The economic impact of cultural tourism: Exploring tourist spending and motivation

We investigate the economic impact of “La Notte della Taranta”, the largest Italian festival and one of the most significant European cultural events, by surveying the spending patterns of over 20,000 attendees across 17 consecutive editions (2007–2024). We uncover that tourists’ motivation significantly influences expenditure, with in-part motivated tourists spending more than both non-motivated and greatly motivated ones. Moreover, tradition driven tourists emerge as the most economically impactful group, highlighting useful insights for cultural event planning and tourism policy.