OCS Study

BOEM 2014-660

Measuring County-level Tourism and

Recreation in the Gulf of Mexico Region:

Data, Methods, and Estimates

U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region
OCS Study

BOEM 2014-660

Measuring County-level Tourism and

Recreation in the Gulf of Mexico Region:

Data, Methods, and Estimates

Authors

Lou Nadeau

Maureen Kaplan

Melanie Sands

Katie Moore

Charles Goodhue

Prepared under BOEM Contract

M11PD00256

by

Eastern Research Group, Inc.

110 Hartwell Ave.

Lexington, MA 02421-3136

Published by

U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

New Orleans, LA

September 2014
DISCLAIMER

This report was prepared under contract between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and 

Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG). This report has been technically reviewed by BOEM, and it has 

been approved for publication. Approval does not necessarily signify that the contents reflect the views 

and policies of BOEM, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement 

or recommendation for use.

REPORT AVAILABILITY

To download a PDF file of this Gulf of Mexico OCS Region report, go to the U.S. Department of the 

Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Environmental Studies Program Information System

website and search on OCS Study BOEM 2014-660. 

This report can be viewed at select Federal Depository Libraries. It can also be obtained from the National 

Technical Information Service; the contact information is below. 

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Technical Information Service

5301 Shawnee Rd.

Springfield, Virginia 22312

Phone: (703) 605-6000, 1(800)553-6847

Fax: (703) 605-6900

Website: http://www.ntis.gov/

CITATION

Eastern Research Group, Inc. 2014. Measuring county-level tourism and recreation in the Gulf of 

Mexico region: Data, methods, and estimates. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study BOEM 2014-

660. 58 pp. 

iii
CONTENTS

List of Figures..............................................................................................................................................v

List of Tables ...............................................................................................................................................v

1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Purpose........................................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Review of Previous Work.............................................................................................................. 2

2.0 Methodological Approach................................................................................................................. 3

2.1 Overview.......................................................................................................................................... 3

2.2 Definitions of Measures................................................................................................................... 4

2.3 Industries to Include......................................................................................................................... 5

2.3.1 Travel and Tourism.................................................................................................................. 5

2.3.2 Recreation .............................................................................................................................. 16

2.4 Tourism Commodity Ratios and Sectors Sensitive to OCS Operations....................................... 19

2.4.1 Tourism Commodity Ratios................................................................................................... 19

2.4.2 Sectors Sensitive to OCS Operations..................................................................................... 21

2.5 Data Sources.................................................................................................................................. 22

2.5.1 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)........................................................ 23

2.5.2 Nonemployer Statistics.......................................................................................................... 24

2.5.3 Public Assets.......................................................................................................................... 24

2.6 Summary of Proposed Measures ................................................................................................... 25

3.0 Development of Tourism and Recreation Spreadsheet ................................................................ 28

3.1 Spreadsheet Contents..................................................................................................................... 28

3.1.1 Summary Tables Tab ............................................................................................................. 30

3.1.2 Dynamic Table Tab................................................................................................................ 31

3.1.3 State and County Tabs ........................................................................................................... 31

3.1.4 Parks Tab................................................................................................................................ 34

3.2 Spreadsheet Development.............................................................................................................. 35

3.3 User Functionality.......................................................................................................................... 35

4.0 Summary Estimates for 2009 Data................................................................................................. 37

5.0 References......................................................................................................................................... 43

Appendix A: Feasibility of Developing Localized Tourism Commodity Ratios................................. 45

Appendix B: Collected Parks................................................................................................................... 49

iv 
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Screenshot of Summary Tables.................................................................................................. 29

Figure 2. Screenshot of Dynamic Table..................................................................................................... 30

Figure 3. Screenshot of State and County Tabs (Partial Screenshot; Florida Tab).................................... 31

Figure 4. User Manipulation of State and County Tab (Partial Screenshot; Florida Tab)......................... 32

Figure 5. Selected Screenshots of Parks Data Tab..................................................................................... 33

Figure 6. Structure of Spreadsheet and Flow of Data through Tabs and Pages......................................... 35

vii
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. 2005 Travel and Tourism Commodities and Ratios ....................................................................... 5

Table 2. Retail Trade Sectors........................................................................................................................ 7

Table 3. Transportation Sectors.................................................................................................................... 8

Table 4. Real Estate, Rental and Leasing Sectors......................................................................................... 8

Table 5. Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Sectors................................................................................... 9

Table 6. Accommodation and Food Services Sectors................................................................................ 10

Table 7. Industries Considered in “Travel and Tourism” by Kaplan and Whitman (2008) Compared to 

NOAA ENOW and USTA Definitions.............................................................................................. 12

Table 8. Additional Industries in Other Definitions of Tourism................................................................. 15

Table 9. List of Recreation Industries......................................................................................................... 17

Table 10. Tourism Commodity Ratios for BEA Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts .......................... 19

Table 11. NOAA Tourism Industries.......................................................................................................... 21

Table 12. Summary Information on Data Sources...................................................................................... 22

Table 13. Parks Information Sources.......................................................................................................... 24

Table 14. Industries in BOEM TT, RE, and TTOCS Measures ................................................................. 25

Table 15. Contents of Spreadsheet.............................................................................................................. 27

Table 16. Description of Spreadsheet Tabs and Pages ............................................................................... 28

Table 17. 2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for 

Alabama Counties in Project Area* ................................................................................................... 37

Table 18. 2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for 

Florida Counties in Project Area* ...................................................................................................... 38

Table 19. 2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for 

Louisiana Parishes (Counties) in Project Area*................................................................................. 39

Table 20. 2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for 

Mississippi Counties in Project Area* ............................................................................................... 40

Table 21. 2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for 

Texas Counties in Project Area* ........................................................................................................ 41

viii
1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) set requirements for assessing the impacts of leasing offshore areas for oil and gas exploration 

and development in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil and gas facilities operating in the Gulf of Mexico produced 

4.2 billion barrels of oil and 20.3 billion Mcf of natural gas between 2005 and December 2013 (BOEM, 

2013). Under this project, the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) has contracted with 

Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG) to develop data for assessing the impacts of leasing offshore areas on 

the travel, tourism, and recreation industries in the Gulf of Mexico region. 

Tourism is a significant driver of economic activity and impacts a broad range of economic 

sectors in the Gulf region. Some of these sectors, such as hotels and air transportation, depend on tourism 

for most or all of their business. Other sectors, such as retailers and restaurants, depend on a more even 

mix of tourists and local residents for their business. This paper will present a methodology for 

estimating the effects of tourism on these various sectors. The data compiled for this report indicate that 

the tourism industry in the Gulf region accounted for slightly more than one million jobs (approximately 

4.5 percent of total employment) in 2009. This report also develops county-level estimates of the scale of 

tourism, travel, and recreation for 64 counties in the Gulf region. These data will help BOEM assess the 

impacts of routine operations associated with offshore energy development, as well as the impacts of 

accidental events, such as oil spills.

This report discusses the methods and data ERG used in developing measures of the economic 

scales of tourism and recreation in the Gulf region. This process involved: 

• Developing three county-level tourism and recreation measures.

• Determining the appropriate data sources to use for the measures that were developed.

• Developing Tourism Commodity Ratios (TCRs) that could be used to determine the

proportion of a tourism commodity that is attributable to tourism.

• Developing a spreadsheet to capture state and county tourism and recreation data and

applying the newly developed measures noted above.

• Providing sample tourism and recreation data that integrates the TCRs, tourism and recreation

measures, and spreadsheet developed.

Section 1.2 reviews previous work performed, under contract with the Minerals Management Service 

(MMS)1

, that provides input into the work described in this report. The unpublished report (Kaplan and 

Whitman, 2008) developed similar measures to the ones developed in this report. This report, however, 

expands on the work performed in the Kaplan and Whitman report, providing up-to-date data and using 

more detailed data sources for the measures. This project also involved developing a spreadsheet tool for 

use in extracting and presenting the data that are summarized in this report.

1 On October 1, 2011, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (formerly the 

Minerals Management Service) was officially reorganized into the Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

Enforcement (BSEE) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). 

1 
1.2 Review of Previous Work

In 2008, MMS contracted with ERG to develop county-specific estimates of the scale of travel, 

tourism, and recreation in the Gulf region. The estimates were to be based on a common methodology 

and comparable data so that MMS would be able to aggregate the estimates into labor market areas, 

states, or other geographic areas. The results of this effort were summarized in an unpublished MMS 

report that will be referred to as Kaplan and Whitman (2008). The Kaplan and Whitman (2008) method 

followed a multi-step process:

1. Travel and tourism was defined using Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) travel and 

tourism satellite accounts. This definition identified which industries are considered part of 

the travel and tourism industry. However, many industries that service travelers and tourists 

also provide services to local residents. Thus, BEA developed Tourism Commodity Ratios 

(TCRs) to determine the percentage of each travel, tourism, and recreation (TTR)-related 

industry that could be attributed to travel and tourism. The TCRs used in the Kaplan and 

Whitman (2008) study reflect national-level estimates of the amount of each industry 

attributable to travel and tourism.

2. The industries included in the travel and tourism definition were then mapped to North 

American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes. Mapping to NAICS codes allows 

for extracting data from sources such as the Census Bureau and applying the TCRs to data for 

those NAICS codes to estimate travel and tourism economic activity.

3. Next, local recreation was added into the estimates because MMS was also interested in 

recreation by the local population. Thus, Kaplan and Whitman (2008) determined which 

industries represented recreational activities.2

4. Travel and tourism industries and activities associated with the coast were used to separate 

coastal from non-coastal activities. This allowed for determining which industries and 

activities would be more likely to be affected by OCS operations.

5. Finally, the contribution from national and state parks, wildlife refuges, and seashores were 

included in the analysis from separate data sources since data provided by the Census Bureau 

did not include these entities.

Similar to this report, Kaplan and Whitman’s estimates focused on employment, payroll, and 

establishments as economic measures. The primary data source for the estimates of TTR in the analysis 

came from the Census Bureau’s 2005 County Business Patterns data.

2 Local recreation is included because events, such as oil spills, may lead tourists to cancel trips to a region, but the 

local population may still participate in local recreational activities, such as going to movies or golfing in the region.

2

 
2.0 METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

2.1 Overview

The methodology used in this report follows the general approach used in Kaplan and Whitman 

(2008), but expands on the methods where necessary. This section is a brief overview of the methods 

ERG used, which are discussed in more detail in the sections that follow. ERG followed a five-step 

process to develop estimates of travel and tourism in the Gulf region.

Step 1. Define the measures of travel, tourism, and recreation. This first step sets out the 

definitions of travel, tourism and recreation, including the economic measures: Travel and Tourism (TT), 

Recreation (RE), and Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS operations (TTOCS). Developing these three 

measures included (1) defining the scope of each measure (i.e., what they are supposed to measure) and 

(2) identifying the economic indicators to track for each one. Section 2.2 discusses Step 1 in detail.

