National Extension Tourism (NET): 2021 Conf. Proceedings

Comparisons of attendees’ exper ience and expenditures yielded additional differences (Table 3). Respondents spent significantly fewer hours at the Irish Fair in 2017 compared with earlier years ( F =19.87, p <0.0005). In terms of expenditures, attendees spent more money on souvenirs in 2007 and 2017 than in 2014 ( F =3.08, p <0.05). Respondents in 2007 spent significantly less money on parking than in all subsequent years ( F =20.44, p <0.0005). TABLE 3: Comparison of 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017 Irish Fair of Minnesota attendee experience and expenditures

2007

2011

2014

2017

F

n

Mean

n

Mean

n

Mean

n

Mean

Attendee experience

Hours spent at Irish Fair

376

5.45 ab

461 5.39 cd

429

5.87 ace

459

4.45 bde

19.87**

Satisfaction

NA

NA

522 4.33

470

4.24

466

4.41

2.57

Average expenditures ($)

Marketplace

NA

NA

NA NA

97

71.2

82

68.2

0.037

Other

32

51.1

33

24.9

49

32.6

26

71.8

1.91

Souvenirs

143

50.9 a

159 39.9

92

36.2 ab

77

53.9 b

3.08*

Food & Beverages

251

31.8

410 34.1

364

35.3

341

36.9

2.28

Parking

242

7.3 abc

287 9.7 a

284

9.6 b

236

10.6 c

20.44* *

Off-site food & beverage

NA

NA

25

37.6

52

26.6

24

35.1

0.63

Note : Means with pairing subscripts within the row are significantly different at the p <0.0005 based on Bonferroni post hoc paired comparisons. * p ≤ .05, * * p ≤ .0005.

DISCUSSION

In terms of respondents’ demographic characteristics, the 2017 Irish Fair attracted significantly more millennials and fewer baby boomers in 2017 than a decade ago. This is not surprising, as millennials have come of age in the past decade while baby boomers have aged. While the ethnic and racial composition of attendees remained unchanged across the four survey years, respondents’ household income levels changed. The percentage of respondents in the lowest and highest income ranges in 2017 was roughly

2021 NET Conference Proceedings

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