Study: Fourth of July generates $20 m to the Hub

The Fourth of July celebration in Boston generates nearly $20 million a year in tourism revenue to the Massachusetts economy, Liberty Mutual said today.

Liberty Mutual, a Boston insurance company that is the chief sponsor of the local Fourth of July event, said it based that estimate on a recent study conducted by Mt. Auburn Associates, a Somerville-based research firm.

The Fourth of July spending estimate was part of a larger study that the firm released last month and that claimed that the Boston Symphony Orchestra has an economic impact on Massachusetts of $166.7 million a year. Please click here to read a Globe story about that study.

According to Liberty Mutual's reading of the study, the Fourth of July draws roughly 160,000 out-of-state tourists to the Esplanade, and these tourists - about one-third of the event’s concert goers - spend millions of dollars at hotels, restaurants, and retail venues.

Liberty Mutual said it provides about $2 million a year to fund the celebration.

Several years ago, Liberty Mutual stepped in to bail out Boston's Fourth of July celebration on the Esplanade after some feared that the event was doomed because of rising costs.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)