Reoperationalizing economic data collection

Producing defensible economic impact estimations for tourism planning suggests that current data gathering techniques be reexamined. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences between using a traditional survey design asking tourists to record their expenditures during the first two days of their trip in one area vs. using a new design that asks for only one day of expenditures for a preselected day of their tr ip. Results showed that the number of group expenditures and average daily expenditure did not differ significantly between the two treatment groups. However, the second approach did differ significantly from the first, producing higher initial response rates, lower rejection rates, and higher overall net response rates. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.