Event Data & Economic Impact Analyst Contractor

Organization:
Discover Durham

Location:

Durham, NC / Hybrid Engagement:
Independent Contractor

Reports to:

EVP of Strategic Initiatives Hourly rate: $55-75

About the Opportunity Discover Durham seeks a highly analytical, curious and detail-oriented contractor to help us measure and communicate the economic impact of festivals, cultural events and other tourism-driving events throughout Durham County.

Economic impact analysis is an important part of how Discover Durham demonstrates the value of Durham's event ecosystem, evaluates opportunities for future investment, and works with partners to recruit, retain and grow events that attract visitors to the destination.

We are looking for someone who is exceptionally good at making sense of imperfect data.

Durham's events rarely fit neatly into a spreadsheet. Some are ticketed; many are free. Some take place over a weekend; others span several weeks. Some occur at a single venue; others activate locations throughout the community. Event organizers also have varying levels of sophistication in tracking attendance, visitor origins and overnight stays.

The successful contractor will combine quantitative analysis with sound judgment to turn these varied inputs into consistent, credible and defensible economic impact estimates.

Prior experience with tourism economic impact analysis is helpful but not required. Discover Durham will provide access to and training on the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator (EIC), the industry-standard platform we use to generate event economic impact estimates.

Scope of Work The contractor will work with Discover Durham staff and event partners to produce economic impact analyses for selected Durham festivals and events.

Responsibilities will include:

Review attendance, ticketing, geographic, lodging, event schedule and other information submitted by festival and event organizers.

Assess the completeness, reliability and reasonableness of organizer-provided data rather than treating all submitted figures as equally reliable.

Identify gaps, inconsistencies or potential double-counting in attendance and visitor data and work with Discover Durham staff and/or event organizers to resolve them.

Translate locally collected audience information into appropriate assumptions about local attendees, regional day visitors and overnight visitors.

Develop reasonable methodologies for events that do not fit traditional event models, including free events, multi-venue events, citywide events, recurring programming and festivals spanning multiple weeks or months.

Distinguish attendance or admissions from unique attendees when appropriate and account for individuals participating in multiple days or performances.

Use available supporting data — such as ticket ZIP codes, hotel information, surveys, historical event results or other relevant sources — to strengthen or validate assumptions when available.

Become proficient in the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator (EIC) and use the platform to generate economic impact analyses.

Review EIC outputs for reasonableness and identify situations in which an input or assumption may be producing a misleading result.

Maintain clear documentation of methodologies, assumptions, data limitations and adjustments made for each analysis.

Produce concise final reports or summaries that Discover Durham can share with event organizers, community partners, policymakers and other stakeholders.

Help Discover Durham establish a more standardized methodology for collecting, evaluating and translating festival and event data into economic impact analyses.

Recommend improvements to Discover Durham's existing post-event data collection process and questions to increase the quality of future analyses.

The…