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Since 2017, the Carmel Christkindlmarkt has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors. A new report shows the 2023 market had 475,000 visitors who produced a direct economic impact of more than $23 million.
“Our vision is to become the most authentic Christkindlmarkt in the United States,” Maria Adele Rosenfeld, president and CEO of Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc., said. “One thing that you will find when you go to the markets in Europe is that they don’t ticket for their Christkindlmarkt; they’re in public spaces where people can come and go. That’s part of the magic. For that reason, it is difficult for us to have metrics around attendance and demographics of our guests.”
To gather data, the organization partnered with Hamilton County Tourism Inc. and the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, which specializes in producing economic impact reports for events. Research showed that for every dollar in sales at the market, $1.53 in sales was generated for other businesses in the county.
“When you bring visitors in from outside of Carmel, from outside of Hamilton County, they’re spending money that they would have otherwise spent in their community,” Phillip Powell, executive director of the center, said. “When money comes in from folks that would have otherwise spent it elsewhere, that’s powerful, that’s a multiplier…if you can do that during a season where you don’t have a lot of tourism, the value’s disproportionately higher.”
“I’m not surprised about the spillover effect into the community, to be honest with you. I think that while the experience at the market is wonderful, people likely included it as part of an entire evening of family activities or an overnight stay,” Brenda Myers, CEO of Hamilton County Tourism, said. “I think what’s astounding to us at Hamilton County Tourism is just how many overnight rooms it drives—it’s tens of thousands. It’s really difficult for a festival to drive that kind of overnight business. December is not our strongest month for attendance, and so it’s a real boost to our local economy.”
Attendance for the 2023 market was estimated at 475,000 and the market supported more than 150 jobs.
“It’s just really incredible and kind of an honor to have an event that attracts so many people to come and experience it,” Rosenfeld said. “[The market happens] in a very short amount of time, around 30 days, [and] that is generating this kind of economic impact. That is honestly just mind blowing to me. I think it’s just a testament to the partnerships and the reputation that we’ve built over time.”
The 2023 Carmel Christkindlmarkt annual report can be found here.
The 2024 Carmel Christkindlmarkt opens for the season on Nov. 23 and closes Christmas Eve.
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These economic impact studies are the modern equivalent of alchemy.
475,000 visitors in 30 days equals an average daily attendance of just under 16,000 people at the market. What data points were verified to arrive at the statistic?
Weather was awful – find this difficult to fathom.
I agree with the “alchemy” comment!
I live in Carmel and went to the market a few times last year. One time on a pretty nice Sunday, I got a beer at Sun King after the market.
It was DEAD inside Sun King despite the market being bustling, very unusual on a weekend.
I suspect the market draws consumer spending into the market and nearby benefits don’t necessarily benefit. Especially for non-residents, once people enjoy the market, they go home.
I think the market is a good thing, and has greatly improved since launch. But I don’t really know how much it benefits nearby businesses.