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Ireland’s historic environment worth 40,000 jobs and 1.5 billion Euro
The Euro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Heritage Council of Ireland, a statutory body established under the Heritage Act, 1995, has released a report on the Economic Value of Ireland’s Historic Environment conducted by Ecorys and Fitzpatrick Associates. As defined by the report, Ireland’s historic environment consists of two World Heritage Sites, Bru na Boinne in Co Meath and Skellig Michael off Co Kerry, more than 20 Historic National Properties, 38,000 protected structures and more than 120,000 monuments protected under the National Monuments Act. These resources were used as the basis for the economic analyses.
Some of the highlights are:
- The historic environment is a highly significant contributor to Ireland’s national economy, directly
supporting almost 25,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. - Including indirect and induced effects, it is estimated that the historic environment sector supports
approximately 40,000 FTE employment positions in Ireland. - Within the context of Ireland’s economy, it is estimated that the historic environment’s contribution to the
national economy is equivalent to one percent of total Irish Gross Value Added (GVA), and two percent of overall employment. - Ireland’s built historic environment constitutes an invaluable educational resource, and at all stages of
the lifelong learning spectrum. For example, not only are Ireland’s flagship heritage sites a major
source of school educational visits, they are also a focus of academic research and conference
activities. - The role of Ireland’s historic environment in attracting private sector investment into Irish towns and
cities, and its contribution to enhancing quality of life/livability in these localities.
There are more benefits as well that can be seen in the report.
Heritage tourism increasing in the Navajo Nation
Monument Valley, Navajo Nation.
Heritage tourism is on the increase, states a Native American Times article (3 April 2012) by Susan Montoya Bryan. Based on a report commissioned by the Navajo Nation from Northern Arizona University, data show that some 600,000 visitors made nearly $113 million in direct purchases on the reservation in 2011. That represents a 32 percent increase in tourism spending since 2002.
Surprisingly, this increase occured over the same period when U.S. gasoline prices rose from approximately $1.80 to $3.90 a gallon. The Navajo Nation, a soverign nation since 1868, is the largest Native American reservation in the United States. It covers 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Traveling to the Nation by automobile, and there are few other options for visitors, is a significant trip from almost anywhere. However, the article states that U.S. visitors to the Nation were actually down in the period since 2002. It was non-U.S. visitors, primarily from Germany and France, that were up more than 11 percent and responsible for the increase.
UK tax code change could hurt historic preservation
The recently announced Chancellor’s Budget in the UK includes a proposal to increase the VAT from 0 to 20 percent for the alteration and maintenance of listed buildings. This will put a heavy financial burden on those that own or maintain historic listed buildings.
While not every building alteration on a listed building requires specialized historical preservation skills, many projects do for at least some aspects. An increase of 20 percent for project costs may cause some repair projects to be postponed or shelved. This in turn may have a knock-on effect for those employed in the historic preservation sector. It may also hurt other sectors such as heritage and museum management. Sites and museums would see their maintenance costs increase forcing them to reallocate funds from other areas of their budgets. Though these results are hypothetical, and it is unknown at the moment what problems the tax increase might bring, the Council for British Archaeology is “urging its members to make their views on this known and also to sign the online petition.”
Full details can be found at the HM Revenue & Customs website and consultation on the proposed changes has been put up by the CBA (p. 23), which is open until 4 May 2012.
Heritage Business Journal 