Step 2. Define the NAICS codes that comprise each measure. This step began by identifying 

the industries that would be included in each measure from Step 1. Next, ERG mapped those sectors to an 

initial set of NAICS codes and then determined if all of the relevant sectors were included. ERG then 

compared this initial set with other definitions of travel and tourism with the objective of ensuring the set 

used in this report will cover all of the necessary sectors. During this step, ERG also determined the 

sectors to include in the RE measure. The RE measure is meant to capture the scale of recreational 

activities, regardless of whether tourists or local residents engage in these activities. Section 2.3 discusses 

Step 2 in detail.

Step 3. Determine the Tourism Commodity Ratio (TCR) for each defined sector. As noted in 

Section 1.2, the TCR is the percentage of an industry that can be attributed to consumption by travel and 

tourism sources (rather than from consumption by local sources). BEA provides national-level TCRs 

based on BLS data. This project also assessed the feasibility of developing localized TCRs; however, the 

conclusion was that without purchasing specialized and detailed data, localized TCRs are not feasible at 

this time. TCRs are discussed in Section 2.4.1 and the assessment of the feasibility of localized TCRs is 

presented in Appendix A.

Step 4. Define the percentage of each travel and tourism sector that is sensitive of OCS 

operations. Not all travel and tourism in the Gulf will be related to coastal activities and be sensitive to 

OCS operations. BOEM is interested in the percentage that can be considered sensitive to OCS 

operations. This step is discussed in Section 2.4.2.

Step 5. Determine an appropriate data source for measuring travel and tourism. Kaplan and 

Whitman (2008) used Census’ County Business Patterns data. The method developed in this report uses 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Earnings and Wages (QCEW). ERG incorporated the 

Census Bureau’s Nonemployer Statistics data to account for smaller establishments in the counties. 

Finally, the method developed under this project follows Kaplan and Whitman (2008) and includes data 

on national parks (i.e., public assets) which are not reported in the QCEW data. These data sources are 

discussed in Section 2.5.

3
2.2 Definitions of Measures

ERG developed the following three measures of tourism and recreation for counties and parishes 

in the Gulf of Mexico:

• Travel and Tourism (TT): the economic activity of sectors associated with visitors who 

travel to an area. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) defines a “visitor” as a person who 

travels outside of his or her usual environment3

, who stays overnight in a hotel or motel for 

less than a year. The term “visitor” excludes travelers who expect to be compensated at the 

location of their visit, e.g., migrant workers, relocating workers, or diplomats and military 

personnel traveling to and from their duty stations and their home county (Zemanek, 2011).

• Recreation (RE): the economic activity for sectors that supply recreation activities.

Recreation is defined as something a person does to relax, have fun, or for enjoyment. Both 

visitors and residents can use a location’s assets, goods, and services for recreation.

• Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS Operations (TTOCS): the economic activity for 

travel and tourism (TT; see above) sectors that depend on (are sensitive to) coastal resources. 

This will be the same sectors as under the TT measure above multiplied by an adjustment 

factor to reflect the percentage of the sector that is close to the shore. 

The following economic indicators were calculated for each of these measures:

• Employment: In short, employment is the number of paid employees.4 The primary data 

source used in this project is the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) 

which counts filled jobs. The number of filled jobs can be full or part-time, temporary or 

permanent (US DOL BLS, 2013a).5

• Payroll: The total amount of compensation paid to employees. The QCEW measure of total 

wages includes wages paid for labor as well as “bonuses, stock options, severance pay, profit 

distributions, cash value of meals and lodging, tips and other gratuities, and, in some States, 

employer contributions to certain deferred compensation plans such as 401(k) plans” 

(USDOL BLS, 2013a).

• Number of establishments: Establishments are single economic units (e.g., a farm, a mine, a 

factory, or a store) that produce goods or services. Establishments are typically at one 

physical location and engaged in one, or predominantly one, type of economic activity

(USDOL BLS, 2013a).

3 Zemanek (2011) defines this as someone who travels outside the area of his/her normal every day activities.

4 For nonemployer establishments, however we count employment as one person. 5 US DOL BLS (2013b) also provides a comparison of its employment measure for QCEW to other measures of 

employment. 

4

 
2.3 Industries to Include

This section discusses the selection of industries to include in the three measures (TT, RE, 

TTOCS). The industries for the travel and tourism sensitive to OCS operations (TTOCS) measure are the 

same as the travel and tourism (TT) industries, but the data for those industries is multiplied by a 

percentage to reflect the level of activity that this close to the coast and thus more likely to be affected by 

OCS operations (see Section 2.4.2 below). Thus, this section focuses on selecting the industries for the 

TT measure (Section 2.3.1) and the RE measure (Section 2.3.2).

2.3.1 Travel and Tourism

A first step in analyzing the tourism sector is to determine the goods and services that would be 

consumed by visitors to an area. BEA developed an initial list of goods and services that could be 

considered travel and tourism-related commodities,6 which Kaplan and Whitman (2008) used as a starting 

point; they mapped this initial list to NAICS codes and then made some adjustments to that list. This 

report uses, as a starting point, the list of NAICS codes Kaplan and Whitman developed. ERG reviewed 

the industries selected in Kaplan and Whitman and then compared that industry list to the set of industries 

used by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA).

BEA’s List of Travel and Tourism-Related Goods and Services7

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is responsible for the national income and product 

accounts (NIPAs). The NIPAs are a set of input-output economic accounts that provide information on 

the value and composition of output produced in the United States during a given period and on the 

distribution and uses of the income generated by that production. In 1998, BEA recognized the 

desirability of developing an analytical measure of travel and tourism activities in the U.S. (Okubo and 

Planting, 1998). To do this, BEA used data from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, a quarterly 

interview and diary survey on the buying habits of American consumers in which respondents place some 

of their expenditures into an “out of town trips” category (BLS, 2007). To identify the BEA sectors that 

would form the set of satellite tourism accounts, BEA mapped the sectors in the BLS Consumer 

Expenditure Survey to its own list of sectors. This list of sectors appears in Table 1 below.

Table 1

2005 Travel and Tourism Commodities and Ratios

BLS

Consumer Expenditure Survey[a]

BEA

Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts[b]

Food prepared by consumer unit Food services and drinking places

Food Food services and drinking places

Alcoholic beverages purchased Food services and drinking places

Lodging Traveler accommodations

Gasoline Gasoline

Motor oil None

Auto rental Automotive Rental

Truck rental Other vehicle rental

Motorcycle rental Other vehicle rental

6 BEA also developed TCRs for the goods and services which are discussed in more detail in Section 2.4.1. 7 This section was taken from Kaplan and Whitman (2008) and was updated accordingly. 

5

 
BLS

Consumer Expenditure Survey[a]

BEA

Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts[b]

Aircraft rental Other vehicle rental

Parking fees Parking lots and garages

Tolls Highway tolls

Local transportation Passenger rail transportation services

Passenger water transportation services

Interurban bus transportation

Interurban charter bus transportation

Urban transit systems and other 

transportation services

Taxi and Limousine services Taxi Service

Recreation expenses Scenic and sightseeing transportation 

services

Travel arrangement and reservation 

services

Participant sports Participant sports

Movie, other admissions Motion pictures and performing arts

Admissions to sports events Spectator sports

Other entertainment services All other recreation and entertainment

Boat and trailer rental Other vehicle rental

Rental of campers Other vehicle rental

Rental of other vehicles Other vehicle rental

None Domestic passenger air transportation 

services

None International passenger air 

transportation services

None Automotive repair services

None Gambling

None Nondurable Personal Consumption 

Expenses (PCE) commodities other than 

gasoline

[a] In conjunction with “out-of-town trips”. Source: Table 1202, Income before taxes: annual 

means, standard errors and coefficient of variation, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2006, from 

Crain, 2007.

[b] Source: Kern and Kocis, 2007.

Mapping the BEA List of Goods and Services to NAICS Codes

The next step was to map the commodities (goods and services) in Table 1 to NAICS codes. In 

performing the analysis for the Kaplan and Whitman (2008) report, ERG compiled an initial list of sixdigit NAICS codes, which might directly or indirectly be comprised of travel, tourism, and recreationrelated economic activity. Table 2 through Table 6 lists the six-digit NAICS codes by sector for this

preliminary list.

6
Table 2

Retail Trade Sectors

NAICS Description Aggregated 6-Digit

445/// 

Food and Beverage Stores

445110 Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except 

Convenience Stores)

445120 Convenience Stores

445210 Meat Markets

445220 Fish and Seafood Markets

445230 Fruit and Vegetable Markets

445291 Baked Goods Stores

445292 Confectionary and Nut Stores

445299 All Other Specialty Food Stores

445310 Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores

447/// 

Gasoline Stations

447110 Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores

447190 Other Gasoline Stores

452///

General Merchandise Stores

452111 Department Stores (except Discount Department 

Stores)

452112 Discount Department Stores

452910 Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters

452990 All Other General Merchandise Stores

Source: U.S. Census, 2013.

7
Table 3

Transportation Sectors

NAICS Description Aggregated 6-Digit

481///

Air Transportation

481111 Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation

481112 Scheduled Freight Air Transportation

481211 Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation

481212 Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation

481219 Other Nonscheduled Air Transportation

485///

Transit and Ground Passenger 

Transportation

485111 Mixed Mode Transit Systems

485112 Commuter Rail Systems

485113 Bus and Other Motor Vehicle Transit Systems

485119 Other Urban Transit Systems

485210 Interurban and Rural Bus Transportation

485310 Taxi Service

485320 Limousine Service

485410 School and Employee Bus Transportation

485510 Charter Bus Industry

485991 Special Needs Transportation

485999 All Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation

487///

Scenic and Sightseeing 

Transportation

487110 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land

487210 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water

487990 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other

Source: U.S. Census, 2013.

Table 4

Real Estate, Rental and Leasing Sectors

NAICS Description Aggregated 6-Digit

53211/

Passenger Car Rental and Leasing

532111 Passenger Car Rental

532112 Passenger Car Leasing

5615//

Travel Arrangement and 

Reservation Services

561510 Travel Agencies

561520 Tour Operations

561591 Convention and Visitors Bureaus

561599 All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation 

Services

Source: U.S. Census, 2013.

8
Table 5

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Sectors

NAICS Description Aggregated 6-Digit

71////

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

711110 Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters

711120 Dance Companies

711130 Musical Groups and Artists

711190 Other Performing Arts Companies

711211 Sports Teams and Clubs

711212 Racetracks

711219 Other Spectator Sports

711310 Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar 

Events with Facilities

711320 Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar 

Events without Facilities

711410 Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, 

Entertainers, and Other Public Figures

711510 Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers

712110 Museums

712120 Historical Sites

712130 Zoos and Botanical Gardens

712190 Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions

713110 Amusement and Theme Parks

713120 Amusement Arcades

713210 Casinos (except Casino Hotels)

713290 Other Gambling Industries

713910 Golf Courses and Country Clubs

713920 Skiing Facilities

713930 Marinas

713940 Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers

713950 Bowling Centers

713990 All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries

Source: U.S. Census, 2013.

