Economic Contribution Analysis: Marquette County Trails and Trail Events

May 30, 2024

Eagle Mine and the Lake Superior Community Partnership brought in PSC to estimate the direct, indirect, and induced effects of event and nonevent trail user spending on Marquette County. To conduct this analysis, PSC used Impact Analysis for Planning (IMPLAN), an input-output modeling tool that traces transactions among and between different sectors to quantify how activity in one part of the economy affects others.

We analyzed trail events such as the Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic and the Noquemanon Ski Marathon, as well as the economic contributions of nonevent trail visits at locations like Sugarloaf Mountain and Dead River Falls.

PSC also reached out to over a dozen local business owners operating establishments that project partners felt were likely to be frequented by trail users, including coffee shops, breweries, and bike and gear rental stores.

To conduct this analysis, PSC relied on event participation and survey data, as well as cellular user data provided by Travel Marquette to determine the number of event and nonevent visits.

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Findings

The combined economic contribution results for nonevent and event spending are expected to directly support 308 jobs. Another 87 jobs are supported by secondary transactions made by businesses and their workers.

Spending by event and nonevent trail users from the UP and beyond directly support and sustain 308 jobs and $27 million in economic output in the county each year
UP visitors to these county trail networks contribute to 39 percent of these jobs
Visitors from outside the UP bring new dollars to the community and contribute to 61 percent of the total jobs and economic output supported by trail visitation in the county
In addition to these direct jobs, the indirect and induced purchases made by households and businesses as part of this spending are expected to support another 87 jobs and $14.3 million in economic output
From a broader economic perspective, this spending generates over $22.1 million to the gross regional product each year