Resources for Communities

Scene of a street fair. The following paper provides an explanation of basic strategies for monitoring tourism in a community including examples of what data to collect and examples of how to use the data for informed decision-making.

Leones, Julie and Douglas Dunn. 1999. Strategies for Monitoring Tourism in Your Community's Economy. Arizona Cooperative Extension University of Arizona.

Many communities are interested in conducting a conversion study of their advertising efforts to measure how effective the advertising was in bringing people to the destination.

Businesses

Minnesota Airport Economic Impact Calculator
This site allows you to estimate the economic impact of an airport in Minnesota. The only airports for which this site will not work are Duluth, Rochester and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
University of Wisconsin Center for Community Economic Development provides a variety of resources including downloadable tools.
Michigan Tourism Economic Impact Calculator
This calculator was developed to help communities in Michigan estimate the economic impacts of visitor spending. Economic impacts are estimated as: Number of Visitors; Average Spending per Visitor; Regional economic multipliers.

Attractions and Events

Powerpoint Presentations
- The Dollars and Cents of Festival and Events (.pdf) by Lisa Love
- Economic Impact Analysis Principles: An Introduction (.pdf) by Dan Erkkila
The Arts & Economic Prosperity Calculator can help you estimate the economic impact of a nonprofit arts organization or entire nonprofit arts community on a local economy. The Understanding the Arts & Economic Prosperity Calculator (.pdf) has examples & explanations.
International study of the impact of science centers
Minnesota’s North Shore snowmobile trail: what is its value? (1985)
Scenic Byway resources from the National Scenic Byways program
Arts, Recreation & Tourism studies provided as a public service by Economic Development Research Group
The National Park Service’s resource guide on the economic impacts of protecting rivers, trails, and greenway corridors
The National Trail Training Partnership provides links to economic impact studies and resources for planning, managing, building trails and greenways.
Potential impacts associated with construction, user expenditures, and operation and maintenance of the Trans Canada Trail. A study completed by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Canadian government.
A report on a 2004 research study of a birding festival in North Dakota. The purpose of the study was to examine the present and potential economic impact of nature tourism in nonmetro areas of North Dakota.

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Tourism Center
120 BioAgEng Building
1390 Eckles Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108-6005
Phone: 612-624-4947
Fax: 612-624-4264
tourism@umn.edu