Marketing Profile and Economic Impact of Visitors to Wickenburg, Arizona (2013-2014)

The Wickenburg marketing and economic impact study was sponsored by the Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce. It presented interesting insights into the travel, spending behavior, and other marketing related characteristics of visitors coming to Wickenburg with some specifically focused on the Gold Rush event. The study aimed to provide a comprehensive view of visitor markets and their economic impact in the region. A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative inquiry was used to gather data from fall 2013-spring 2014. The data was collected in two main phases. These phases helped to obtain information on visitor decision making process and their travel and spending behavior (enroute and onsite). The  second  phase  focused  on  the  main  questionnaire which  includes both close-ended  and open-ended questions.  The economic impact study computed direct, indirect and induced economic effects of the visitor expenditures in Wickenburg. Visitors/tourists were broadly categorized as: domestic (from another county or state) and international. Also, spending (retained) of those local residents was considered who would have gone elsewhere if the event under consideration was not happening. An effort was also made to moderately estimate and quantify possible costs (social and environmental) on the town so that a realistic benefit-cost ratio could be ascertained.