Tourism impact – Coastal culture

Alex Lambley looks at the impact Tate St Ives has had on Cornwall over the past ten years.

In 1993, the partnership of Cornwall County Council, Tate Trustees, Penwith District Council and St Ives Town Council delivered a project which has since generated, at a conservative estimate, £16m each year in the Cornish economy. Since its opening, Tate St Ives (TSI) has never had fewer than 150,000 visitors per year, with current figures around 250,000. In economic terms alone, it has been a very effective engine of regeneration for the town of St Ives and Cornwall.

In terms of impact, though, the gallery?s effect goes beyond an injection of money and visitors to the area. The success of TSI has been instrumental in the resurgence of confidence in Cornwall, pioneering the way for the Eden Project and the National Maritime Museum. With the opening of TSI in 1993 and the Eden Project and the National Maritime Museum in 2000, visitor figures to Cornwall have hit an all time high, with the total number of visitors growing by a staggering 47% from 3.4 million in 1991 to 5 million in 2001(1).

For St Ives itself, there has definitely been a ?Tate Effect?; a study carried out in 2001 found that 37% of holidaymakers questioned in the town decided to visit St Ives because of TSI. The same survey questioned 136 local businesses, and found that over 75% were pleased with the establishment of TSI in the town, with over 50% reporting increased business. In addition, it indicated that there had been significant growth in the number of private businesses in the town, particularly the number of private art galleries. TSI is also having an influence in extending the tourist season; a consistent 17% of visitors are ?extremely? or ?very? influenced to come to Cornwall because of TSI and this rises to 22% in February and 27% in October. This is enabling a larger proportion of businesses to stay open throughout the year, which in turn is having a positive impact on permanent full-time employment figures.

As well as acting as a catalyst for the economic regeneration of Cornwall, TSI has also been intrinsic in changing public perception of the county from the traditional bucket and spade to a quality cultural destination. The reason for the continued growth of TSI is partly due to the opening of other major attractions in Cornwall, but it is also due to its ability to adapt in an ever-changing market. When it opened, TSI had an unchanging display of paintings and sculptures from the St Ives School of Modernists. For the next seven years the main elements of various collection displays were supplemented with small study displays. When Susan Daniel-McElroy, the current Director of TSI, joined in 2000, she instigated an exhibition programme that focused on seasons of exhibitions, allowing a greater turnover of exhibitions and a greater number of artworks to be seen by the public. She was also instrumental in evolving TSI?s remit to include international modern and contemporary art, alongside the St Ives School. The gallery currently displays three seasons a year, spring, summer and winter, with each season having between two and four separate exhibitions.

The gallery?s popularity has brought its own problems. The building was designed to accommodate 70,000 visitors annually and has never since its opening had less than 151,000 visitors a year through its doors. This has put an extraordinary strain on the operational structures of the building and upon the staff. Blunt options face the gallery: scale back the exhibition and education programme and significantly reduce visitor numbers or invest to offer additional benefits and secure the long term economic viability of the organisation, St Ives and Cornwall as a whole. TSI has been a success for 10 years but now needs investment so that it can retain its position as a premier tourist attraction and a major cultural asset to Cornwall over the next 10 years. Doing nothing is not an option. The development of TSI will have a far-reaching impact, not only upon the development of cultural tourism, the creative industries and the educational infrastructure locally, but on the brand of Cornwall as an innovative and culturally dynamic place to both visit and do business with.

Alex Lambley is Marketing & Development Manager at Tate St Ives.
e: [email protected]

(1) South West Tourism Survey