REGIONAL PROFILES
SOUTHERN EUROPE POPULATION: 62m (IT); 416,000 (MT); 10.8m (PT); 48.6m (ES) INTERNET USERS: 40.5m (IT); 321,000 (MT); 7.4m (PT); 39m (ES) GDP/CAPITA: $38,000 (IT); $42,500 (MT); $30,300 (PT); $38,200 (ES) ACTIVE SMARTPHONES: 92.5m (IT); 310,000 (MT); 11.7m (PT); 51m (ES)
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ow recovering strongly since the economic crash, the countries of southern Europe – Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain – are experiencing a strong and busy market, with all venues surveyed reporting excellent results. While ticket prices remain low, audiences are the most passionate in Europe and come out in droves for events. The arenas surveyed hosted a total of 402 events, worth €129million.
Attendance
Venues in Southern Europe continue to boast the highest average attendances – pulling 8,555 compared with a survey average of 6,036.
REGIONAL MAP n = Italy, Malta, Portugal & Spain
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Music events drew average attendance of 9,492 (survey music average: 7,327), sports drew 7,282 (5,471), and family shows sold on average 7,154 (3,828). Both comedy and dance accounted for a tiny proportion of the programming. Italy’s growth since the crash is continuing well, says Roberto De Luca, president of Live Nation Italy, which as well as promoting concerts, operates two arenas on the former Winter Olympics site in Turin: Palavela (cap. 12,000) and Pala Alpitour (cap. 13,347). “2017 was a fantastic year for us. We increased ticket sales and grew profits. We had shows with U2, Coldplay, Robbie Williams. We even launched two new festivals: I-Days, which was four days and had 220,000 people; and Firenze Rocks, which was three days and sold 140,000 tickets. It has already sold 190,000 tickets for 2018, and is expanding to four days. We’ve launched a new festival, Milano Rocks, which is in September 2018.” Management company Forumnet runs Milan’s Mediolanum Forum (12,700) and Rome’s PalaLottomatica (10,500). “Though there were no changes in the number of dates we filled, we’ve noticed a change in the mix of the genres we hosted in 2017, which kept revenues stable,” says Francesca Battistoni. Portugal’s recovery from the economic crash is paying dividends at the 20,000-cap Altice Arena (formerly MEO Arena) in Lisbon, says Jorge Vinha da Silva. “2017 was the best year we’ve ever had. The Portuguese economy is recovering well from the big crash and we’re now in a better position than before; plus the industry is growing too, so we’re getting the benefits of that. Our strategy and investments in the building are all paying off. Tourism is also booming in Portugal, showing double-digit growth, and we are benefitting from that too. “Portugal took a strategic decision to focus on tourism after the crisis, and that’s been paying dividends. For us, it’s meant a big increase in corporate events, which makes up a significant part of our business.”