9
Table 6

Accommodation and Food Services Sectors

NAICS Description Aggregated 6-Digit

72////

Accommodation and Food Services

721110 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels

721120 Casino Hotels

721191 Bed and Breakfast Inns

721199 All Other Traveler Accommodation

721211 RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Campgrounds

721214 Recreational and Vacation Camps (except 

Campgrounds)

721310 Rooming and Boarding Houses

722110 Full-Service Restaurants

722211 Limited-Service Restaurants

722212 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets

722213 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars

722310 Food Service Contractors

722320 Caterers

722330 Mobile Food Services

722410 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)

Source: U.S. Census, 2013.

ERG compared this initial list to the list in the BEA travel and tourism list (Table 1).8 Based on 

this comparison, three industries were added to bring the lists into closer agreement:

• 532120 Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental and Leasing

• 811111 General Automotive Repair

• 812930 Parking Lots and Garages 

Next, in reviewing the initial list, a number of industries were deleted that did not appear to be tourismrelated, including:

• 481112 Scheduled Freight Air Transportation

• 481212 Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation

• 485410 School and Employee Bus Transportation

• 485991 Special Needs Transportation

• 532112 Passenger Car Leasing

• 711310 Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities

• 711320 Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities

• 711410 Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public 

Figures

• 721310 Rooming and Boarding Houses

8 Some of this initial list development was done in the Kaplan and Whitman (2008) report.

10

 
• 722310 Food Service Contractors

• 722320 Caterers

These deletions were made in light of BOEM guidance about what constituted tourism. Car leasing and 

staying at a rooming or boarding house implies a longer-term stay than is typically associated with 

tourism and recreation, such as a temporary work assignment or temporary lodgings while relocating to 

the area. Freight transportation and school or employee transport were considered unrelated to tourism 

and recreation. The final list of industries generated for Kaplan and Whitman is presented in Table 7

below.

Comparing Initial List of NAICS Codes with USTA and NOAA Definitions

In developing the data for this report, two additional sources of travel and tourism data were 

identified and compared the list in Table 7 to those two sources. The two additional sources were: 

• The U.S. Travel Association (USTA; formerly known as the Travel Industry Association) 

developed the Travel Economic Impact Model (TEIM) to estimate national and regional 

economic impacts of travel activities (USTA 2010). ERG contacted USTA, which sent a list 

of industries in the TEIM (Tian, 2011).

• NOAA’s Digital Coast website has links to NOAA data sources, including its Economics: 

National Ocean Watch (ENOW) database (US DOC NOAA, 2012). Tourism is one of the 

economic sectors tracked in ENOW through the National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) 

(USDOC NOAA, 2012). This section compares the industries included in the definition of 

tourism with those in Kaplan and Whitman (2008).9

The NAICS codes included in both the USTA and NOAA data are identified in Table 7. 

The USTA list shows a much greater overlap with the initial list that was developed for this 

report than the NOAA ENOW industry list. However, the initial list includes nine 6-digit industries that 

are not in the USTA list:

• 485111 Mixed Mode Transit Systems

• 485112 Commuter Rail Systems

• 485113 Bus and Other Motor Vehicle Transit Systems

• 485119 Other Urban Transit Systems

• 485999 All Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation

• 532120 Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental and Leasing

• 721214 Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds)

• 722330 Mobile Food Services

• 812930 Parking Lots and Garages

ERG and BOEM discussed these industries in 2008 (in developing the Kaplan and Whitman 

report) and decided that tourists would use intra-urban means of transport (i.e., the first five bullets and 

the last bullet) to get around the city they were visiting or to reach nearby attractions. NAICS 532120 was 

9 We also examined the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA) as a possible 

alternate source for tourism economic impacts. However, ITA uses the BEA data (USDOC ITA 2011). 

11

 
included because a tourist might rent an RV once he or she arrived in the area. Tourists might also stay in 

recreational and vacation camps or avail themselves of mobile food services when sightseeing.

12
Table 7

Industries Considered in “Travel and Tourism” by Kaplan and Whitman (2008) Compared to NOAA 

ENOW and USTA Definitions

NAICS6-Digit 

Code Description ERG Initial List

NOAA 

ENOW USTA

445110 Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores * *

445120 Convenience Stores * *

445210 Meat Markets * *

445220 Fish and Seafood Markets * *

445230 Fruit and Vegetable Markets * *

445291 Baked Goods Stores * *

445292 Confectionary and Nut Stores * *

445299 All Other Specialty Food Stores * *

445310 Beer, Wine and Liquor Stores * *

447110 Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores * *

447190 Other Gasoline Stores * *

452111 Department Stores (except Discount Department Stores) * *

452112 Discount Department Stores * *

452910 Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters * *

452990 All Other General Merchandise Stores * *

481111 Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation * *

481211 Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation * *

481219 Other Nonscheduled Air Transportation * *

485111 Mixed Mode Transit Systems *

485112 Commuter Rail Systems *

485113 Bus and Other Motor Vehicle Transit Systems *

485119 Other Urban Transit Systems *

485210 Interurban and Rural Bus Transportation * *

485310 Taxi Service * *

485320 Limousine Service * *

485510 Charter Bus Industry * *

485999 All Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation *

487110 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land * *

487210 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water * * *

487990 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other * * *

532111 Passenger Car Rental * *

532120 Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental and 

Leasing *

561510 Travel Agencies * *

561520 Tour Operations * *

561591 Convention and Visitors Bureaus * *

561599 All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services * *

711110 Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters * *

711120 Dance Companies * *

711130 Musical Groups and Artists * *

711190 Other Performing Arts Companies * *

711211 Sports Teams and Clubs * *

711212 Racetracks * *

711219 Other Spectator Sports * *

711510 Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers * *

712110 Museums * *

13
NAICS6-Digit 

Code Description ERG Initial List

NOAA 

ENOW USTA

712120 Historical Sites * *

712130 Zoos and Botanical Gardens * * *

712190 Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions * * *

713110 Amusement and Theme Parks * *

713120 Amusement Arcades * *

713210 Casinos (except Casino Hotels) * *

713290 Other Gambling Industries * *

713910 Golf Courses and Country Clubs * *

713920 Skiing Facilities * *

713930 Marinas * * *

713940 Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers * *

713950 Bowling Centers * *

713990 All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries * * *

721110 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels * * *

721120 Casino Hotels * *

721191 Bed-and-Breakfast Inns * * *

721199 All Other Traveler Accommodation * *

721211 RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Campgrounds * * *

721214 Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds) *

722110 Full-Service Restaurants * * *

722211 Limited-Service Restaurants * * *

722212 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets * * *

722213 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars * * *

722330 Mobile Food Services *

722410 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) * *

811111 General Automotive Repair * *

812930 Parking Lots and Garages *

Source: Kaplan & Whitman (2008), USDOC NOAA (2012), and USTA (2010).

Table 8 provide a list of industries in the USTA and NOAA ENOW data that are not in the 

Kaplan and Whitman initial list. Of particular interest are the four industries included by NOAA ENOW: 

• 339920 Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing

• 441222 Boat Dealers

• 532292 Recreation Goods Rental

• 611620 Sports and Recreation Instruction

Only one of the four industries (NAICS 441222) is also included in the USTA list. 

ERG considered whether to add each of these additional industries to the Table 7 list and made 

the following determinations about their inclusion in the study: 

• Exclude Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing (NAICS 339920). Visitors do not 

have direct contact with sporting and athletic goods manufacturing; therefore, this NAICS 

was not considered appropriate to include.

• Exclude Boat Dealers (NAICS 441222). This NAICS was not included because it is highly 

unlikely for a visitor to purchase a boat for use during a vacation.

14
• Include Recreation Goods Rental (NAICS 532292) and Sports and Recreation 

Instruction (NAICS 611620). The rental and purchase of instruction to use sports and 

recreational goods could very well be part of a visitor’s activities. For example, someone may 

sign up for diving classes and rent scuba diving equipment during a vacation. Fishing, 

surfing, sailing, kayaking, and bird-watching are additional examples of activities that 

involve NAICS industries 532292 and 6111620. 

In contrast, 29 industries included in the USTA list are neither on the initial list developed by 

Kaplan and Whitman (2008) nor on NOAA’s ENOW list. These include industries specifically rejected 

by MMS when the Kaplan and Whitman (2008) report was developed, such as freight transport (NAICS 

481112 and 481212). ERG considered most, if not all, of the 29 industries to be more related to 

consumption by local residents than consumption by tourists to include within the definition of tourism 

and recreation (e.g., car washes). 

15
Table 8

Additional Industries in Other Definitions of Tourism

NAICS Code Description NOAA ENOW 

Tourism USTA

443 Electronics and Appliance Stores *

444 Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers *

446 Health and Personal Care Stores *

448 Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores *

451 Sporting Goods Hobby, Book, and Music Stores *

453 Miscellaneous Store Retailers *

4411 Automobile Dealers *

4413 Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Stores *

4821 Rail Transportation *

4881 Support Activities for Air Transportation *

339920 Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing *

441210 Recreational Vehicle Dealers *

441221 Motorcycle, ATV, and Personal Watercraft Dealers *

441222 Boat Dealers * *

441229 All Other Motor Vehicle Dealers *

481112 Scheduled Freight Air Transportation *

481212 Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation *

483112 Deep Sea Passenger Transportation *

483114 Coastal and Great Lakes Passenger Transportation *

483212 Inland Water Transportation *

532292 Recreation Goods Rental *

611620 Sports and Recreation Instruction *

711310 Promoters of Performing Arts, Sporting Events, with facilities *

711320 Promoters of Performing Arts, Sporting Events, without facilities *

711410 Agent and Managers for Artists, Athletes, etc. *

811112 Automotive Exhaust System Repair *

811113 Automotive Transmission Repair *

811118 Other Automotive Mechanical and Electrical Repair *

811121 Automotive Body, Paint, and Interior Repair and Maintenance *

811122 Automotive Glass Replacement Shops *

811191 Automotive Oil Change and Lubrication Shops *

811192 Car Washes *

811198 All Other Automotive Repair and Maintenance *

Source: USDOC NOAA (2012) and USTA (2010).

Note: Industries listed in bold text were included in the travel and tourism measure defined in this report. 

All other listed sectors were excluded.

2.3.2 Recreation

Table 9 contains the list of industries that were used for the Recreation measure. It begins with 

NAICS 441210 (recreational vehicle dealers) and dealers of other forms of recreational transport, e.g., 

motorcycles, ATV, personal watercraft, and boats (NAICS 441221 and 441222). Sightseeing on land, 

water, or other (NAICS 487110, 487210, and 487990) and the rental of recreational goods (NAICS 

532292) and instruction on how to properly use the sports and recreational equipment (NAICS 611620)

were included. Visitors and residents both might make use of tour operations and visitors bureaus when 

researching recreational opportunities (NAICS 561520 and 561591). The rest of the industries in Table 9

16
correspond to those in NAICS 71 industries (Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation) and NAICS 72 

(Accommodations and Food Services) as listed in Table 7. ERG did not include travel agencies or other 

travel arrangement services (NAICS 561510 and 561599) because these services relate to travel outside

the region of interest, and the intent was to measure the importance of recreation within the region. It was

assumed that the goods and services provided by the industries listed in Table 9 would be consumed by 

either visitors or residents. That is, 100% of these industries are counted as “recreation.” 

