"Upper bracket" art events boom in UK

Attendance at high-end art events is staying strong in the recession, with confident consumers still willing to splash out for tickets.

The recent weakening of sterling against the euro and the dollar has also led to swelling numbers of foreign visitors to the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, the Royal Court and Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival, Bloomberg reported.

This boost to the economy comes alongside a strong rally in the stock markets and recent indications that house prices might have started to rise once more.

However, the UK remains in recession, with second quarter GDP figures showing a 0.8 per cent decline in overall output for the period.

Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec Securities, told the news agency that a change in investors’ fortunes could be a factor behind the strong ticket sales.

’Perhaps the recovery in markets is assisting expenditure in the upper bracket entertainments,’ he said.

’If you look at the measures of consumer confidence, they’ve been on a rising trend for the last few months.’

Figures cited by the news agency show that the pound is seven per cent down against the euro and 11 per cent down against the dollar over the past 12 months.ADNFCR-2318-ID-19313382-ADNFCR