Author
Nasrolah S. Amil, PhD
International Management School
Davao City, Philippines
Email: nashamil851@gmail.com
Abstract
Cotabato City celebrates the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival as a significant cultural event that draws visitors and promotes the city’s economy. This study aimed to assess the economic benefits of the festival for local businesses on the basis of revenues, customers, employment, and opportunities. Utilizing a quantitative descriptive correlation research design, the researcher distributed a survey to 100 respondents representing business owners, managers, and supervisors of local businesses affected by the festival. A structured reliable and validated Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents and included independent variables of festival activity participation, number of tourists, and length of the festival; and dependent variables represented economic benefits through revenues, customers, employment, and opportunities more generally. The study results indicate festival activities, influx of tourists, and the length of the festival all provide positive economic benefits for local businesses. Festival activities were found to have the strongest relationship with revenues (r = 0.72), and the number of tourists with customer base (r = 0.74). The length of the festival added additional sales, customers, and opportunities in businesses. Overall, the research indicates the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival has a positive influence for the local economy, by providing both short-term financial benefits and longer-term business opportunities. The research suggests that local businesses harness their involvement in activity of the festival and that municipalities invest in the reinvestment of festival planning, promotion and support, in order to maximize their economic benefits of the festival. Further research could investigate the long-term economic and social impacts of the festival, in order to provide a more holistic perspective of the festival’s value.
Keywords: Shariff Kabunsuan Festival, local businesses, economic impact, festival activities, tourist influx, festival duration
DOI: http://doi.org/10.69651/PIJHSS0404554
Recommended citation:
Amil, N. S. (2025). Economic impact of the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival on local businesses in Cotabato City: A quantitative approach. Pantao (The International Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences) 4 (4), 6022-6030. http://doi.org/10.69651/PIJHSS0404554
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