17
Table 9

List of Recreation Industries

NAICS Code Description

441210 Recreational Vehicle Dealers

441221 Motorcycle, ATV, and Personal Watercraft Dealers

441222 Boat Dealers

487110 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land

487210 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water

487990 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other

532292 Recreation Goods Rental

561520 Tour Operations

561591 Convention and Visitors Bureaus

611620 Sports and Recreation Instruction

711110 Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters

711120 Dance Companies

711130 Musical Groups and Artists

711190 Other Performing Arts Companies

711211 Sports Teams and Clubs

711212 Racetracks

711219 Other Spectator Sports

711510 Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers

712110 Museums

712120 Historical Sites

712130 Zoos and Botanical Gardens

712190 Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions

713110 Amusement and Theme Parks

713120 Amusement Arcades

713210 Casinos (except Casino Hotels)

713290 Other Gambling Industries

713910 Golf Courses and Country Clubs

713920 Skiing Facilities

713930 Marinas

713940 Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers

713950 Bowling Centers

713990 All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries

721110 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels

721120 Casino Hotels

721191 Bed-and-Breakfast Inns

721199 All Other Traveler Accommodation

721211 RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Campgrounds

721214 Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds)

722110 Full-Service Restaurants

722211 Limited-Service Restaurants

722212 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets

722213 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars

722330 Mobile Food Services

722410 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)

Source: ERG determination of recreation industries (see text).

18
2.4 Tourism Commodity Ratios and Sectors Sensitive to OCS 

Operations

This section discusses two adjustments to the data that are made in deriving estimates of the 

economic activity in Gulf Coast counties. First, ERG adjusted each sector for the percentage attributable 

to tourism. This adjustment recognizes that the economic activity in some sectors (e.g., restaurants) is not 

derived completely from tourism. The adjustment is done by using an estimated percentage to reflect the 

amount derived from travel and tourism. These percentages are referred to as Tourism Commodity Ratios 

(TCRs). Second, a methodology is employed to estimate the fraction of tourism activities that are 

sensitive to coastal resources. This adjustment reflects the fact tourism sectors that are dependent on 

coastal resources are particularly sensitive to OCS operations. 

2.4.1 Tourism Commodity Ratios

As discussed in Section 2.3.1, BEA developed a set of satellite tourism accounts by mapping data 

from BLS to its set of sectors (Okubo and Planting, 1998). Key to the BEA method was their recognition 

that many of the activities—such as eating in restaurants—are done by both visitors and non-visitors.

Okubo and Planting (1998) recognize that the basic building blocks of input-output (I-O) accounts are 

commodities and, thus, are not easily separated by type of consumer (i.e., visitor or non-visitor). They 

developed a “Tourism Commodity Ratio” or TCR that splits a commodity between tourism and nontourism consumption. Hotels, for example, are considered 100 percent tourism-related while eating and 

drinking places are considered only 20 percent tourism-related (Kern and Kocis, 2007). 

The split is based on the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, a quarterly interview and diary

survey on the buying habits of U.S. consumers (BLS, 2007). As discussed in Section 2.3.1, BEA 

developed a cross-walk between the BLS and BEA sectors (see Table 1). BEA then developed TCRs for 

each sector based on the data from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. The BLS survey allows 

respondents to place portions of purchases into an “out of town” category which forms the basis of the 

TCRs (BLS, 2007). The BLS TCRs are provided in Table 10. 

ERG used the TCRs in Table 10 as a starting point and then assigned the TCRs to the travel and 

tourism NAICS codes described in Section 2.3.1. In some cases, a TCR is applied to an entire 3-digit 

industry. For example, the BEA TCR for “traveler accommodations” (1.00) is assigned to the NAICS 

codes in the 721 industry (accommodations), and the “food services and drinking places” TCR of 0.20 is 

extended to all entries in the 722 industry (food services). In other cases, the assignments are done on a 

finer basis. The TCR for motion pictures and performing arts (0.36) is extended to NAICS codes 711110, 

711120, 711130, 711190, and 711510. The TCR for spectator sports (0.43) is extended to NAICS 

711211, 711212, and 711219.

The TCR for urban transportation systems and other transportation services (0.17) is extended to 

NAICS 485511, 485112, 485113, 485119, and 495999. NAICS 485999 specifically includes scheduled 

shuttle services between hotels, airports, or other destination points. Limousine services (NAICS 485320) 

comprises transportation services by limousine or luxury sedan on a reserved basis, including hearse 

rental with driver. It does not include establishments that operate over regular routes and on regular 

schedules but it could include specially-reserved pick-ups at an airport (Census, 2007). Thus, ERG 

includes NAICS 485320 in the list of NAICS considered in tourism and recreation and extends the TCR 

for urban transportation systems (0.17) to it. Bus transportation between cities (interurban) are considered 

entirely within the BEA travel and tourism accounts; ERG extends the TCR (1.0) to NAICS 485210 and 

485510 (interurban and rural bus transportation and charter bus transportation). 

19
Table 10

Tourism Commodity Ratios for BEA Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts

BEA

Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts

Tourism Commodity Ratio

Traveler accommodations 1.00

Passenger rail transportation services 1.00

Interurban bus transportation 1.00

Interurban charter bus transportation 1.00

Scenic and sightseeing transportation services 1.00

Domestic passenger air transportation services 1.00

International passenger air transportation services 1.00

Travel arrangement and reservation services 0.96

Passenger water transportation services 0.93

Other vehicle rental 0.92

Automotive Rental 0.90

Gambling 0.50

Spectator sports 0.43

Motion pictures and performing arts 0.36

Taxi Service 0.31

All other recreation and entertainment 0.30

Participant sports 0.29

Food services and drinking places 0.20

Parking lots and garages 0.18

Gasoline 0.17

Urban transit systems and other transportation services 0.17

Highway tolls 0.09

Automotive repair services 0.06

Nondurable Personal Consumption Expenses (PCE) commodities 

other than gasoline

0.04

Source: Kern and Kocis, 2007.

NAICS 532120 (truck, utility vehicle, and recreational vehicle rental and leasing) has a mix of 

short-term and long-term activities. While rental activities might be associated with tourism and 

recreation (e.g., traveling to remotely located fish camps), leasing activities are less likely to be associated

with travel and tourism. Thus, extending the TCR for vehicle rental (0.92) to this NAICS code will result 

in a slight overestimate for tourism and recreation. ERG does not anticipate that this will be a large effect 

on the estimate.

An important limitation of the BEA TCRs is that they are defined at a national level and not at a 

more local level (e.g., state or county-specific). ERG expects that it is reasonable to assume that sectorspecific TCRs vary for different localities. That is, the percentage of economic activity derived from 

travel and tourism is likely to be lower or higher in some areas compared to the nation as a whole. 

Therefore, the TT and TTOCS measures developed in this report are likely to somewhat underestimate 

the scale of tourism industries in areas that are more dependent on tourism that the nation as a whole. 

Similarly, the TT and TTOCS measures are likely to somewhat overstate the scale of tourism industries in 

areas that are less dependent on tourism than the nation as a whole.

20
ERG did, however, assess the feasibility of developing localized TCRs. This assessment is 

described in more detail in Appendix A. In short, ERG found that developing localized TCRs is not 

feasible at this time. Specifically, ERG was unable to identify publicly available local TCRs. 

Furthermore, developing state-specific (or other local-level specific) TCRs requires state-level 

input/output tables and these do not exist at this time. The U.S. Travel Association (USTA) provide these 

data, but at cost; NOAA data are also insufficient to develop local TCRs. Thus, despite the limitations of 

the TCRs in Table 10, they still represent the best available data on TCRs for use in this study.

2.4.2 Sectors Sensitive to OCS Operations

The next step is to identify the portion of the TT measure that is particularly sensitive to offshore 

oil and gas operations and related infrastructure in the Gulf. This measure, referred to as TTOCS, is 

defined as the portion of the TT measure that occurs close to the coast. This section details the derivation 

of a percentage that can be applied to the estimates of tourism to provide an estimate of the level of 

tourism that is coastal-related, or sensitive to OCS operations.

Data from NOAA’s ENOW is used to parse out the portion of the TT measure that is coastalrelated. NOAA ENOW uses QCEW data to build its Ocean and Great Lakes Jobs Snapshot (USDOC 

NOAA, 2012). NOAA ENOW considers the 17 industries listed in Table 11 to be in the coastal tourism 

industry. The employment and wages associated with establishments that are located in ZIP codes along 

the coast (“coastal” ZIP codes) are aggregated to estimate the ocean-related tourism industry.10 ERG used 

the NOAA data to make this adjustment for two reasons. First, NOAA’s coastal tourism measure is

geared toward measuring tourism close to the coast. Second, NOAA constructed this measure using the 

confidential QCEW data. 

For the purpose of scaling the BOEM travel and tourism estimates to the portions that are 

sensitive to OCS operations, ERG used the NOAA set of tourism industries listed in Table 11 and 

calculated the ratio of the NOAA ocean-related tourism to the total tourism estimated for those 17 

industries. The BOEM travel and tourism estimate was then multiplied by this ratio or scalar to calculate 

the TTOCS estimate. The equation for the scalar is:

where n is the 17 industries listed in Table 11.

The numerator was available through the NOAA ENOW, and the denominator was calculated 

using QCEW data (USDOC NOAA, 2012). The ratio was calculated on a combined industry basis but 

differed by county/parish and by the parameter in question (i.e., establishments, employment, and wages). 

The ratio varied from 0.0 (where there are no tourism industries in the coastal ZIP codes) to 1.0 where all 

tourism in the county/parish occurs within the coastal ZIP codes. For example, assume that a county has:

• 4 hotels 

• 10 inns 

• 14 marinas 

• 20 restaurants 

10 To do this, NOAA used confidential QCEW data that was not available to us under this contract.

21

 
• 2 boat dealers, and 

• 4 water-based scenic and sightseeing tour operators

This results in a total of 54 establishments. Assume further that all the marinas, boat dealers, and waterbased tour operators are in coastal ZIP codes, but only half the hotels, inns, and restaurants are in coastal 

ZIP codes (i.e., a total of 37 establishments in coastal ZIP codes). The OCS-sensitive adjustment for 

establishments in the county is 37/54 or 68.5%. Thus, for this county, the Travel and Tourism (TT) 

estimates for establishments for each sector is multiplied by 68.5% to calculate the TTOCS.

Table 11

NOAA Tourism Industries

NAICS Code Description

339920 Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing

441222 Boat Dealers

487210 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water

487990 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other

532292 Recreation Goods Rental

611620 Sports and Recreation Instruction

712130 Zoos and Botanical Gardens

712190 Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions

713930 Marinas

713990 All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries

721110 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels

721191 Bed-and-Breakfast Inns

721211 RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Campgrounds

722110 Full-Service Restaurants

722211 Limited-Service Restaurants

722212 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets

722213 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars

Source: USDOC NOAA, 2012

2.5 Data Sources 

The following data sources were used to develop the tourism and recreation measures: 

• Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)

• Census Bureaus’ Nonemployer Statistics

• Publicly available data on public assets

Each of these data sources is described in more detail below. The time frames that are available for this 

analysis from these data sources differ. Table 12 provides a summary of the frequencies and time frames 

of these data sources.

