Prodinger Tourism Consulting Makes The Regional Value Creation Of Tourism Measurable And Comparable.

How much of the guests' spending actually stays in the region? Which sectors benefit? What is the impact of tourism investments? And what returns are generated for municipalities and the public sector? With the new Destination Value Score, Prodinger Tourism Consulting presents an established analytical tool that makes the tourism value creation and the overall economic effect of the sector, or even individual investments such as cable car projects, transparent at the regional level.

“Tourism is much more than overnight stays and bed numbers. It secures income, jobs, infrastructure, and thus quality of life and acceptance among the population,” emphasizes Thomas Reisenzahn, Managing Director of Prodinger Tourism Consulting. “The Destination Value Score shows for the first time in a compact form the true contribution that guests make – directly, indirectly, and induced.”

Five steps to measurable value creation

The Destination Value Score is based on a regionally economically sound model that captures the impact of tourism in a municipality or destination in five steps:

• Data basis & collection: Evaluation of regional structural, guest and financial data based on official sources and key business figures.
• Sectoral delimitation: Analysis of the central tourism sectors: accommodation, gastronomy, mountain railways, transport, trade as well as leisure, culture and sport.
• Calculation of effects: Modeling of the direct, indirect and induced effects along the entire tourism value chain.
• Results & Interpretation: Presentation of the effects on income, employment (FTE), taxes, levies and investments – differentiated by sector.
• Communication & Control: Preparation of results in reports, visualizations and presentations as a basis for strategy, grant applications and public relations.

“Measuring value creation is not an end in itself, but a strategic management tool,” explains Josef May, co-initiator of the Destination Value Score. “The Destination Value Score provides key performance indicators that destinations can use to transparently evaluate and prioritize investments, justify funding applications, and make fact-based infrastructure or mobility decisions.”

Three levels of value creation – more than just hotels and restaurants

The Destination Value Score shows how guest spending impacts the regional economy. Value creation is considered on three levels:

• Directly: through sales in the hotel, restaurant, leisure industry or cable car sectors.
• Indirectly: via suppliers, crafts, construction, energy, trade and services.
• Induced: via the consumer spending of those employed in tourism.

The analyses reveal that a large portion of guest spending remains in the region as income, securing additional jobs along the value chain. Using the municipality of Zell am See as an example, the model shows a total added value of approximately €105 million and around 990 employees who depend directly, indirectly, and through induced effects on tourism. Of every €100 that guests spend in hotels and restaurants, €74 remains in the region as income.

New key performance indicator for acceptance, location development and funding logic

The Destination Value Score answers typical questions from municipalities and destinations: What is the value added per overnight stay or per guest euro? What regional economic effects can be expected from tourism investments such as cable cars or leisure infrastructure? What return on investment rates do municipalities receive through taxes, levies, and fees? And which sectors contribute particularly strongly through supply chains?

“Especially in times when tourism is increasingly being debated, destinations need facts, not gut feelings,” emphasizes Marco Riederer, co-managing director of Prodinger Tourism Consulting. “With the Destination Value Score, tourism associations can transparently demonstrate the contribution guests make to financing public services – and thus strengthen acceptance and understanding within the region.”

This makes value creation not only measurable, but also controllable. And it can be communicated in a way that is understandable to different target groups.

About the Destination Value Score

The Destination Value Score is the first Austria-wide model for measuring tourism value creation at the destination level. Developed by Prodinger Tourism Consulting and Maylenstein Business Consulting, the model has already been successfully implemented in several regions and is now considered a benchmark for objective tourism impact analyses.

https://tourismusberatung.prodinger.at/2025/11/20/destination-value-score/