance and Economic Impact categories, followed by the Great American Outdoor Show. Other events that appeared within the Top 10 ranks in both categories included the PA Christmas & Gift Show; Pennsylvania Horse World Expo; Mecum Auto Auctions; FIRE EXPO; Keystone International Livestock Expo; and the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
The entire report is at visithersheyharrisburg.org.