Figuring economic impact of events: CVB explains the science behind the numbers

Officials said the 2024 Regatta had an economic impact of $38.8 million.

The ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Convention and Visitors Bureau gets this number through a calculator run by Destinations International, a Washington D.C.-based company that provides tourism data products.

CVB President and CEO Tim Brady said he submits information to the calculator such as the type of event, the number of attendees, the number of hotel rooms sold and local tax rates.

Brady said taxes are a part of the calculation because they can be reinvested into the community.

The calculator relies on national statistics on the spending for attendees of certain events to create the number.

“Can I tell you with 100% certainty what the family from New Jersey that traveled here for a soccer tournament spent? Absolutely I cannot unless I go up to them and ask them,� Brady said. “What [Destinations International] does is it takes real data that’s culled from throughout the country on a regular basis and makes scientific assumptions.�

Attendance

Attendance is reported by event organizers who use various methods. For example, the Regatta attendance is calculated in a few different ways, according to Matthew Sutton, chief of staff for ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s mayor.

• An overhead photo of the event’s mainstage concert area is divided into squares. Organizers count the number of people in each square and multiply that number by the number of squares.
• At the smaller Regatta events, organizers do a rough head count.
• Organizers count a few people for each boat in the Kanawha River that is visible in the overhead shot.
• The attendance estimates are compared to beer and carnival ticket sales to make sure estimates aren’t inaccurate.

Because of these methods and the fact that Regatta is a free event, organizers can’t determine which of these visitors are repeat customers.

Cell phone data

Information about where attendees come from is provided by cell phone geolocation data compiled by Zartico, a Utah-based company that uses cell phone data to provide insights to tourism organizations.

Zartico receives the data, stripped of identifying personal information, for about 5% of visitors at an event, according to their website.

The ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä CVB primarily uses the data to identify the visitor’s home area, according to Lauren Hunt, director of marketing for the CVB.

Credit card information

Some visitor information such as which households have children and also household income has already been voluntarily reported directly to credit card companies by the card holder, Hunt said.

A sample of this data — also stripped of identifying information — is obtained by Zartico, which calculates the amount of visitor spending, since the data includes ZIP codes for the cardholder making the purchase.

Hotel stays

Zartico also obtains data on hotels and short-term vacation rentals in the area of an event. According to the website, the data includes:

• Occupancy rate
• Average daily rate per room
• Number of rooms available
• Total room revenue

“What we try to do is make sure that when we’re presenting these estimates,� Brady said. “That there is as much science behind them as possible so that people feel comfortable that we’re not just pulling numbers out of thin air.