Economic impact of the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival: Investigating the application of different models

This article focuses on an economic assessment of the target obtained in South Africa regarding the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) applying both SAM and CGE models. Since both models have advantages and disadvantages, tourism economists are confronted with the predicament of determining which model is most suitable for application to any specific event. The findings reveal that when different models are applied to the same dataset from an event, the reported economic impact results differ significantly. Results indicate that considerations such as the data collection or compilation, expected output, research objectives and costs involved will determine the choice of a specific modelling framework. Data from a visitor survey conducted at the KKNK during 2010 were used in the analyses. This finding serves as a warning to assessors that economic impact results can be misleading and, therefore, the application thereof should be handled with the utmost care as the results can readily be misinterpreted by stakeholders.