Hertfordshire’s Cambridge Economic Impact Model

The Cambridge Economic Impact Model is an industry respected tool for measuring the economic impact of tourism in a given area. Knowing the volume and value of tourism is an essential part of developing policies for managing tourism.

The Cambridge Model is a spreadsheet model that produces estimates from existing national and local information (e.g. accommodation stock, inbound trips) of the level of tourism activity within a given local area. The volume of visits is translated into economic terms by estimating the amount of spending by visitors based on their average spend per trip. In turn, the impact of that spending can be translated to estimate the effects in terms of business turnover and jobs.

The standard measures generated in this Model are the total amount spent by visitors, the amount of income for local residents and businesses created by this spending, and the number of jobs supported by visitor spending. This report focuses on total revenue raised from visitor spending across Hertfordshire and the estimated number of full-time equivalent and actual jobs sustained by that spending.