TTOR Glosary of Terms

Data Collection: Economic Development Administration’s Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Awards

National Governors Association and Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy, Oregon State University

Glossary of Terms

This glossary defines key terms in the National Governors Association (NGA) and Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy at Oregon State University (CORE) data survey of Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation projects funded under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and are clustered around the primary themes of the survey. NGA/CORE uses key Economic Development Administration (EDA) definitions when available. These definitions are identified with an asterisk (*) and may be accessed at EDA’s Key Definitions Page.

Terms:

Project Identification

Competitive Grant – a grant that was awarded via a competitive selection process. Applicants applied for funds from EDA for the purpose of helping communities that have been hardest hit by challenges facing the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors. Grantees invest in infrastructure, workforce, or other projects to support the recovery of the industry and to build the economic resilience of the community in the future.

State / Non-Competitive Grant –a grant that was awarded directly to states and territories to engage in activities that best support their travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors. These awards sought to help states quickly invest in marketing, infrastructure, workforce and other travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation projects.

Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Project Identification

Travel – the act of moving from one location to another; may include traveling long or short distances, domestic or international travel, and travel for pleasure, recreation, business, family, education, healthcare, shopping, or various other purposes.

Travel and Tourism Economy – travel-related expenditures by U.S. residents and nonresidents traveling within the United States. Travel-related expenditures by nonresidents on international transportation purchased from U.S. providers. It comprises travel by resident households, business-related and government employees, and by nonresidents for study or for medical treatments in the U.S.

Outdoor Recreation Economy – outdoor recreation activities are activities that are undertaken for pleasure or health and that occur outdoors. They generally fall into three categories: conventional activities (such as bicycling, boating, hiking, and hunting), other activities (such as gardening and outdoor concerts), and supporting activities (such as construction, travel and tourism, local trips, and government expenditures).

Planning and Assessment Activities

Planning and Assessment – any formal or informal application of planning or evaluative frameworks to determine the development, implementation, or impacts of the project. These may include planning frameworks, feasibility studies, economic impact analyses, or other frameworks.

Land-use or Environmental Impact Assessments – looks at site characteristics such as land, water, climate, and geography to help project leads and/or infrastructure developers make sound decisions about land use, and how projects will impact air, land, and water quality.

Data Tools – the use of tools or modes of data collection that directly support or are used in planning and assessment. These may include public surveys, opinion polls, habitat assessments, or other data collection tools and methods used by the project.

Expanding the Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Economy

Travel and Tourism Industry – comprised of economic sectors including transportation, accommodation, food & beverages, recreation, entertainment, and shopping, as well as connected industries such as financial services, tour operators, travel agents, and tourism and education organizations. Tourism outputs include direct outputs comprised of all domestically produced goods and services purchased by tourists/visitors and indirect outputs comprised of resources, goods and services required to support the production of direct tourism outputs. Tourism employment includes direct employment where workers are engaged in direct tourism output and indirect employment where workers are engaged in the production of indirect tourism outputs (derived from BEA Travel and Tourism Satellite Account).

Outdoor Recreation Industry – comprised of economic sectors associated with core goods and services purchased directly for outdoor recreation and supporting goods and services that provide access to outdoor recreation. Core goods and services include gear, equipment, fuel, concessions, maintenance, repair, and fees related to outdoor recreation activities. Supporting goods and services include trips and travel, construction, and government expenditures (derived from BEA Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account).

Jobs* – relevant jobs are those either created or retained by employers or by firms who benefit directly from services provided by the EDA-funded facility or project.

EDA grantees report on direct or directly attributable jobs, including subsequent employers that locate or expand in the project area because of the project. For some projects (e.g., roads, water, and sewer lines), direct jobs may include those created by firms that were not originally anticipated as part of the project but required the facility or service provided by the EDA project to locate or expand in the area.

Only permanent and direct jobs are counted in EDA reporting. Temporary jobs, including those related to construction, are not included. EDA grantees are instructed to convert part-time jobs into full-time equivalents (e.g., the total part-time hours worked per week divided by the hourly work week for full-time employees, normally 35-40 hours).

Jobs Created*– private sector jobs created by businesses and other project beneficiaries because of the EDA project.

Jobs Retained* – private sector jobs retained because of the EDA project.