22
Table 12

Summary Information on Data Sources

Data Source Data frequency

Time frames that are currently 

available at the time of this 

report

Time frame used 

in reporting 

results in this 

report

QCEW Quarterly with an 

annual summary

Through first quarter 2012 

(quarterly data) and through 

2011 (annual summary data)

2009

Nonemployer data Annual Through 2009 2009

Public asset data Varies, mostly annual 2009 2009

2.5.1 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in cooperation with State 

Employment Security Agencies, prepares the QCEW (USDOL BLS, 2012a). QCEW data are a nearcensus of employees covered by State unemployment insurance and Federal workers covered by the 

Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. QCEW reports data on the 

number of establishments, employees, and wages. When necessary, BLS suppresses data to prevent the 

disclosure of data for an individual business and does not include data on self-employed individuals. 

Quarterly data are released about six to seven months after the close of the quarter while an annual 

summary is available about 10 months after the end of the calendar year (USDOL BLS 2012a). 

ERG investigated the possibility of obtaining access to BLS confidential data (USDOL BLS,

2012b) at the ZIP code level for the purpose of identifying businesses in areas adjacent to the coast. At the 

time the approach for this project was being developed, BLS was restricting access to confidential QCEW 

data due to the large number of projects underway at that time. Researchers were being allowed to submit 

applications for access, and new projects would be allowed in the order in which they were approved. 

Despite the lack of access to the confidential QCEW data, ERG used the publicly available 

QCEW data for this project. The QCEW data form the basis of most the data that are used in developing 

the estimates of travel and tourism. The quarterly data are available through the first quarter of 2012 and 

the annual data are available through 2011. However, to be consistent with other data in this report, data 

from 2009 were used.

One issue in the QCEW data was suppression of data at the more detailed (e.g., six digit) NAICS 

code levels. The issue that arose is that for some aggregated NAICS codes (e.g., four-digit codes), some 

six-digit codes are suppressed and some are not. The goal of this data development is to provide the most 

detailed data available for use by BOEM. To resolve this, ERG developed an algorithm to pull the most 

detailed NAICS data available into the spreadsheet reports that were developed. An example of how this 

algorithm works is provided in Section 3.2.

23
2.5.2 Nonemployer Statistics

The Census Bureau Nonemployer Statistics program collects data on businesses that have no paid 

employment or payroll, are subject to federal income taxes, and have receipts of $1,000 or more (U.S. 

Census, 2012b). For the most part, the data cover self-employed individuals operating under a legal 

organization such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. The data are compiled from 

annual or quarterly business income tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Data are 

released approximately 18 months after the end of the year. For example, the 2009 annual data were 

released on July 28, 2011 (U.S. Census 2012b).

The nonemployer data fill a gap left by the scope of the QCEW data: self-employed individuals. 

For the purposes of analyzing travel and tourism, this may be an important group since there may be a 

number of one-person entities that provide travel and tourism services. 

Given that these are “nonemployers,” data on the number of employees is not found in these data. 

To calculate employment for nonemployer establishments ERG assumed that each nonemployer has one 

(e.g., the owner) employee. Census avoids the disclosure of data for an individual entity by adding noise 

to a value in a given cell, cell suppression, or complimentary cell suppression. 

2.5.3 Public Assets

National and state parks are key aspects of coastal-related tourism and recreation, but a consistent 

source of data on these public assets is not available. To address this, ERG researched the coastal public 

assets in the Gulf. ERG searched the U.S. National Park Service, respective state park services, and 

Google for publications, such as budgets, databases of park employees, park administrative documents, 

park or groups of park specific studies or publications, individual park descriptions, travel advertisement 

and information web pages for parks, news articles discussing incidents or trends at parks and any 

department updates with relevant employment and payroll information.11 

From these searches, employment and payroll data were available only for national parks. Statelevel information was obtained through a search for employment and payroll information on each state’s 

website for the department of wildlife, or equivalent organization. In addition, the operating and 

maintenance budgets for state wildlife or parks and recreation departments were used with the number of 

operating facilities to estimate the average payroll per entity. In doing so, ERG assumed that each facility 

and park received equal portions of the budget. Table 13 shows the sources used for parks information 

collection.

If employee or payroll data were not available for a particular park, the average employment or 

wage was applied. When a park, refuge, or seashore crossed county boundaries, the employment and 

payroll data was evenly split among the relevant counties.

To be consistent with the Census Nonemployer Statistics data being used in this report, data from 

2009 for all pertinent parks, refuges, and seashores were used, with the exception of Shepard State Park in 

Jackson County, Mississippi, where 2012 data was used. Data from 2010, 2011, and 2012 was also 

collected when available from the sources previously mentioned. See Appendix B for the data collected.

11 Relevant websites and publications were searched using terms such as “$,” “dollar,” “wages,” “budget,” “staff,” 

“employ(ees/ee/ment),” and “jobs.”

24

 
Table 13

Parks Information Sources

Type of Information Information Source

State

Alabama  Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

 Alabama Department of Finance

Florida  Florida Department of State

 Florida Division of Recreation and Parks

Louisiana  Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism

 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Texas  Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

National Parks  U.S. National Park Service

National Wildlife Refuges  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

2.6 Summary of Proposed Measures

Table 14 summarizes the industries in the TT, RE, and TTOCS measures and the TCRs that are 

applied to the three parameters to measure TT, RE, and TTOCS in each sector. There are 74 industries in 

the final list for Travel and Tourism and 44 industries in the final list for Recreation.12 The percentages 

shown in the TT column are the 2009 TCR values from Zemanek (2011). If an industry was considered as 

recreation, then 100% of the industry supply was assumed to be consumed by visitors and residents (see 

entries in the RE column). The TTOCS column identifies which sectors have county-specific adjustments 

applied for coastal-dependent activity. 

12 The list of Recreation industries is not a subset of the travel and tourism industries. There are three industries in 

the recreation list that are not on the travel and tourism list (recreational vehicle dealers; motorcycle, ATV, and 

personal watercraft dealers; and boat dealers).

25

 
Table 14

Industries in BOEM TT, RE, and TTOCS Measures

NAICS 

Code Description TT [a] RE TTOCS [b]

441210 Recreational Vehicle Dealers 100%

441221 Motorcycle, ATV, and Personal Watercraft Dealers 100%

441222 Boat Dealers 100%

445110 Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) 

Stores 3% *

445120 Convenience Stores 3% *

445210 Meat Markets 3% *

445220 Fish and Seafood Markets 3% *

445230 Fruit and Vegetable Markets 3% *

445291 Baked Goods Stores 3% *

445292 Confectionary and Nut Stores 3% *

445299 All Other Specialty Food Stores 3% *

445310 Beer, Wine and Liquor Stores 3% *

447110 Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores 16% *

447190 Other Gasoline Stores 16% *

452111 Department Stores (except Discount Department Stores) 3% *

452112 Discount Department Stores 3% *

452910 Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters 3% *

452990 All Other General Merchandise Stores 3% *

481111 Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation 100% *

481211 Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation 100% *

481219 Other Nonscheduled Air Transportation 100% *

485111 Mixed Mode Transit Systems 16% *

485112 Commuter Rail Systems 16% *

485113 Bus and Other Motor Vehicle Transit Systems 16% *

485119 Other Urban Transit Systems 16% *

485210 Interurban and Rural Bus Transportation 100% *

485310 Taxi Service 34% *

485320 Limousine Service 16% *

485510 Charter Bus Industry 100% *

485999 All Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation 16% *

487110 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land 100% 100% *

487210 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water 100% 100% *

487990 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other 100% 100% *

532111 Passenger Car Rental 91% *

532120 Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental 

and Leasing 94% *

532292 Recreation Goods Rental 27% 100% *

561510 Travel Agencies 95% *

561520 Tour Operations 95% 100% *

561591 Convention and Visitors Bureaus 95% 100% *

561599 All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services 95% *

611620 Sports and Recreation Instruction 27% 100% *

711110 Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters 30% 100% *

711120 Dance Companies 30% 100% *

711130 Musical Groups and Artists 30% 100% *

711190 Other Performing Arts Companies 30% 100% *

711211 Sports Teams and Clubs 35% 100% *

26
NAICS 

Code Description TT [a] RE TTOCS [b]

711212 Racetracks 35% 100% *

711219 Other Spectator Sports 35% 100% *

711510 Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers 30% 100% *

712110 Museums 26% 100% *

712120 Historical Sites 26% 100% *

712130 Zoos and Botanical Gardens 26% 100% *

712190 Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions 26% 100% *

713110 Amusement and Theme Parks 26% 100% *

713120 Amusement Arcades 26% 100% *

713210 Casinos (except Casino Hotels) 51% 100% *

713290 Other Gambling Industries 51% 100% *

713910 Golf Courses and Country Clubs 27% 100% *

713920 Skiing Facilities 27% 100% *

713930 Marinas 27% 100% *

713940 Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers 27% 100% *

713950 Bowling Centers 27% 100% *

713990 All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries 27% 100% *

721110 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels 100% 100% *

721120 Casino Hotels 100% 100% *

721191 Bed-and-Breakfast Inns 100% 100% *

721199 All Other Traveler Accommodation 100% 100% *

721211 RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Campgrounds 100% 100% *

721214 Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds) 100% 100% *

722110 Full-Service Restaurants 18% 100% *

722211 Limited-Service Restaurants 18% 100% *

722212 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets 18% 100% *

722213 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars 18% 100% *

722330 Mobile Food Services 18% 100% *

722410 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) 18% 100% *

811111 General Automotive Repair 9% *

812930 Parking Lots and Garages 16% * [a] Percentages are the TCR estimates from Zemanek (2011).

[b] Proportions for TTOCS are county or parish-specific based on method outlined in Section 2.3.5.

 

27
3.0 DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM AND RECREATION 

SPREADSHEET

ERG developed a spreadsheet to compute the amount of employment, payroll, and number of 

establishments for Travel and Tourism (TT), Recreation (RE), and Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS 

Operations (TTOCS) in each of the sectors identified in Table 14. Details of the database are described in 

Table 15. The spreadsheet is accompanied by a set of instructions explaining how to use it and how to 

update it with new data.

Table 15

Contents of Spreadsheet

Table Item Description

Years Covered 2009*

Frequency Annual data

Data Sources

BLS QCEW, Census Nonemployer 

Statistics, NOAA ENOW, and data 

collected on National and state parks

Data Measured Employment, Annual Payroll, Number 

of Establishments

Outputs TT, TTOCS, and RE

* Data for other available years can be inserted into the 

spreadsheet as needed.

3.1 Spreadsheet Contents

This section describes the worksheets (tabs) included in the Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet, 

including screenshots. Table 16 lists the types of tabs that were included, with a description of the 

components of each tab. More details on the different tabs are provided in the sections that follow. The 

spreadsheet itself contains detailed directions on its use.

