The University of West Florida’s Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development completed a visitor profile of those who travel to Santa Rosa County by incorporating the REMI PI+ model. This study concluded a yearlong effort to survey Santa Rosa County’s tourists and quantify their impact on the community. Researchers modeled a total loss scenario in which the county’s economy is forced to adjust after the elimination of the spending done by its visitors while utilizing survey and bed tax data to estimate the total number of annual visitors to the region. By using the direct spending estimate of Santa Rosa County’s overnight tourists as the input into the PI+ model, the analysis determined the total economic impact of tourism in terms of total employment, population, labor force, output, value added, personal income, and disposable personal income, both in 2017 and over the course of ten years. This assessment also evaluated the economic impact of overnight tourists by season and by industry.
University of West Florida – Santa Rosa Tourism Market Economic Impact Study [full PDF]
