Estimating economic impacts of tourism

Identifies a growing need for economic impact studies by planning officials when making decisions regarding tourism development. Presents a linear programming model that is useful to municipal and regional planners. Formulates a model representative of a community's tourism industry, and then applies the model to New London County, Connecticut, in order to test the applicability of linear programming for estimating the potential economic impact of tourism growth. Constructs a benchmark situation to serve as a basis for comparison. Applies the model to three different projected growth situations, thereby demonstrating its effectiveness in estimating the number and type of new tourism enterprises that are the most suitable for generating maximum gross income while, at the same time, using limited resources most efficiently.