Figueres, 3 July 2012
The Dalí Foundation presented its Economic Impact Study for 2011, drawn up within the framework of a collaboration agreement with the University of Girona and the Catalan Institute for Research into the Cultural Heritage.
The presentation was given by Modest Fluvià, Professor of Economics at the University of Girona, and by Lluís Peñuelas and Joan Manuel Sevillano, General Secretary and Managing Director of the Dalí Foundation, respectively.
The authors of the study are Modest Fluvià (doctor in Economics and professor at the University of Girona), Ricard Rigall (doctor in Economics and tenured lecturer at University of Girona), Albert Saló (doctor in Economics and postdoctoral researcher at ESADE Business School) and Ferran Casas (research assistant).
The economic impact study measures the overall economic activity (basically production, income and employment) generated by the foundation, including direct, indirect and induced effects, in yet another example of exercise of social responsibility shown by not-for-profit cultural institutions.
The Dalí Foundation drew up its first economic impact study in 2005.
The main results of the economic impact study being presented today are as follows:
- The amount spent by visitors to the Dalí Foundation museums is estimated at 123 million euros. That represents a very notable growth (66%) in relation to 2005. This overall growth has been due both to an increase in the number of visitors (18,5%) and in the amount spent per visitor (40%).
- The volume of economic activity generated, i.e. the amount of economic transactions originated by the activities of the Foundation, is estimated at 181 million euros, a 52% increase over 2005.
- The generation of Gross Domestic Product, i.e. the value of revenues taken through Foundation activities, is estimated at 90 million euros, 67% upon 2005. (For the purposes of comparison, this magnitude amounts to 2.5% of the GDP of Alt Empordà county).
- Jobs resulting from Foundation activities are estimated at some 1865 posts, an increase of 49% in relation to 2005.
The report notes a very positive economic evolution for the Dalí Foundation since 2005. And that evolution has to be rated particularly positively in two respects. Firstly, because it occurred over a period of general crisis in economic activity. And second, because it rests on solid and sustainable foundations. Thus, if we look at the main indicators of internal efficiency (operating costs, employment costs and public subsidies) it can be discerned that the costs of the Dalí Foundation museums are some 60-75% lower than for the rest of the principal museums in Spain, both public and private, and that the Foundation does not depend on public subsidies.
