DIY Economic Impact
The Guide
Be Empowered to Do-It-Yourself
A Do-It-Yourself Guide: Conducting and Using Visitor and Recreational User Research to Tell an Economic Story is a free resource to assist anyone (no economics degree required) through the process of an economic impact analysis without hiring a consultant. The step-by-step guide is designed for small- to mid-sized organizations, agencies and partnerships that manage trails, recreation areas or outdoor destinations.
Tell an Economic Story
With Visitor Research
What's in the Guide
The Do-It-Yourself Guide covers topics such as why and how to use studies and data, visitor research and how it can help, estimating visitors and analyzing data, using findings to estimate current or future economic contributions, understanding economic impact versus economic significance, putting findings into a shareable context and communicating results to the community and more.
The DIY Guide can help you understand the economic value of outdoor recreation to your community. Equipped with that information, you can deploy an informed strategy, shape future development and secure support and funding for your outdoor recreation projects.
The Workshops
Walk through the types of data needed to estimate economic impacts, the basics of surveying users and how to use the DIY Guide to conduct an economic impact analysis independently.
The Practicum
With one-on-one coaching and technical assistance over a nine-month period, community teams execute the process of conducting an economic impact analysis and produce a final report.
