ABSTRACT

But the tourism managers’quest to demonstrate the economic impact of their programmes is not merely self-serving. In many instances, a healthy tourism industry equates to a healthy state economy. When consumers travel, they may not realize the financial contribution they are making to the economy by supporting one of the country’s most revenue-generating industries. For example, in 2001 the US TT & H industry generated more than $555 billion in total visitation expenditures (including both domestic and international travel). During 2001, spending by US residents and international travellers in the USA averaged $1.5 billion a day, $63 million an hour, translating to $1 million a minute and more than $17 000 a second, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Industry (2003).