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Economic impact analysis is a broad category of analytic methods including some of the most common tools for travel and tourism planning. The consensus of recent work appears to be that economic impact analysis can be an important element of the tourism planner's toolbox but also can be subject to considerable risk of misuse and misinterpretation. This article highlights many of the issues involved in the appropriate use and interpretation of economic impact analysis and summarizes the contributions of articles included in this special issue. These articles address a wide range of topics, including the measurement of benefits and costs, modeling of indirect and induced impacts, and the testing, validation, and use of impact estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines a standardized method for assessing direct economic expenditures and impacts associated with tourist events. The method addresses critical and often overlooked methodological issues that distinguish analysis of impacts from tourism in general and analysis of impacts from tourist events. These issues involve a common failure to account for sources, origins, destinations, and causes of expenditures. The corresponding errors in impact estimation will carry through into subsequent input-output or multiplier models and are of particular significance when one considers impacts of tourism events in regions dominated by other tourist sites or attractions, such as heavily visited coastal communities. Implications of the framework for impact estimation are illustrated using examples drawn from recent Rhode Island tourist events, including the 1997 Newport Folk Festival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]