The economic consequences of community support for tourism: A case study of a heritage fish hatchery

Although tourist attractions are the drivers of tourism to many communities, and local citizens’ support of these attractions is vital to their viability, the economic outcomes of such support have never been assessed. To help fill this information void, the authors examined the unusual case of a historical attraction that was closed in 1983 by the federal government agency operating it but resurrected the following year by local citizens who considered it indispensable to their town’s identity, cultural heritage, and tourist appeal. Since the attraction would not exist but for this intervention, the current value of the community’s resuscitation of it in 1984 was inferred from the economic impacts it currently generated. In 2007 these were estimated to be about US$1.6 million in direct attraction-related expenditures in the town, US$2.1 million in business revenues, US$629,000 in personal income, US$141,000 in local and state taxes and fees, and 27 new jobs.