Economic evaluation of special events: reconciling economic impact and cost–benefit analysis

The aims of event assessment are often unclear. Failure to clarify objectives has resulted in a less than satisfactory approach to event evaluation given that the two major approaches, economic impact analysis (EIA) and cost–benefit analysis (CBA), can give conflicting results. Since economic impacts do not equate to net benefits, an important topic for future research should be the issue of reconciling EIA and CBA. An approach is recommended that bridges the gap between EIA and CBA, in a way that has policy relevance for destination managers. Bridging this gap calls forth a host of challenges that must be met by researchers in the future.