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 Since boaters were surveyed in the midst of their visit, they were asked to report expenditures made up to the time at which they were surveyed, plus any additional expenditures they expected to make during the remainder of their trip. It was expected that boaters could reliably and accurately report the amount of money they had already spent. On the other hand, their estimates of additional amounts they expected to spend probably are less accurate. Despite the potential for error in boaters' estimates of expected additional spending, these estimates were combined with the reports of dollars already spent to approximate total spending by individual boaters. Also, up to as many as 20% boaters indicated having already spent or expecting to spend money in most expenditure categories, but provided no dollar values. These boaters were not included in calculations of total expenditures presented in this report, although their expenditures potentially could contribute substantially to total spending. Also, because of item nonresponse, which averaged approximately 18% across the three rivers, data were missing in most expenditure categories. Consequently, it is not known if boaters who failed to provide a response did or did not spend in expenditure categories. Missing data also were excluded from expenditure estimates reported herein.

Local and statewide economic impacts of the commercial whitewater industry were estimated using the US Forest Service IMPLAN model, an input-output modeling system that facilitates estimation of direct, indirect, and induced economic effects within user defined impact regions. For the Cheat River, the local impact region was defined as Monongalia and Preston Counties; for the New and Gauley Rivers, the local impact region included Fayette, Nicholas, and Raleigh Counties. Typically, only the expenditures of visitors from outside the defined impact regions are included in economic impact estimates as their spending represents an infusion of outside dollars into the economy. However, no effort was made in this study to exclude the expenditures of resident boaters. Overall, West Virginians comprised 2.8% or fewer of boaters surveyed on the Cheat and Gauley Rivers, respectively, and about 7.5% of boaters surveyed on the New River. Of these West Virginians, less than 1% on each river were residents of the defined local impact regions.

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COMMERCIAL WHITEWATER EXPENDITURES

Data collected in 1995 from commercial boaters on the Cheat, New, and Gauley Rivers suggest that total direct expenditures associated with rafting these rivers were approximately $49.4 million. Of these total trip expenditures, approximately $43.1 million were made within West Virginia, with $41.3 million of that taking place in local areas surrounding the three rivers. These estimates are considered somewhat conservative in that they included only survey respondents who provided dollar values for the expenditures they made during their trips.

A relatively large proportion of total expenditures made by commercial boaters -- 45% on the Cheat; 39% on the New; 53% on the Gauley -- was in the form of expenses directly related to the rafting trip. These expenses included outfitter fees for rafting and guiding services, clothing and/or equipment, videos and photographs, trip souvenirs, and other unspecified expenses. Average expenditures by individual boaters for these rafting expenses were $87.47 on the Cheat, $96.02 on the New, and $173.91 on the Gauley. Using these average estimates to extrapolate to the commercial boaters on each river, rafting expenses amounted to approximately $0.84 million on the Cheat; $11.6 million on the New; and $9.7 million on the Gauley. The commercial whitewater industry presumably distributes a large fraction of the revenue from fees and purchases of items such as videos and souvenirs into the local communities surrounding these rivers.

Commercial rafting customers spent comparable amounts at restaurants, retail stores, gas stations, motels and hotels, and night clubs and bars in the local area surrounding these rivers. Local spending was defined as expenditures made within 50 miles of the respective rivers, and accounted for an additional 35% to 41% of total direct spending of commercial rafters. Estimates of average local spending by individual boaters were $104.41 on the Cheat River, $151.31 on the New, and $148.00 on the Gauley. Expanded to the total population of commercial boaters on each of these rivers, local spending amounted to approximately $0.73 million on the Cheat; $12.1 million on the New; and $6.4 million on the Gauley.

Commercial boaters traveled an average of 269 to 436 miles one way to raft the Cheat, New, and Gauley Rivers, and came from several states. States most represented by boaters include New York, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Indiana. West Virginians made up only a small proportion of surveyed boaters: 2.5% on the Cheat; 7.5% on the New; and 2.8% on the Gauley. Data obtained from boaters suggest that they made substantial expenditures while traveling to and from West Virginia. However, most of that spending took place outside the state. In route, boaters reported spending between 8% and 16% of their total trip expenditure outside the borders of West Virginia. Only 3% to 4% of total expenditures occurred in other parts of the state while traveling to and from their rafting destination.

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ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF WHITEWATER RAFTING

The expenditures reported above were used to estimate the economic impacts of commercial whitewater rafting in terms of effects on local communities and statewide. The infusion of dollars into an economy generates direct, indirect, and induced impacts within various economic sectors. Direct impacts reflect the value of goods and services purchased through initial direct expenditures; indirect impacts reflect the value of secondary purchases by businesses or service providers for operational needs; and induced impacts reflect the economic activity traced through employee earnings and resulting household spending. Total economic impacts simply are the sum of direct, indirect, and induced impacts. Impact measures for which impacts were estimated in this study include total output, personal income, employee compensation, tax revenue, and employment. With exception to employment impacts, which reflect full and part-time jobs created, all impacts are reported in dollars. The estimated sales tax revenue from the IMPLAN model was based on an assumption that some portion of gross income (i.e., employee compensation) is spent on sales taxes. As a result, sales tax estimates from IMPLAN do not include sales taxes collected on direct expenditures reported above. Consequently, the estimated tax revenue reported in the following pages includes the IMPLAN sales tax estimates plus the 6% West Virginia state sales taxes on direct expenditures.

Local Economic Impacts

To assess the economic effects of commercial whitewater rafting on local economies, data on the expenditures of commercial boaters within 50 miles of the river they paddled was collected. As indicated earlier, most boaters were nonresidents of West Virginia and likely had little knowledge of local place names or county boundaries. However, in the IMPLAN model counties or states often are used as the most convenient and practical unit to define local impact regions. In this study, the counties surrounding respective study rivers were defined as local impact regions for the estimation of economic impacts. Also, impacts are reported in two formats: (1) unitary impacts per 1,000 commercial user days; and (2) cumulative impacts for the total 1995 population of commercial boaters on each river -- 12,746 on the Cheat; 160,142 on the New; and 65,438 on the Gauley.

On the Cheat River, each 1,000 commercial user days were estimated to generate approximately $160,800 in total output, $61,000 in personal income, $41,700 in employee compensation, $10,000 in tax revenue, and 4.5 jobs within Preston and Monongalia counties (Table 2). Extrapolated to the entire commercial boater population on the Cheat River in 1995, local economic impacts were estimated at about $2.1 million in goods and services in Preston and Monongalia counties as indicated by the total output impact (Table 3). Personal income, which includes compensation to employees and the income of proprietors, was estimated at approximately $777,000, while employee compensation alone was $530,000. In terms of employment, an estimated 56.9 full- and part-time jobs were created as a result of the Cheat River rafting industry. Finally, approximately $128,000 in various tax revenue was generated.