This blog contains posts and comments written by students in Dr. Tufte's economics classes at Southern Utah University.
10/15/2010
Recreation Industry Provides St. George Economy Boost
The city of St. George has turned to its scenery and weather to entice athletes all over the world and of all ages to come spend money in the beautiful St. George of southern Utah. St. George’s growth based economy has been hurting since the housing market collapse and has been able to draw crowds of thousands to attend special athletic events. According to the ksl.com article, Recreation industry jump starting St. George economy, the marathon, senior games, and ironman bring in about $23 million dollars collectively and the southern Utah golf courses are estimated to be up to $35 million dollars. While St. George continues to pray for a housing recovery, these value-added events bring in spending dollars which is exactly what St. George needs to boost spending for our St. George business.
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3 comments:
Dave Berri would be a better source on this ... but I don't find this evidence very convincing. Numbers like this tend to be produced by boosters.
I'm not inclined to think these are bad ideas, but I need to be convinced that they are not a wash for a local economy.
Having said that, there is a folk theorem that says that all benefits accrue to the holders of fixed resources. And southwestern Utah is sitting on some pretty nice ones. So I'll give a pass to events like this, that might bring in some money, but I'll need to be convinced that they actually do.
I agree with your speculation on these figures. As I re-read the article, it doesn't source the information or reference what exactly the figures represent.
I believe that the article is attempting to stimulate the confidence of locals by painting an image of what southern Utah's Dixie is able to provide through it's fixed resources even if it is by manipulative means.
When I saw this news segment, I thought to myself "Here's another poor attempt to create the illusion that there's a recovery going on in Southern Utah." My contacts in the hotel industry have told me these events really do boost their sales, while those in the retail industry report that they see a lot more people in their stores, yet no significant increases in revenues. In addition, having been involved as a sponsor and volunteer for all three events, it's hard to believe that any one of them is actually making money because the cost of hosting them is so great.
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