DCVB has Global Insight periodically quantify the impact of visitors on Durham. In July a panel at a conference discussed an article in the Journal of Travel Research entitled, "Economic Impact Studies; Instruments for Policitical Shenanigans."
I've distilled out below some points maded in the article along with some comments by Ken McGill, an EVP for Global Insight:
Six Reasons Economic Impact Studies are Best Practice:
- Assessing return on investment (ROI) from tourism promotion and infrastructure investment.
- Monitoring and benchmarking performance vs. destination competitors.
- Setting priorities for economic development and infrastructure.
- Determining whether concession or sponsorship requests for events/attractions/meetings are worth it.
- Informing public policy decisions including those involving tax burdens.
- Informing and reporting to residents and other stakeholders.
- Is the community spending enough on both tourism promotion and infrastructure and do revenues generated cover costs?
- Which are best economic development targets and are concessions worth it?
- What is the ROI on public tourism capital investment and government support?
- How can we benchmark against destination competitors?
- How is the full value of tourism communicated to policy makers, businesses and residents?
Pitfalls to Avoid:
- Including resident spending in the impact.
- A sponsor that shops for a study that will confirm what they want to hear.
- Multipliers being used without netting out leakage.
- Vendors who never tell communities what they don’t want to hear.
- Communities or developers that hide studies supporting the other side of the story.
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