Air show’s organizers flying high
Event finished $10K to $15K in the black
Last month’s Peterborough Air Show attracted 9,000 people and finished in the black, with an estimated $10,000 to $15,000 surplus over the $525,000 cost of the event.
Proceeds came from admission fees and corporate sponsorships, the city stated while announcing the total Friday.
The air show happened Sept. 21 and 22 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Peterborough Airport.
The show featured performances by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds air demonstration squadron and the Canadian Armed Forces SkyHawks parachute demonstration team.
The performances lasted for nearly three hours on both days, Saturday and Sunday.
What’s more, there were also vendors, food and a ground display at the airport.
About 60 per cent of visitors came from outside Peterborough.
Visitors came from areas including Durham Region, Quinte and the GTA, and many hotels had no vacancies, according to a release issued Friday by the city.
Mayor Diane Therrien says in the news release that while the air show celebrated the 50th anniversary of the airport, “the real benefit of the event was tourism, the broader economic spinoff of the large event and the public awareness it created.”
The day before the air show, Therrien jumped with the SkyHawks to promote the event.
Meanwhile, the attendance and revenues for the event were both far lower than estimated in the city staff report from April that was presented to city council.
That report included a business case projected attendance of 20,000 over the two days; it also estimated that the air show would turn a profit of at least $100,000.
Staff expected “a conservative number of 10,000 general admissions each day,” that report had stated.
City staff and Loomex Property Management staff, which manages and operates Peterborough Airport, put in “a significant amount of time” to plan and come up with “accurate revenue and expense numbers for the air show,” the report states.
The city’s news release doesn’t include the final cost of staging the air show or the revenues.
The air show’s feature sponsors were the Loomex Group and Flying Colours Corp., both based at the airport.
Attraction sponsors were Drain Brothers, BWXT, Gibson’s Finest, Kadex Aero Supply, and Enbridge.
Event sponsors included McCafé, WSP, Shorelines Casino Peterborough, Barry Electrical, Hydro One, Stewart Tours and Fleming College.