e the University cannot claim to have directly "caused" the entire $156 million in consumer purchases made by its students and their entire households, it is important to recognize that a considerable number of area residents attend Idaho State University and have purchasing patterns and habits influenced by their student affiliation.While the present section of this report recognizes the logic of discounting the expenditures made by student households who would likely remain in the area in the absence of the University, the total and more comprehensive impact figure is used here.Visitor ExpendituresHighlights ISU attracts nearly quarter million visitors from outside the Pocatello area to its many events, facilities and programs. Out-of-area visitors spend an estimated $7 million annually on local purchases of lodging, food, automobile-related purchases and other retail items. ApproachVisitors are drawn to the ISU campus to attend athletic and cultural events, attend conferences and workshops, and to visit facilities like Holt Arena, the Idaho Museum of Natural History, the Planetarium and the Bookstore. Other visitors conduct business on campus, including prospective students and faculty who are being recruited or interviewed. Still others are out-of-area personal visitors to ISU faculty, staff and students. The number of visitors to the ISU campus has been estimated separately for the two visitor categories reported in Table 4. Recreational, Educational and Business Visitors include attendees and visitors to specific ISU facilities or sponsored events. Personal Visitors include only out-of-area visitors to faculty, staff and students reported in surveys of those populations.In order to obtain an estimate of the number of Recreational, Educational and Business Visitors, each facility was polled for its attendance figures for the 1995-96 academic year. Officials representing each facility also provided an estimate of ...