Businesses – relevant businesses (firms, employers) are those either created or retained directly from services provided by the EDA-funded facility or project.

Businesses Created – new businesses created because of EDA-funded projects.

Businesses Retained – businesses that would have been or recently were eliminated or closed but were retained because of EDA funded projects.

NAICS Codes – North American Industry Classification System – standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. economy. The industry or economic clusters align with two-digit NAICS Codes or other clusters that provide direct and indirect support of the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation economy.

Workforce Training, Skills Training and Certifications

Gained / Upgraded Skills – refers to training and formal instruction to enhance an existing skill. Both hard skills (e.g., equipment maintenance) and soft skills (e.g., teamwork) are included.

Costs for Sustaining Program – this is the amount of funding (secured or not) that would be needed to offer these programs/training on an annual basis. Costs may include accommodation, materials, instructional services, etc.

Visitors and Visitation

Visitor/Tourist–a person who travels for any main purpose (business, leisure, or other personal purpose) other than for employment for part of a day up to less than a year. A non-local visitor, sometimes called a tourist, is a person who travels more than 50-100 miles from their area of normal, everyday activities such as their residence. A local visitor is a person who visits sites, locations, or attends events within 50-100 miles of their area of normal, everyday activities such as their residence. Visitors/tourists exclude travelers who expect to be compensated at the location of their visit (such as migrant workers, persons traveling to new assignments, and diplomatic and military personnel traveling to and from their duty stations and their home countries).

Outdoor Recreation Visitor – a person (local or non-local—see above) who visits an area for recreational purposes, including education, interpretation, inspiration, and physical and mental health.

Visit – one occurrence of a visitor visiting an area for any part of a day. Visitor may visit an area multiple times on a single trip or over a period (day, week, month, or year). Therefore, number of visits and number of visitors are typically not equivalent to each other unless each visitor visits no more than once per period.

Quality of Visitation – any change in delivery of resources, goods, or services that affects the value of a visitor’s experience. Examples may include physical improvements such as sound barriers to reduce noise; lighting and visibility to improve personal and property safety; or programmatic activities such as interpretation and access services (reservations systems, online resources).

Equity Focused Activities

Equity – as defined by The White House, equity means the consistent and systematic treatment of all individuals in a fair, just, and impartial manner, including individuals who belong to communities that often have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native American, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander persons and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; women and girls; LGBTQI+ persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; persons who live in United States Territories; persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality; and individuals who belong to multiple such communities.  

Some sections will ask you to provide additional data on businesses, jobs, and visitors. The sections that ask for these additional data include Expanding Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Economy, and Workforce Training, Skills Training and Certifications. Additional data include race, ethnicity, and gender identity classifications.

Construction and Non-construction Projects

Construction Project – any project or program that involves the act or process of building infrastructure such as facilities, utilities, and/or transportation. Examples would include fiber optic cable installation, park/playground development or renovation, trail development or renovation, etc.

Non-construction Project –any project or program that does not involve the act or process of building infrastructure such as facilities, utilities, and/or transportation. Examples would include financial support for planning, assessment, marketing, and other non-construction activities.

Economic Resilience

Economic Resilience* – in the context of economic development, economic resilience becomes inclusive of three primary attributes: the ability to recover quickly from a shock, the ability to withstand a shock, and the ability to avoid the shock altogether. Establishing economic resilience in a local or regional economy requires the ability to anticipate risk, evaluate how that risk can impact key economic assets, and build a responsive capacity. Often, the shocks/disruptions to the economic base of an area or region are manifested in three ways:

• Downturns or other significant events in the national or international economy which impact demand for locally produced goods and consumer spending.

• Downturns in particular industries that constitute a critical component of the region’s economic activity.

• Other external shocks (a natural or man-made disaster, closure of a military base, exit of a major employer, the impacts of climate change, etc.).

For more information, please visit EDA’s Economic Resilience page.

*Uses Economic Development Administration definition.

Contact: if you have any questions about the terms or the survey that are not covered in this glossary or the other guidance documents (i.e., Guidance, FAQ’s) you may contact Evan Blankenberger at NGA, eblankenberger@nga.org.

Disclaimer: this document was prepared by the National Governors Association using Federal funds under award ED22HDQ3070131 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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