For overnight visitors the estimated $53 per day in area expenditures is consistent with other estimates for non-business travelers2.While it is tempting to sum the expenditures and number of visitors in each category of Table 4, such a summary total is not recommended because an overlap of visitors across the various categories would vastly overstate the number of actual persons visiting the ISU campus. For example, a typical out-of-area visitor might be included as the Personal Visitor of a student, and attend an ISU athletic event or concert while taking advantage of noncommercial lodging with friends or relatives. Only out-of-area visitors are assessed as having a direct economic impact on the Pocatello economy. While the number of local visitors is significant, and their recreational and other spending is very real, especially to local establishments and merchants, their spending is assumed to already be a part of the local economy. In the absence of the ISU facility or event, they are assumed to make a comparable expenditure elsewhere in the Pocatello economy. Their expenditures cannot, therefore, be claimed exclusively by ISU as a part of its economic impact on the region. Expenditure PatternsThe Holt Arena attracts more out-of-area visitors than any other ISU facility. More than 400,000 persons attended events held there during the 1995-96 academic year. An estimated 220,283 of those attendees are from outside of the Pocatello area, with about 90% of that number assumed to be purchasers of commercial lodging. Major events such as the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo attract out-of-area visitors who remain in the area for several days, thus heightening their economic impact. The Pond Student Union hosts numerous conferences, workshops, and other programs attended by outsiders as well as ISU faculty, staff, and students. Of the nearly quarter million attendees of its programs, about 56,000 are estimated to be out-of-area visit...
