Pure Fiction: State Tourism Cost-Benefit Analysis Ignores Costs [Mackinac Center]

Pure Fiction: State Tourism Cost-Benefit Analysis Ignores Costs [Mackinac Center]:
"In the past, the state has hired a secretive consultant to calculate its ROI.
That company made claims of a huge ROI but refused to precisely demonstrate how it arrived at its conclusion. 
In 2016, according to this consultant, the state’s $12.9 million in out-of-state advertising spending — sorry, investment — produced $8.33 in new state tax dollars for every dollar spent.
According to an investigation by the state’s Office of the Auditor General, made at the behest of two lawmakers, the numbers on the advertising investment excluded a number of costs. 
...In other words, more than 50 percent of the cost associated with the Pure Michigan advertising campaign was not factored into its returns.
...Scholar John L. Crompton’s 2006 paper in the Journal of Travel Research calls out consultants for their often questionable analyses...
Crompton writes: “Most economic impact studies are commissioned to legitimize a political position rather than to search for economic truth. Often the result is mischievous procedures that produce large numbers that study sponsors seek to support a predetermined position.” 
He specifically criticizes consultants for ignoring costs.
...But the program is not worth it.
The Mackinac Center found in its 2016 study that a $1 million increase in state tourism promotion spending results in $20,000 in extra economic activity in the state’s lodging industry..."
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