Methodological innovations for measuring economic impacts of long-distance recreation trails

Abstract

Rural communities are increasingly interested in understanding the economic impacts of visitors drawn to their region for recreational opportunities. Economic impact assessments often rely on input-output (I/O) modeling software, which requires estimates of visitation rates and visitor expenditures. Collecting sufficient data for I/O models is relatively straightforward in a traditional park with staffed entrance stations and relatively high volumes of users. However, for geographically dispersed trails and waterways with low use intensity in many locations and multiple access points, there are significant logistical and financial challenges to collecting adequate visitation and expenditure data. Using recent research conducted on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) as a case study, this paper presents a modification of existing methodologies that may help researchers overcome the barriers to conducting economic impact assessments in these types of settings

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 2007 northeastern recreation research symposium

Citation

Pollock, Noah; Chase, Lisa C.; Kolodinsky, Jane. 2008. Methodological innovations for measuring economic impacts of long-distance recreation trails. In: LeBlanc, Cherie; Vogt, Christine, comps. Proceedings of the 2007 northeastern recreation research symposium; 2007 April 15-17; Bolton Landing, NY. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-23. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 257-263.