Use value of cultural events: The case of the Christmas markets

•A Christmas market is a cultural and retail event that creates a recreational value.•Visitors mainly attend to relax, to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere, and to spend time.•The consumer surplus of Christmas markets conveys benefits for the society as a whole.•The recreational value is higher for one-day visitors.•Studies in different countries and Christmas markets are needed to compare the value for visitors.

The Christmas market in Meran (Italy) is one of the top 27 European Christmas markets, attracting around 2000 visitors a day for 50 days. The Christmas market is a cultural and retail event that creates a recreational value for visitors. This paper, using the travel cost method, estimates the recreational use value of the Meran Christmas market for one-day and multiple-day visitors. The aim is to estimate the economic or social value (consumer surplus) of the Christmas market to understand in what way the event creates a benefit for society as a whole. The empirical data were collected via a survey administered at the end of a visit at the Christmas market during the 2011–2012 season. The empirical findings highlight that the use value differs—other than according to travel costs—according to the type of visit experience and to the perceived authenticity.