TABLE OF CONTENTS                                                                 Page

•  Summary of Economic Impact                                                   3

•  Direct Impact of Camps in New Hampshire                             5

• Total Impact of Camps in New Hampshire                                8

Appendices                                                                                         Page

Appendix A: Survey Instrument Used in Gathering Data               11                                                                      

Appendix B: Data Methodologies                                                       13

Appendix C: Data for Day vs. Residential vs. Both Camps            14                                                                            

Appendix D: Bank Balance Contribution on US Economy            16                                                                          

1.  Summary of Economic Impact

New Hampshire has a long and rich tradition in camping, extending back over 100 years, and continues to be the location of some of the finest camps and facilities in America. The beautiful mountains, lakes, forests and fields are ideally suited for every camping activity imaginable.  In their 100-year history, New Hampshire camps have provided an outlet for youth from throughout the state and the country to get closer to nature and learn leadership in the great outdoors. Additionally, New Hampshire camps have continued to provide jobs and economic stimulus to the New Hampshire economy.

With 177 camps in New Hampshire running the gamut from residential, day and combination camps, these facilities provide services to nearly 150,000 youths each year. 

Table 1. New Hampshire Camps by Type and Participants

To estimate the camping industry’s impact on the New Hampshire economy, NHCDA surveyed industry members’ operational and capital spending in the state of New Hampshire.  Additionally, NHCDA looked at the number of program participants and visitors that are drawn to New Hampshire on an annual basis, and estimated the impact of their spending on the New Hampshire economy.  

Analysis of survey results indicates that the total economic impact on New Hampshire of the camp industry’s activities is approximately $159 million per year, including the direct and indirect spending effects.

The social and economic impact of NH camps is summarized in the following:

• Provides a wide range of camp experiences to approximately 150,000 campers per year;
• Maintains nearly 24,000 acres of land in New Hampshire and over 373,000 feet of waterfront property, valued at $263 million;
• Employs approximately 2,500 seasonal employees and 400 full-time employees from New Hampshire, accounting for nearly $31 million in payroll contribution;
• Purchases food, supplies, construction materials, and other items from New Hampshire vendors totaling $31 million annually;
• Pays approximately $4 million in state and local property taxes in New Hampshire; and
• Attracts nearly 55,000 visitors to the state of New Hampshire that contribute directly to the New Hampshire economy through the purchase of food, gas, lodging and other items and activities.  Survey results estimate the total contribution of the nearly 55,000 out-of-state visitors to be approximately $12 million.

While this direct economic contribution accounts for nearly $82 million annually, the multiplier effects of the payroll and downstream spending of the New Hampshire vendors are estimated to provide an additional $0.93 in economic impact for each dollar spent by the New Hampshire camps.  This multiplier brings the total economic impact of New Hampshire camps to $159 million.

      ll.  Direct Impact of Camps in New Hampshire

Demographic Data

New Hampshire’s camp industry contributes to both the social and economic vitality of its communities.  With 177 camps throughout New Hampshire providing day, residential and combination programs, the camp industry introduces campers to the beauty and serenity of New Hampshire’s great outdoors.  These camps serve as stewards in their community, maintaining nearly 24,000 acres of New Hampshire wilderness and more than 373,000 feet or 70 miles of waterfront throughout the state. As stewards of the land, New Hampshire camps take great care and responsibility to maintain New Hampshire’s beautiful landscape with care for the benefit of future generations.

The 177 camps in New Hampshire represent small businesses that provide year-round economic contributions to their communities. Not only do they employ more than 2,900 New Hampshire residents, but these camps also bring more than 7,000 additional seasonal employees to the state each year. With more than 150,000 campers in New Hampshire camps each year, this industry is a foundation for many rural communities throughout the state.

Below is an analysis of the demographic components of the New Hampshire camp industry.

Table 2.  New Hampshire Camps by Types and Participants

Operational Spending

The direct operational spending of camps in New Hampshire contributes approximate $70 million to the New Hampshire economy each year.  While the actual spending by camps is higher, analysis was restricted to the New Hampshire economic impact. Salaries to New Hampshire residents represent nearly 45% of the total operational spending, benefiting approximately 3,000 residents of the state with meaningful employment. A table calculating the estimated operational impact of New Hampshire camps is below.

Table 3.  New Hampshire Camp Industry’s Operational Spending

Tourism Spending

The camp industry brings approximately 67,000 visitors to the state of New Hampshire from out-of-state parents and prospective campers. These visits often include numerous outlets for localized spending, such as hotel rooms, restaurants, gas stations and activities.  According to the Institute for New Hampshire Studies, the average tourist to New Hampshire in the summer spends $91.50 per person per night. While the Institute for New Hampshire Studies shows an average trip length in the summer of 4.2 days, this study uses a more conservative 2.5 days per trip to mimic the camp industry’s visitor-weekend duration. The total economic impact of these parental visits can be seen below.