28
Table 16

Description of Spreadsheet Tabs and Pages

Excel Tab Name Tab Description

Index Tab This tab allows the user to jump to the tabs for each state and county through hyperlinks. 

Summary Tables 

Tab

This tab provides a summary of the 2009 data for each state and county for the three 

measures (TT, TTOCS, and RE). This tab also includes hyperlinks to all state and county tabs.

Dynamic Table Tab

This tab allows the user to enter a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code and 

pull up the data for a specific FIPS-defined place that has been included in the spreadsheet 

(e.g., states and counties). This allows users to select find data for specific state or county 

and pull it into this tab for cutting and pasting to other formats.

State tabs (one for 

each state)

These tabs provide employment, establishment, and payroll data for each state in the 

study (5 total tabs). Each tab also includes hyperlinks back to the Index Tab and the 

Summary Tables tab.

County tabs (one 

for each county)

These tabs provide employment, establishment, and payroll data for each county/Parish in 

the study (64 total tabs). Each tab also includes hyperlinks back to the index tab and the 

Summary Tables tab.

Parks Tab This tab allows users to manually input parks data (employment and payroll data). The data 

entered into this tab feeds into the state and county tabs.

Backend Data and 

Lookup Tab(s)

These tabs include all lookup tables and backend data (QCEW, non-employer, ENOW). This 

is where the state and county tabs pull data from.

29
3.1.1 Summary Tables Tab

As shown in Figure 1, the Summary Tables tab presents the county- and state-level results. In 

Figure 1, Table 1 shows the total employees, annual payroll, and number of establishments for Alabama 

and its associated study counties for 2009. Table 2 of this figure shows the TT metric for employees, 

annual payroll, and number of establishments from 2009, including the ratio of TT to state and county 

totals (Table 1 in Figure 2). Tables 3 and 4 of Figure 1 provide the same information for TTOCS and RE, 

respectively. 

Figure 1. Screenshot of Summary Tables

30
3.1.2 Dynamic Table Tab

Using the same information appearing in the summary tables in Figure 1, the Dynamic Table tab 

goes a step further, combining the county tourism and recreation measure information into a single table 

(See Figure 2). As the lower left hand portion of Figure 2 indicates, the tab includes a list of Federal 

Information Processing Standard (FIPS) codes associated with each of the counties that can be entered 

into the pink box at the top of the tab. By entering a FIPS code in the pink box, the summary table of 

tourism and recreation measures for that particular county will be generated.

3.1.3 State and County Tabs

The state and county tabs pull from QCEW and Census Bureau nonemployer data to display 

employment, payroll, and establishment data from 2009 (See Figure 3). Figure 4 shows the columns in 

the state and county tabs to the left of those shown in Figure 3. These show how each industry is listed by 

NAICS code (NAICS codes included in this spreadsheet are described in Table 14) and colored based on 

its three-digit NAICS grouping. This figure also shows how users can toggle between a “default” 

selection of NAICS codes and a “manual” selection of NAICS codes.

Figure 2. Screenshot of Dynamic Table

31
Figure 3. Screenshot of State and County Tabs (Partial Screenshot; Florida Tab)

32
Figure 4. User Manipulation of State and County Tab (Partial Screenshot; Florida Tab)

33
3.1.4 Parks Tab

Figure 5 shows a sequence of three screenshots showing the Parks tab. Users can manually 

populate the pink input cells (2nd and 3rd frames of the figure) with the park name, employment data, 

payroll data, and establishment data from 2009 for as many parks as exist in the county.13 Figure 5 shows 

only through Microsoft® Excel® column AD (input cells for two parks); however, this tab allows for data 

entry of all parks in a county in columns to the right not shown in the screen shot. The first frame of the 

screen shot shows Excel® columns B through F, which sum the data from the pink input cells. These data 

are then fed into the calculation of TTOCS in the Summary Table tab.

Figure 5. Selected Screenshots of Parks Data Tab

13 The version of the spreadsheet developed for this project was populated with parks data for 2009 by ERG.

34

 
3.2 Spreadsheet Development

ERG developed the spreadsheet in Microsoft® Excel®. Compared to developing a database in 

Microsoft® Access®, developing the spreadsheet in Excel® provided a more user-friendly platform 

capable of manual manipulations while minimizing the level of development effort. One programming 

requirement was to minimize the file size to ensure a satisfactory processing speed. To accomplish this, 

unnecessary data (i.e., data related to counties, states, or NAICS codes not included in the study) were 

filtered out. 

As shown in Figure 6, the pre-filtered data are housed in separate worksheet tabs, which feeds 

into the state and county tabs. One problem that was resolved was how to report totals for aggregated 

NAICS codes when some of the sub-NAICS codes are suppressed in the QCEW data. ERG used a 

combination of Excel® logic functions and Microsoft® Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA) 

programming to create a “default” option that pulls the most detailed NAICS data available based on 

QCEW data availability. For example, in a situation where five six-digit NAICS codes can be aggregated 

into one four-digit NAICS code, the default are calculated in one of the following ways as ranked below:

• If data are available for ALL six-digit NAICS codes: The default will show all six-digit 

NAICS codes and filter out or hide the four-digit NAICS code.

• If data are NOT available for at least one six-digit NAICS code, but are available for the fourdigit NAICS code: The default will show the four-digit NAICS code and filter out or hide the 

six-digit NAICS codes.

• If data are available for some but not all of the six-digit NAICS codes and are also NOT 

available for the four -digit NAICS code: The default will show data for the available sixdigit NAICS codes and filter out or hide the six-digit NAICS codes for which data are not 

available. 

• If data are NOT available for ANY of the six-digit NAICS codes and are also not available 

for the four-digit NAICS code: The spreadsheet will filter out or hide all of the data.

3.3 User Functionality

As mentioned above, the spreadsheet was programmed to give users the ability to toggle between 

a “default” option displaying data at the most detailed available NAICS codes, and a “manual” option to 

provide additional flexibility to run the analysis while excluding certain NAICS codes. For example, a 

user who decided that he or she wants to exclude transportation-related NAICS codes from the analysis,

may select the “manual” option to manipulate the NAICS codes.

The spreadsheet was also programmed to allow for future data years to be pulled into the tool. 

The tool is accompanied with user instructions about where to find the raw data, how to manipulate the 

data to minimize file size, and how to incorporate the data into the tool.

35
Figure 6. Structure of Spreadsheet and Flow of Data through Tabs and Pages

Backend Data Tabs

• Holds BLS QCEW, Census Non-Employer, NOAA ENOW, 

and supplementary parks data.

• Data were pre filtered by removing NAICS codes, states, and 

counties not part of the study prior to uploading into 

database to minimize database size and maximize processing 

speed.

State Tabs

• Pulls data from backend tabs

• Uses logic functions and VBA programming 

to create a “default” option based on best 

available QCEW and Census Non-Employer 

data.

• Allows for manual user override in selecting 

NAICS codes.

• Calculates TT, TTOCS, and RE for 2009.

County Tabs

• Pulls data from backend tabs

• Uses logic functions and VBA programming 

to create a “default” option based on best 

available QCEW and Census Non-Employer 

data.

• Allows for manual user override in selecting 

NAICS codes.

• Calculates TT, TTOCS, and RE for 2009.

Summary Tables Tab

• Pulls data from state and county tabs. 

• Presents final calculations in summary tables for TT, 

TTOCS, RE, and overall totals from 2009 for all states and 

counties in study.

36
4.0 SUMMARY ESTIMATES FOR 2009 DATA

This section provides sample data, by state, for each of the counties and parishes included in the 

study. These data include the three measures tourism and recreation measures of: (1) Travel and Tourism 

(TT), (2) Recreation (RE), and (3) Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS Operations (TTOCS) that were 

developed by ERG (See Section 2.0) and captured in the spreadsheet (See Section 3.0). For each of the 

state-specific tables below, these three tourism and recreation measures are presented, by county, for total 

employment, annual payroll, and total establishments. The tables are arranged alphabetically, by state.

Table 17

2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for Alabama 

Counties in Project Area*

County Total Employment Annual Payroll (dollars $) Total Establishments

TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE

Baldwin County 3,804 3,371 10,673 $74,579,539 $68,895,258 $185,772,105 483 423 1,300

Mobile County 5,979 2,110 16,490 $112,089,809 $45,027,972 $253,853,100 767 284 2,202

Source: ERG estimates based on methods described in this report.

* TT: Travel and Tourism

TTOCS: Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS Operations

 RE: Recreation

37
Table 18

2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for Florida Counties in Project Area*

County Total Employment Annual Payroll (dollars $) Total Establishments

TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE

Bay County 4,925 4,540 12,315 $110,278,601 $105,615,600 $43,172,069 549 547 1,468

Charlotte County 1,999 1,658 6,255 $39,827,148 33,939,689 $118,970,461 397 393 1,038

Citrus County 1,317 683 4,015 $27,430,733 $16,809,379 $78,457,916 301 163 790

Collier County 9,336 9,068 22,466 $281,171,013 $262,209,216 $622,223,101 1,008 708 2,614

Dixie County 87 37 264 $1,637,492 $820,640 $4,735,701 24 11 71

Escambia County 4,510 4,414 13,864 $91,861,025 $87,567,862 $247,132,754 686 682 1,983

Franklin County 291 275 682 $5,904,489 $4,986,861 $13,636,614 55 52 127

Gulf County 190 181 463 $4,422,465 $3,801,651 $8,843,560 41 39 93

Hernando County 1,488 80 5,352 $26,178,259 $1,405,973 $87,180,265 281 29 846

Hillsborough 

County 21,206 8,289 62,337 $569,525,303 $269,372,141 $1,534,713,978 3,080 1,297 8,761

Jefferson County 51 suppressed 185 $1,240,570 suppressed $3,154,918 27 7 71

Lee County 11,899 7,396 32,352 $300,996,551 $197,588,652 $739,823,134 1,702 1,353 4,404

Levy County 326 246 1,013 $7,816,493 $6,302,776 $23,925,339 100 72 276

Manatee County 3,991 3,203 14,227 $97,115,677 $88,823,849 $319,408,310 782 649 2,280

Monroe County 6,907 6,709 12,433 $219,956,792 $215,200,196 $379,267,061 907 894 1,968

Okaloosa County 3,766 3,402 12,725 $88,361,944 $84,141,357 $257,142,624 582 540 1,545

Pasco County 4,027 1,239 12,758 $78,387,008 $24,954,060 $229,520,003 863 384 2,450

Pinellas County 18,317 14,846 48,299 $455,820,171 $379,805,825 $1,072,659,227 2,873 2,624 7,391

Santa Rosa County 1,419 1,289 4,706 $27,792,258 $26,050,877 $81,643,930 260 256 847

Sarasota County 7,604 5,692 21,659 $193,173,500 $154,282,006 $478,989,810 1,282 1,014 3,464

Taylor County 189 189 475 $2,953,082 $2,953,082 $6,629,269 36 36 83

Wakulla County 73 72 147 $3,637,375 $1,111,375 $5,456,753 38 37 120

Walton County 2,195 2,181 4,603 $58,163,064 $57,569,436 $111,421,969 203 189 563

Washington 

County 94 0 432 $1,717,054 $0 $7,517,267 38 0 105

Source: ERG estimates based on methods described in this report.

