Disclaimer & Research Resources - For Research and Informational Purposes Only
The Tennessee Event Economic Impact Calculator is provided for educational, research, and preliminary economic development planning purposes only. It is intended to help event organizers, tourism professionals, community leaders, and local governments explore the potential economic contributions of festivals, concerts, sporting events, and other tourism-related activities.
All projections are estimates based on user-provided information, visitor characteristics, and spending assumptions. Actual economic activity may vary significantly depending on event attendance, visitor origins, length of stay, accommodations, spending habits, local business availability, seasonal conditions, and other factors.
This calculator estimates direct visitor spending, not total economic impact. It does not automatically account for indirect or induced economic effects, employment creation, tax collections, business displacement, visitor spending leakage, or the costs associated with hosting an event.
Spending by local residents is excluded from the primary visitor-spending calculation. The calculator also includes an event-attribution adjustment to help distinguish spending generated by the event from spending that might have occurred regardless of the event.
The calculator may be used alongside Tennessee visitor research, including Longwoods International's Travel USA visitor profiles. However, the spending assumptions entered into the calculator should not be interpreted as official Longwoods International findings unless independently verified against published research.
Results should not be represented as certified economic impact findings, guaranteed economic returns, or official estimates from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.
Users are encouraged to supplement calculator results with event attendance records, visitor surveys, lodging data, local business information, and professional economic impact analysis when making funding, investment, or public policy decisions.
Research Resources
The following organizations provide research, tourism statistics, economic data, and methodologies that can support event economic impact analysis.
Tennessee Department of Tourist Development
Official statewide tourism research, annual economic impact reports, visitor trends, and travel industry information.
https://www.tn.gov/tourism.html
Longwoods International
Tourism market research, visitor profiles, travel behavior, trip characteristics, and destination performance studies.
U.S. Travel Association
National travel industry research, economic impact analysis, visitor spending trends, and tourism-related employment data.
https://www.ustravel.org/research
Tourism Economics
Travel and tourism economic research, destination forecasting, visitor spending analysis, and economic impact modeling.
https://www.tourismeconomics.com/
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
Regional economic accounts, industry data, and input-output information used in economic impact studies.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Employment, wages, labor market conditions, and industry statistics relevant to tourism and hospitality.
Tennessee Department of Revenue
Official guidance on Tennessee sales and use taxes, local option sales taxes, and other applicable state tax obligations.
https://www.tn.gov/revenue.html
Research Referenced
Longwoods International — 2025 Travel USA Tennessee Visitor Profiles
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2025 Tennessee Day Visitation U.S. Norm Profile Report
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2025 Tennessee Overnight Visitation U.S. Norm Profile Report
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These reports provide research on Tennessee visitor characteristics, travel behavior, trip composition, activities, and overnight travel patterns. They may inform the development of visitor assumptions, but do not independently validate event-specific spending or economic impact estimates.
Recommended Use
This calculator is best used as a preliminary planning and research tool to compare potential event scenarios, identify opportunities to increase overnight visitation, and better understand how visitor spending may benefit restaurants, lodging properties, retailers, attractions, and other local businesses.
All findings should be identified as estimated direct visitor spending unless supported by a more comprehensive economic impact study.