Macroeconomics and the Falmouth Oyster Festival (Assignment 2)

Cornwall has a wealth of festivals which vary in size and style from small community celebrations to large scale arts festivals presenting a variety of professional product. They are capable of providing a focal point for cultural tourism and are beginning to do so in a number of cases. A higher profile and more integrated marketing, together with a recognition of their value in terms of tourism and economic spin-off is necessary. The range is impressive and the benefits, both economic and social, of promoting this area of activity are self-evident.( http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=14917) accessed 08/11/2010

The Falmouth Oyster Festival is an annual event celebrating the start of the oyster dredging season and one of the last traditional oyster fisheries, dredging by sail and hand punt. The season runs from October to March and is governed by ancient laws, overseen by the European Union, put in place to protect the natural ecology of the riverbeds and oyster stocks.

The Oyster Festivals effect on the local economy is tremendous, held in mid October and a week before half term, the event creates a tourist boom of around 30’000 people over four days, at a time of year where income from tourism into the economy should be decreasing. The festival benefits nearly every aspect of Falmouth’s economy, local supply businesses experience an increase in business due to increased business for local restaurants, shops, hotels and others businesses providing services. This also means that the majority of people who are employed seasonally in Falmouth may be able to stretch their employment time until after the half term holiday toward the end of October, which has a positive effect on the employment rate, and the gross domestic product of the UK

The event also promotes local produce, and in turn can be very beneficial in promoting Cornish produce to international markets. Although the oyster festival only lasts a few days, it signifies the start of the dredging season. The Fal River oysters are sold, mostly out of the county to smart metropolitan restaurants or exported to Europe where they are highly sought after, even in France. There are many factors influencing this trade with other countries for example the value of the British Pound against other currencies. This is determined by the current deficit of the economy, a rise in deficit will result in the fall of the face value of a currency, in turn, a reduction in deficit will improve the value of the currency. Inflation also has the ability to devalue a currency as it reduces the purchasing power within a county. Although the reduction in the value of the pound is negative when purchasing from international markets the opposite is true when supplying. The decreased value of the pound might possibly influence trade with countries who 10 years ago would never have purchased British produce as the value of the pound was extremely high. 

The week pound could also mean an increase of international tourists visiting Cornwall. The government website, Visit Cornwall, promotes the Oyster Festival to international tourists, which benefits the county on a whole. Tourists visiting the UK are effectively creating wealth for the country, this means that they are bringing money into the country that wasn’t there before their visit.