The latest addition to the growing series of management publications produced by the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) addresses a topic of increasing interest to both centres and their respective communities - the calculation of economic impacts generated by those facilities in carrying out their business activities.

"This is a topic that’s close to everyone’s heart, although not always carried out to everyone’s satisfaction", says AIPC President Barbara Maple. "This level of interest is entirely understandable, as more and more centres find themselves in the position of having to demonstrate their value to the community, particularly when industry economics are such that an operating deficit may need to be justified as a way to achieve the greater economic benefits a facility creates".

The approach taken in the publication is one that emphasizes the need for centres to develop approaches that address their particular circumstances. "While we’ve looked for a universal formula for many years, the fact is that each centre has a somewhat unique set of operating conditions and community cost structure, and these affect how delegate spending moves through the local economy", says Maple.

"As a result, we’ve avoided trying to create "one size fits all  formulas for simple calculations, and instead emphasized the need to develop good spending data through customer surveys and processing this information through "input / output  models that can calculate the induced effects of this spending on both local and national economies".

As the introduction to the publication notes "There have been many different models developed for measuring economic impact, with many of these subsequently rejected in favour of a newer or allegedly more accurate model. In the process, economic impact calculation has developed something of a *black box* reputation.

The reality is that the calculations are really simply a matter of common sense; understanding the purpose and audience, making sure that all potential benefits are identified and carrying out actual delegate and planner surveys instead of relying on industry "averages  for spending figures which actually vary significantly from one location to another".

In identifying the factors that need to be taken into consideration, and how to approach the calculation in a way that best responds to local resources and circumstances, the publication describes a process rather than the outcome. In addition, it addresses the question of how the resulting info can be put to work in communicating the benefits a centre generates in its host community.

The publication is the product of numerous presentations on this subject at AIPC and other industry conferences as well as of an extensive review by AIPC members and the Research Task Force. It is available via the AIPC Secretariat office.