Charleston Wine + Food Releases Economic Impact, Data for ’22 Festival

The five-day Charleston Wine + Food Festival today released details on their 2022 event’s economic impact. Festival organizers say this year’s celebration brought $25.6 million in economic impact to the region.

“After missing a full year of in-person programming, the Festival came roaring back in ’22,” said Interim Executive Director, Alyssa Maute Smith. “We’re gratified to see the spending levels were so healthy, and we know that the bounty was shared among numerous municipalities and entities.”

Here are some more numbers released by the festival – and developed in conjunction with researchers at the College of Charleston Office of Tourism Analysis:

• The average per-person visitor spent $1,329
• The festival spun off $1.6 million in state and local taxes
• 34,918 people attended the festival
  • 75% were female
  • 36% visited from out of town
    • Of those out of town guests, 70% stayed in paid accommodations
• After the 2020 festival, it was reported that Black, Indigenous, or people of color made up 16 percent of the festival’s chefs, beverage professionals, winemakers and musicians. This year they accounted for about 34 percent

The 2023 festival will return March 1-5, 2023.

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