Darts

Summary

The requester sought the underlying analysis and calculations supporting a press release claiming a 10% increase in visitor numbers for the 2025 International Darts Festival. The Department for Enterprise disclosed the methodology, visitor composition, and specific calculations used to estimate the event's economic impact.

Key Facts

• Visitor numbers for the 2025 festival were reported as 962, a 10% increase from the 875 visitors in 2024.
• The data was provided by the England Darts Organisation to the Visit Agency's Tourism Events Team.
• Economic value calculations are based on the 2018 Annual Passenger Survey, adjusted for inflation to April 2024.
• The estimated gross visitor spend for the 2025 event is calculated at £697,450 based on 4,810 bed-nights.
• The average spend per visitor per night was adjusted from £116 (2018) to £145 (2024) using Bank of England CPI data.

Data Disclosed

• 962
• 875
• 10%
• £116
• £145
• 4,810
• £697,450
• 5 nights
• 2018
• 2024
• 2025
• 2025-03-13
• 2025-04-01

Original Request

Records of the underlying documentation supporting the claims made in the press release here: https://www.gov.im/news/2025/mar/11/2025-international-darts-festival-saw-10-increase-in-visitor-numbers/ By "underlying documentation supporting the claims", I mean a copy of the analysis and calculations that were used to make such claims. By "records" I mean as defined in the Freedom of Information Act. This should include formula and calculations included in the underlying records. If these records include a spreadsheet, please ensure that any algorithms/calculations/formula are visible and accessible to me as a user - I imagine that this will be easiest by sharing the resulting records as a MS Excel spreadsheet file (.xlsx).

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686400) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

Our ref: 4511753 1 April 2025

Dear ###,

We write further to your request, received 13 March 2025, which states:

"Records of the underlying documentation supporting the claims made in the press release here: https://www.gov.im/news/2025/mar/11/2025-international-darts- festival-saw-10-increase-in-visitor-numbers/

By "underlying documentation supporting the claims", I mean a copy of the analysis and calculations that were used to make such claims.

By "records" I mean as defined in the Freedom of Information Act. This should include formula and calculations included in the underlying records.

If these records include a spreadsheet, please ensure that any algorithms/calculations/formula are visible and accessible to me as a user - I imagine that this will be easiest by sharing the resulting records as a MS Excel spreadsheet file (.xlsx)."

Our response to your request is as follows:

The event-specific visitor numbers for the annual Isle of Man International Darts Festival are made up of the following:

• Darts players
• Friends and family accompanying darts players
• Visiting darts fans
• Tournament officials from England Darts who administer the competitions
• England Darts staff who set-up the Villa Marina function rooms with kit such as dart boards and oches as well as the technical side of live streaming

The visitor numbers are provided to the Visit Agency’s Tourism Events Team by the England Darts Organisation (“the organisers”). In 2024 that number was 875. Shortly after this year’s festival, the organisers advised that numbers were up by 10%, bringing total visitors for 2025 to 962.

Methodology for Volume and Value of event-specific visitors 2 | P a g e

In order to calculate the volume and value of any particular event, the Tourism Events Team use average spend per visitor and average visitor per night data, sourced from the Economic Affairs 2018 Annual Passenger Survey.

The category of visitors that have been used to undertake this calculation, is the PVPAs (“Period Visitors in Paid Accommodation”). This category relates to those visitors staying in hotels, guest houses and self-catering establishments, which would be the case for visitors travelling to the Island for specific events.

The 2018 Annual Passenger Survey was the most recently available full year to base estimates against at the time the application to the Tourist Events Development Scheme application was received. In 2018, the gross spend per visitor, per night was £116 and included travel, accommodation and additional on-Island spend.

To adjust for inflation, the £116 figure has been re-calculated using a Bank of England calculator, which uses CPI inflation data from the UK Office for National Statistics. This means that £116 worth of goods and services in 2018 would cost £145 in April 2024.

Formula and calculations:

1. The estimated total number of bed-nights is calculated by multiplying the number of visitors by the length of stay.
2. The total number of bed-nights is then multiplied by the average spend per night figure to calculate the estimated gross visitor spend for any given event.

In this instance that means:

1. 962 visitors multiplied by 5 nights = 4,810 estimated bed-nights
2. 4,810 bed-nights multiplied by £145 = £697,450 in estimated gross visitor spend

Please quote the reference number 4511753 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

3 | P a g e
If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

This response took one hour to complete.