Estimating the Multiplier Effects of Tourism Expenditures on a Local Economy through a Regional Input-Output Model

Tourism multipliers indicate the total increase in output, labor earnings, and employment through interindustry linkages in a region as a result of tourism expenditures. The RIMS II regional input-output model was employed to estimate the multiplier effects of visitor expenditures in Washington, D.C. Both normal multipliers and ratio multipliers are analyzed, and the latter is found to be a more reliable indicator of total impact on earnings and employment in the city. A comparison of the multipliers for 37 industry sectors and the tourism multiplier in the city finds that the latter ranks relatively high for earnings and employment, but low for output.