Table 4.  New Hampshire Camp Industry’s Tourism Impact

Total Direct Impact

The direct impact of the camp industry on the economy of New Hampshire is a combination of operational and tourism spending. This direct impact measures the expenditures that can be related directly to the camps and does not include the downstream effects of the dollars spent by the camps and their patrons, which are captured below in the multiplier effect. A summary of the total direct impact is below. 

Table 5.   Direct Economic Impact of Camps on New Hampshire

      lll.  Total Impact of Camps in New Hampshire

The camp industry in New Hampshire contributes $82 million in direct effects to the economy. Each of these dollars represents a purchase of goods, services, and labor throughout New Hampshire. While the direct spending can easily be tracked, there are also indirect downstream effects that can also be attributed to the New Hampshire camp industry. Each vendor who is a recipient of direct camp spending in turn makes purchases from the New Hampshire economy, and this spending trickles down the supply chain.

These direct and indirect effects provide income for individuals and households throughout New Hampshire, who then make purchases in the state with that income. Camp employees spend their earnings at local stores, restaurants, etc. The workers at these locations then make their own purchases, pay taxes, pay their rent, and so on, which continues to add to the New Hampshire economy. These effects are referred to as the induced impact of camps. 

These supply stream effects create a combined direct, indirect and induced impact of the camp industry of New Hampshire of nearly $159 million.

Multiplier Effect

It is impossible to measure actual total impact of camps’ spending in New Hampshire; every dollar spent cannot be precisely traced as it flows through the economy. While businesses and individuals may know generally where their income comes from, neither tracks where each individual dollar they spend originates.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis collects data on purchases across industries, and creates an output that provides a breakdown of the inner workings of the economy, showing relationships among more than 400 industries and commodities.1  Various groups then take this information and make it more useful for state and regional analysis.  One such example is the Minnesota IMPLAN Group, which uses this data to estimate local economic effect of an additional dollar spent.2

The 1.93 multiplier used in this study is taken from the Maine Youth Camps Economic Impact Report, 2005, which used IMPLAN data to estimate a multiplier of the direct impact of the camping industry. This multiplier is in line with the New Hampshire state and outdoor/recreation multipliers that the state derived from the IMPLAN model and with multipliers from the federal government’s Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II).

1  See http://www.bea.gov/industry/ for more information

2  See http://implan.com/ for more information

Total Impact of Camps in New Hampshire

Using the multiplier we can calculate the induced and indirect effect on New Hampshire’s economy to be approximately $77 million for a total impact of nearly $159 million.

Table 6.  Total Economic Impact of Camps on New Hampshire

 Appendix A: Survey Instrument Used in Gathering Data

The survey was distributed to 177 camps throughout New Hampshire. With 41 completed survey responses, this economic impact survey is based on 24.8% of the total industry. While the total economic spending by New Hampshire camps includes payments to vendors outside of the state, the survey focused on in-state payments to vendors and employees.

 Below is the survey instrument used to collect data from the surveyed camps.

The list of camps was provided by Phil Steele at the NHCDA. Surveys were sent to most camps via email, and the remaining by regular mail. Camp directors and each member camp were called prior to sending the survey to increase response rate.

Appendix B: Data Methodology

Before analyzing our sample of 41 day, residential, or day and residential camps, each observation was multiplied by the following weights to match the population total as follows:

Next the raw total estimates were adjusted to account for the fact that the survey responses contained a disproportionate number of large camps.  This was done by dividing each estimated total by the following capacity scale factors so that the total weekly capacity matched the published industry capacity total:

Appendix C: Data for Day vs. Residential vs. Both Camps

Once adjustments were made for the sample size and capacity (see Appendix B), the following table was generated on the estimated economic contribution of day, residential, or day and residential combination camps. 

Appendix D: Bank Balance Contribution on US Economy

The survey also collected data on the cash balance of any NH bank accounts.  From these data the cash savings of camps is currently estimated at $29 million. Since 1991 the Federal Open Market Committee has set the bank reserve requirement at 10%. This means that for every dollar taken in as a deposit, the bank can loan $0.90. Eventually this $0.90 is deposited and again the bank holds 10% in reserve and loans out $0.81. This process repeats so that each dollar saved potentially boosts the economy by $10. This is known as the money multiplier effect.

From our data we estimate that the camp cash savings balance has a $290 million impact on the US economy.  Unfortunately, as banks are increasingly national entities, even though the cash is held in a New Hampshire branch, it is impossible to estimate what fraction of the $290 million total impact indirectly contributed to the New Hampshire economy.