* TT: Travel and Tourism

TTOCS: Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS Operations

 RE: Recreation

38
Table 19

2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for Louisiana Parishes (Counties) in Project Area*

Parish Total Employment Annual Payroll (dollars $) Total Establishments

TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE

Calcasieu Parish 6,128 0 11,986 $152,216,369 $0 $244,278,520 410 0 1,075

Cameron Parish 112 0 48 $8,048,264 $0 $2,916,498 19 suppressed 35

Iberia Parish 656 611 2,025 $12,819,993 12,347,740 $33,527,202 137 116 377

Jefferson Parish 7,840 2,650 23,522 $227,374,269 74,133,186 $611,654,409 1,420 439 3,325

Lafourche Parish 1,045 279 2,899 $23,991,840 $9,030,524 $51,419,860 200 68 500

Lafayette Parish 4,557 0 14,739 $88,249,273 $0 $266,213,632 628 0 1,698

Orleans Parish 16,947 11,928 33,243 $506,041,289 $362,045,753 $894,252,135 1,613 1,102 4,089

Plaquemines Parish 351 344 856 $11,519,448 $10,648,162 $25,832,868 72 69 163

St. Bernard Parish 178 174 270 $7,379,633 $2,802,224 $10,617,248 66 62 194

St. Charles Parish 399 0 1,190 $7,390,403 $0 $20,884,516 131 0 331

St. John the Baptist 

Parish 545 0 1,481 $8,733,017 $0 $20,725,144 116 303

St. Mary Parish 939 258 2,081 $23,970,654 $6,343,973 $37,144,310 112 34 289

St. Tammany Parish 3,066 205 10,952 $57,101,119 $3,892,450 $180,861,425 669 58 1,813

Tangipahoa Parish 1,374 0 4,366 $19,499,818 $0 $56,938,610 254 0 669

Terrebonne Parish 1,541 1,536 4,992 $29,193,568 28,632,996 $93,447,527 222 209 579

Vermilion Parish 376 350 1,184 $7,910,583 $7,678,863 $19,893,443 102 85 280

Source: ERG estimates based on methods described in this report.

* TT: Travel and Tourism

TTOCS: Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS Operations

 RE: Recreation

39
Table 20

2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for Mississippi Counties in Project Area*

County Total Employment Annual Payroll (dollars $) Total Establishments

TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE

Hancock County 414 357 970 $9,905,436 $7,958,476 $23,848,803 105 93 289

Harrison County 11,927 11,867 19,279 $324,402,005 $320,999,284 $448,553,629 420 419 1,039

Jackson County 1,601 1,536 4,528 $29,550,877 $25,146,123 $70,427,081 274 270 681

Source: ERG estimates based on methods described in this report.

* TT: Travel and Tourism

TTOCS: Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS Operations

 RE: Recreation

40
Table 21

2009 Employment, Payroll, and Establishment Data Related to Tourism and Recreation for Texas Counties in Project Area*

County Total Employment Annual Payroll (dollars $) Total Establishments

TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE TT TTOCS RE

Aransas County 548 517 1,410 $15,209,436 $11,828,848 $30,344,821 123 92 263

Brazoria County 2,562 155 8,801 $47,631,223 $4,098,053 $142,628,141 524 62 1,520

Calhoun County 250 221 745 $5,968,224 $5,670,679 $11,977,420 49 49 128

Cameron County 4,330 894 12,999 $72,361,977 $17,769,641 $192,017,100 651 122 1,991

Chambers County 367 103 1,084 $7,529,024 $2,956,542 $16,034,439 76 23 178

Galveston County 5,049 3,859 14,779 $107,592,964 $87,214,743 $251,468,836 608 418 1,779

Harris County 64,116 1,978 189,548 $1,606,884,179 $45,342,179 $3,828,562,295 8,876 406 24,625

Jefferson County 3,372 558 11,824 $63,536,540 $11,384,197 $203,345,603 414 85 1,198

Jim Wells County 416 0 1,448 $6,166,121 $0 $19,290,756 65 0 210

Kenedy County 77 0 77 $4,092,728 $0 $4,092,728 3 suppressed 4

Kleberg County 458 430 1,401 $9,838,787 $9,442,633 $22,047,584 66 61 180

Liberty County 545 50 1,591 $12,578,183 $2,709,488 $28,251,917 103 1 301

Matagorda 

County 378 360 1,192 $8,514,783 $6,596,499 $19,352,100 86 75 234

Nueces County 5,952 4,576 18,442 $109,966,923 $96,587,481 $288,521,697 703 465 2,090

Orange County 710 0 2,411 $10,405,909 $0 $32,482,419 121 0 339

Refugio County 63 63 252 $1,101,229 $1,101,229 $3,163,063 16 16 47

San Patricio 

County 699 610 2,107 $12,087,774 $11,118,770 $28,366,852 117 79 315

Victoria County 1,018 suppressed 3,491 $17,137,867 suppressed $52,265,454 140 suppressed 427

Willacy County 118 suppressed 348 $1,692,462 suppressed $4,691,397 37 suppressed 98

Source: ERG estimates based on methods described in this report.

* TT: Travel and Tourism

TTOCS: Travel and Tourism Sensitive to OCS Operations

RE: Recreation

41
5.0 REFERENCES

Kaplan, M. and C. Whitman. 2008. Measuring the Economic Impact of the Tourism and Recreation 

Industries on Gulf Coast Communities—Relationship between OCS Development and Coastal 

Resources. Report to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf 

of Mexico Region, New Orleans, LA. 

Kern, P. 2011. Paul Kern, Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal communication with Maureen F. 

Kaplan, Eastern Research Group, December 19.

Kern, P.V. and E.A. Kocis. 2007. U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts for 1998-2006. Survey of 

Current Business. June: 14-28. Available at: 

http://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/2007/06%20June/0607_Travel.pdf. 

Okubo, S. and M.A. Planting. 1998. U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts for 1992. Survey of 

Current Business. July: 8-22.

Oxford Economics. 2010. Potential Impact of the Gulf Spill on Tourism, report prepared for the U.S. 

Travel Association. Available at: 

http://www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/page/2009/11/Gulf_Oil_Spill_Analysis_Oxford_Economic

s_710.pdf. 

Tian, T.X. 2011. Tien X. Tian. U.S. Travel Association, personal communication with Maureen F. 

Kaplan, Eastern Research Group, December 21.

U.S. Census Bureau. (U.S. Census) 2012. County Business Patterns. About the data. Available at: 

http://www.census.gov/econ/nonemployer/index.html. 

U.S. Census Bureau. (U.S. Census) 2012a. County Business Patterns. About the data. Available at: 

http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/overview.htm. 

U.S. Census Bureau. (U.S. Census) 2012b. County Business Patterns. About the data. Available at: 

http://www.census.gov/econ/nonemployer/index.html. 

U.S. Census Bureau (U.S. Census) 2013. North American Industry Classification System, 

http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/.

U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of Economic Analysis (USDOC BEA) 2011. Measuring the 

Nation’s Economy: An Industry Perspective : A Primer on BEA’s Industry Accounts. Available at: 

http://www.bea.gov/industry/pdf/industry_primer.pdf. 

U.S. Department of Commerce. International Trade Administration. (USDOC ITA)

Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. 2011. Available at: 

http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/research/programs/satellite/index.html. 

U.S. Department of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USDOC NOAA) 

2012. NOAA Coastal Services Center. Digital Coast. Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW). 

http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/data/enow. 

43
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM), 2013. “Region 

Production by Year,” http://www.data.boem.gov/homepg/pubinfo/repcat/product/Region.asp, 

accessed on December 20, 2013.

U.S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USDOL BLS). 2012a. Quarterly Census of 

Employment and Wages. http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewover.htm. 

U.S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USDOL BLS). 2012b. Researcher Access to 

Confidential Data Files at the BLS. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/bls/blsresda.htm#guidelines. 

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (USDOL BLS). 2013a. Quarterly Census of 

Employment and Wages, Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewfaq.htm, 

Accessed on December 20, 2013.

U.S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USDOL BLS), 2013b), “Comparison of QCEW 

employment data with other series,” http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn10.htm#Comparison, 

Accessed on December 20, 2013.

U.S. Travel Association. (USTA) 2010. Travel Economic Impact Model. September. Available at: 

http://www.poweroftravel.org/pdf/USTravel_TEIM.pdf. 

Zemanek, S. 2011. Travel And Tourism Spending Grew In Second Quarter 2011. BEA 11-47. U.S. 

Department of Commerce. Bureau of Economic Analysis. News Release. September 21. 

Available at: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/industry/tourism/2011/tour211.htm. 

44
APPENDIX A:

FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING LOCALIZED TOURISM 

COMMODITY RATIOS

45
ERG assessed the feasibility of developing localized tourism commodity ratios (TCR) at the state 

or county and parish levels. TCRs specify the proportion of a tourism-related commodity that is 

purchased by tourists. The methodology developed in Kaplan and Whitman (2008) uses the national

TCRs developed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (USDOC BEA 2011; Kern and Kocis 2007). To 

determine whether more localized (e.g., specific to counties or states) TCRs could be developed; the 

following information sources were explored:

• Internet and literature searches. ERG conducted Internet and literature searches related to 

the development of tourism and recreational estimates and impacts at scales smaller than the 

national level (e.g., regional, state, local).

• Bureau of Economic Analysis. ERG spoke with Paul Kern, manager for BEA’s Travel and 

Tourism Satellite Accounts, to gather insights about the possibility of developing statespecific TCRs and the data that would need to be available in order to do so (Kern 2011; 

Zemanek 2011; and Kern and Kocis 2007). 

• U.S. Travel Association (USTA). ERG contacted Tien X. Tian, USTA Chief Economist, 

about the Travel Economic Impact Model (TEIM) used to estimate national and regional 

economic impacts of travel activities.

• State and Congressional District Data . ERG examined the state and congressional district 

data available on the USTA website to establish the type of tourism-related direct economic 

impact estimates available (e.g., employment, spending).

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tourism measures. ERG 

investigated the tourism measures used by NOAA, primarily through the Agency’s 

Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW) database and web links provided through the 

NOAA’s Digital Coast website.

The result of this research is that developing localized TCRs is not feasible at this time. 

Specifically, ERG was unable to identify publicly available local TCRs. According to Mr. Kern at BEA, 

the problem with developing state-specific TCRs is that you need state input and output tables, and the 

latter do not exist at this time. The government records what comes into and goes out of the nation as a 

whole, but state import and export data are not sufficient to develop these tables. 

ERG considered calculating localized tourism commodity ratios from data generated from 

USTA’s TEIM data. However, USTA would need to develop these data by performing a “customized 

research” project for BOEM. ERG also examined the state and congressional district data publicly

available on the USTA website. First, these estimates include direct, indirect, and induced impacts, while 

the focus in this project in on direct impacts. Second, an alternative could use the USTA estimates to 

evaluate the importance of tourism in an absolute sense by rank ordering districts by employment, 

spending, or payroll. However, it would be necessary to compare each variable to total employment, 

spending, and payroll for all industries in a district in order to measure the relative importance of tourism 

to a specific district. Information on how USTA calculates indirect and induced impacts was not available 

and therefore it was not possible to calculate comparable values for all industries in a district. In sum, the 

available USTA data are not sufficient for calculating a local TCR.

