The value added by creative enterprises cannot be compared with other clusters. Creative industries are much more fragmented into small and micro enterprises and are not very well networked among themselves. As a result, they are neither politically nor medially perceived in a way that is commensurate with their importance.
In 2019, the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) published a report on the creative industries in the Lake Constance region, which includes Liechtenstein. According to the “Creative Industries” concept, around 166,000 people were employed in the creative industries in 2015, which corresponded to 5.2 per cent of all employees in the commercial economy. Two-thirds of them worked in the software industry and in advertising. Based on the “Creative Economy” concept, which includes the “Creative Industries” and all creative jobs in other sectors, almost half a million employees in the Lake Constance region worked in the creative economy in 2015.
For a long time, the creative and cultural industries were only ever mentioned in an urban context. It is true that museums and galleries are concentrated in the urban region of Zurich, while hotels are located in the rural tourist region of Vorarlberg. Universities are spread throughout the entire Lake Constance region. According to the study, culture, business and mobility are interwoven in everyday life. There is evidence that stakeholders return to their region after training in other cities or abroad. In addition, the Lake Constance region still has the potential to create creative cultural tourism opportunities.
The University of Liechtenstein, which is part of the International Lake Constance University (IBH) network, had already presented the first and so far only creative industries report for the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Alpine Rhine Valley in September 2014.
The creative industries are among the most growth-intensive sectors in the EU, and they also experienced growth in Liechtenstein, especially between 2005 and 2008. Despite its small land area of 160 square kilometres, Liechtenstein had the highest density of employees and workplaces in the creative industries in 2011 compared to neighbouring regions: with 14 creative workers and almost five workplaces per square kilometre. The share of employees in the creative industries of around seven per cent as part of the overall economy in 2008 was comparable to cities like Vienna and Zurich.
In Liechtenstein, the creative industries are also visible as part of the overall economy: In 2011, 6.36 per cent of employees and 19.64 per cent of workplaces were classified as creative industries, almost twice as many as in Vorarlberg with 11.8 per cent and two and a half times as many as in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, for example.
Cultural and creative industries are made up of 13 sub-markets: music, books, art, film, broadcasting, performing arts, design, architecture, advertising, software and games, arts and crafts, journalism and audiovisual. With 615 employees, the design industry was the largest sub-market in Liechtenstein in 2011. The film industry and arts and crafts were the smallest sub-markets in the country.
Comments are closed.