Methods for Studying the Economic Impact of Trails in Haliburton

Methods for Studying the Economic Impact of Trails in Haliburton

Nguyen, Nhien

Haliburton Highlands Trails and Tours Network
Host contact: Hoover, Karen

Marsh, John
Department: Geography

TP-556

2007

U-Links Office and online

Haliburton County

Studying the economic impacts of trails

The purpose of this project was to research methods of tracking the economic impact of trails and provide recommendations.

This research report was conducted due to the increased demand for economic impact studies in order to further promote the development of trails.  To do this, there is an increasing need to attach an economic value to recreational activities such as hiking, giving the activity an economic benefit resulting from the development of trails. There is a need to know about trail users and their expenditures in order to justify spending, and to further promote trails. This will assist in demonstrating the beneficial value of trails and the contribution to community economic development. This will be done by consulting existing economic impact studies and investigating other trail organizations to determine best methods for tracking and reporting on the economic impact of trail users. The study objectives are to provide a system on gathering information on the number of trail users, to determine trail user profile and the average money spent by trail users, and to determine the multiplier effect by estimating the economic benefits due to the existence and use of the trail users.

Trent University