NOAA’s approach defines the data for the tourism and recreation sector by a combination of 

geography and industry. As a result, NOAA’s data do not incorporate a tourism commodity ratio.

Although ERG assesses that local TCRs are not feasible, ERG identified an alternative approach 

wherein coastally-related tourism and recreation estimates are developed through a combination of 

industry and location. This approach is discussed in more detail in Section 2.0.

47
APPENDIX B:

COLLECTED PARKS DATA
Table B-1

Employment and Wage Information Associated with State and National Parks, Historical Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and Wildlife 

Management Areas in the Coastal Counties of the Gulf of Mexico

Park, Refuge, or Seashore Counties and Parishes State(s)

2009 Total 

Payroll and 

Benefits

2009 

Employees

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Mobile County and Baldwin County AL $441,000 3

Claude Peteet Mariculture Center, Gulf Shores Baldwin County AL $1,105,053 17

Gulf State Park Baldwin County AL $686,420 32

Marine Resources Division Laboratory, Dauphin Island Mobile County AL $1,105,053 17

Meaher State Park Baldwin County AL $686,420 32

Mobile-Tensaw Delta-WL Holland WMA Mobile County and Baldwin County AL $686,420 2

Grand Bay NWR Mobile County and Jackson County, MS AL & MS $146,500 [b] 1 [b]

Upper Delta WMA Mobile County and Baldwin County AL $686,420 2

Alafia River State Park Hillsborough FL $296,814 7

Anclote Key State Park Pasco County FL $296,814 7

Bahia Honda State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Bald Point State Park Franklin County FL $296,814 7

Big Cypress National Preserve Collier County FL $6,122,613 89

Big Lagoon State Park Escambia County FL $296,814 7

Blackwater River State Park Santa Rosa County FL $296,814 7

Caladesi Island State Park Pinellas County FL $296,814 7

Camp Helen State Park Bay County FL $296,814 7

Cayo Costa State Park Lee County FL $296,814 7

Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve Levy County FL $296,814 7

Charlotte Harbor State Park Charlotte County FL $296,814 7

Chassahowitzka NWR (Including Crystal River, Egmount 

Key, Passage Key and Pinellas) Citrus County FL $1,073,000 12

Cockroach Bay State Park Hillsborough County FL $296,814 7

51
Park, Refuge, or Seashore Counties and Parishes State(s)

2009 Total 

Payroll and 

Benefits

2009 

Employees

Crystal River Archeological State Park Citrus County FL $296,814 7

Crystal River Preserve State Park Citrus County FL $296,814 7

Curry Hammock State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park Collier County FL $296,814 7

DeSoto National Memorial Manatee County FL $556,405 11

Dry Tortugas National Park Monroe County FL $1,002,934 15

Edgmont Key State Park Hillsborough County FL $296,814 7

Estero Bay State Park Lee County FL $296,814 7

Everglades National Park Collier County FL $11,055,370 164

Everglades National Park Monroe County FL $11,055,370 164

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park Okaloosa County FL $296,814 7

Gasparilla Island State Park Charlotte County FL $296,814 7

Grayton Beach State Park Walton County FL $296,814 7

Gulf Islands National Seashore Escambia and Santa Rosa and Okaloosa 

Counties FL $3,402,721 60

Henderson Beach State Park Okaloosa County FL $296,814 7

Homosassa Spring State Park Citrus County FL $296,814 7

Honeymoon Island State Park Pinellas County FL $296,814 7

Indian Key State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

J.N. 'Ding' Darling NWR (Caloosahatchee, Matlacha Pass 

and Pine Island) Lee County FL $888,500 7

J.N. 'Ding' Darling NWR (including Island Bay) Charlotte County FL $888,500 7

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Lignumvitae Key State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Long Key State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Lower Suwannee NWR (Including Cedar Keys) Levy County FL $771,000 5

52
Park, Refuge, or Seashore Counties and Parishes State(s)

2009 Total 

Payroll and 

Benefits

2009 

Employees

Madira Bickel Mound State Archaelogical Site Manatee County FL $296,814 7

Mound Key Archeological State Park Lee County FL $296,814 7

National Key Deer NWR (including Great White Heron Key 

West, and Crocodile Lake) Monroe County FL $1,294,000 9

Navarre Beach State Park Santa Rosa County FL $296,814 7

Oscar Scherer State Park Sarasota County FL $296,814 7

Perdido Key State Park Escambia County FL $296,814 7

Saint Andrews State Park Bay County FL $296,814 7

San Marcos de Apaleche State Park Wakulla County FL $296,814 7

San Pedro Underwater Archaelogical Preserve State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Skyway Fishing Pier State Park Hillsborough County FL $296,814 7

St. George Island State Park Franklin County FL $296,814 7

St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Gulf County FL $296,814 7

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge Wakulla County FL $1,263,000 11

St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge Gulf and Franklin Counties FL $324,000 2

Stump Pass Beach State Park Charlotte County FL $296,814 7

Tarklin Bayou State Park Escambia County FL $296,814 7

Ten Thousand Islands (operated through Florida Panther 

NWR) Collier County FL $1,487,000 8

Terra Ceia State Park Manatee County FL $296,814 7

Topsail Hill State Park Walton County FL $296,814 7

Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park Pasco County FL $296,814 7

Windley Key Fossil Reef State Park Monroe County FL $296,814 7

Yellow River Marsh State Park Santa Rosa County FL $296,814 7

Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area Saint Mary LA $267,572 3

Attakapas Island Wildlife Management Area Iberia and Saint Mary LA $267,572 3

Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge Orleans Parish LA $301,857 2

Bayou Segnette State Park Jefferson Parish LA $468,163 11

53
Park, Refuge, or Seashore Counties and Parishes State(s)

2009 Total 

Payroll and 

Benefits

2009 

Employees

Bayou Teche NWR Saint Mary LA $301,857 2

Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge Saint Tammany Parish LA $301,857 2

Breton National Wildlife Refuge Plaquemines and Saint Bernard Parish LA $301,857 2

Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge Cameron LA $532,000 8

Cypremort Point State Park Saint Mary LA $468,163 11

Delta National Wildlife Refuge Plaquemines Parish LA $301,857 2

Grand Isle State Park Jefferson Parish LA $468,163 11

Jean LaFitte National Historical Park and Preserve Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, 

Lafourche, Lafayette Parishes LA $4,275,552 74

Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge Cameron LA $588,000 5

Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge Terrebonne Parish LA $293,000 2

Marsh Island Wildlife Refuge Iberia LA $267,572 3

Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area Plaquemines Parish LA $267,572 3

Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Cameron and Vermilion LA $267,572 3

Sabine National Wildlife Refuge Cameron LA $480,000 6

Southwest Louisiana Refuges (Shell Keys National Wildlife 

Refuge) Iberia LA $724,000 0

State Wildlife Refuge Vermilion LA $267,572 3

Terrebonne Barrier Islands Refuge Terrebonne Parish LA $267,572 3

Wisner Wildlife Management Area Lafourche Parish LA $267,572 3

Gulf Islands National Seashore Harrison and Jackson County MS $3,402,721 60

Sandhill Crane NWR Jackson County MS $739,000 3

Shepard State Park Jackson County MS $116,533 [c] 1 [c]

Grand Bay NWR Jackson County and Mobile County, AL MS and 

AL $146,500 [b] 1 [b]

Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge Chambers County TX $1,002,500 6

Aransas and Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuge 

Complex Aransas and Calhoun TX $2,096,000 19

Atkinson Island Wilderness Management Area Harris County and Chambers TX $249,475 4

54
Park, Refuge, or Seashore Counties and Parishes State(s)

2009 Total 

Payroll and 

Benefits

2009 

Employees

Battleship Texas State Park Harris County TX $642,294 11

Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge Matagorda County TX $709,667 5

Big Thicket National Preserve Liberty TX $2,709,488 50

Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge Brazoria County TX $709,667 5

Candy Cain Abshier Wilderness Management Area Chambers County TX $249,475 4

Corpus Christi Ecological Services Field Office Nueces TX $1,788,000 14

Fulton Mansion State Park Aransas TX $642,294 11

Galveston Island State Park Galveston County TX $642,294 11

Goose Island State Park Aransas TX $642,294 11

Guadalupe Delta Wilderness Management Area Calhoun TX $249,475 4

JD Muphree Wilderness Management Area Jefferson County TX $249,475 4

Justin Hurst Wilderness Management Area Brazoria County TX $249,475 4

Laguna Atacosa National Wildlife Refuge Cameron TX $1,593,000 8

Lake Corpus Christi SP Nueces TX $642,294 11

Lipantitlan SHS Nueces TX $642,294 11

Mad Island Wilderness Management Area Matagorda County TX $249,475 4

Matagorda Island Wilderness Management Area Matagorda County TX $249,475 4

McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge Jefferson County TX $1,405,000 6

Mustang Island State Park Nueces TX $642,294 11

Padre Island National Seashore Kenedy, Kleberg TX $4,092,728 77

Resaca de la Palma State Park Cameron TX $642,294 11

Sabine Pass Battleground State Park Jefferson TX $642,294 11

San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge Brazoria County and Matagorda County TX $709,667 5

San Jacinto State Park Harris County TX $642,294 11

Sea Rim State Park Jefferson County TX $642,294 11

Sheldon Lake SP & Environmental Learning Center Harris County TX $642,294 11

Sheldon Lake Wildlife Management Area Harris County TX $249,475 4

55
Park, Refuge, or Seashore Counties and Parishes State(s)

2009 Total 

Payroll and 

Benefits

2009 

Employees

Texas Point National Wildlife Refuge Jefferson County TX $19,000 0

Walter Umphrey State Park Jefferson County TX $642,294 11

Welder Flats Wilderness Management Area Calhoun TX $249,475 4

[a] A number of parks within the same state have the same values for payroll and employees. For many parks, no direct estimate of employees or payroll was 

available. In these cases, ERG estimated total employment and payroll for parks and recreation in the state. Then the total was divided evenly among the parks. 

[b] Because the Grand Bay NWR is located in two counties and two states, the data collected was evenly split between Alabama and Mississippi.

[c] Data for Shepard State Park is from 2012 as 2009 data was not available.

56
The Department of the Interior Mission

As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has 

responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural 

resources. This includes fostering the sound use of our land and water 

resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and biological diversity; preserving the 

environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places; 

and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The 

Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to ensure 

that their development is in the best interests of all our people by encouraging 

stewardship and citizen participation in their care. The Department also has a 

major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people 

who live in island communities.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Mission

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) works to manage the 

exploration and development of the nation's offshore resources in a way that 

appropriately balances economic development, energy independence, and 

environmental protection through oil and gas leases, renewable energy 

development and environmental reviews and studies.