Princess Di Exhibit Brings In 3.6 Million Dollars

The Princess Diana Exhibition had a huge economic impact on Grand Rapids.  Officials say the Grand Rapids Art Museum's "Diana - A Celebration" exhibition brought more than $3.6 million to the city.

Just how successful was the exhibit?  Consider the following:

95,770 total visitors from 49 different states and Canada attended the exhibit.  Of those, 80,877 came from outside of Grand Rapids and 6,000 came from throughout the Midwest. There were 650 out-of-town visitors who booked hotel rooms, and 282 group tours.

During this time, GRAM's memberships increased by 60% and museum store sales increased by 138%.

The "Diana - A Celebration" gift shop sales exceeded $400,000, with a portion of the proceeds going to charities supported by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

"This exhibition was great for the museum, but it also had a tremendous positive economic impact on our region," Randy Van Antwerp, interim director of GRAM, said in a statement. "We were also pleased to see a strong increase in new members and the many new visitors who had the opportunity to explore our institution."

WOOD-TV