Charleston Wine & Food economic impact hits $18.6 million

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The annual five-day Charleston Wine & Food Festival in March had an $18.6 million economic impact on the Charleston area, according to a study from the College of Charleston Office of Tourism Analysis.

The impact was up $3.3 million from 2018’s Wine & Food Festival, according to a news release.

“It’s always exciting to see people respond positively to our programming and have that excitement translate into attendance and our largest economic impact to date,” said Gillian Zettler, executive director for the festival, in the release. “The results are a great achievement for our community.”

This year’s festival included 26,000 attendees at 128 events across the greater Charleston area. Ticket prices started at $65 and almost 30 of the events were under $100.

Approximately 57% of attendees were local to the Lowcountry.

“I think the increase in local attendance is largely attributed to the diversity of our programming and experiences and the effort the organization has made since my time here to create more accessible price points,” Zettler said.