Survey Kit
The survey kit is a service (for a minimal fee) by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR) that helps Montana communities gather information about their visitors and/or attendees of a specific Montana event. The service includes the design of a survey instrument, analysis of the resulting data, and a report. An important piece the community must provide is to hire people or find volunteers to conduct the survey intercepts. The survey template consists of five main sections and cannot be changed except for community- or event-specific wording. The goal of the first section is to determine where the visitors reside and the purpose and duration of their visit. The second section focuses on the money visitors spend in the community. This section is only asked of those who are not from the county in which the survey is being conducted. The third section consists of demographic questions while the fourth section focuses on planning, sources of information, and satisfaction with aspects of the event. The final section is “open-ended” and allows respondents to write in comments and suggestions.
Testimonials
Festival Director, Montana Folk Festival
"For several years now, we have used the ITRR to help us synthesize and understand data from festival attendees and tourists in Butte.
The reports that they have produced for us have been invaluable in making sense of what just happened.
Most importantly, their reports serve to describe and make our case to potential funding sources about the economic and cultural benefits of our events with the authority that comes from an unbiased third party with a scientific view rather than us saying so ourselves and sounding like a self-serving sales pitch."
Market Founder, Heart of Whitefish
We used the Survey Kit to learn about the characteristics of the people who attend our Farmers Market, rather than relying on our own perceptions. We wanted to find out if the Market was attended by mostly locals, or by visitors. We wanted to know what they shopped for, and how often they attended our Market. We wanted to know what form of transportation they used (walk, bike, or car) and whether parking was a problem. We wanted to know if attendees also supported other businesses/ activities downtown when they came to the Market. We also asked open-ended questions about likes/ dislikes. The results have enabled us to better understand our customers, and what they value at our Market. We are now able to make improvements to the Market that will help us to be even more successful, and we now have facts instead of opinions regarding our customers."
Current Pricing
E-mail surveys - $500 (this option is only for events which have email addresses for participants)
Mixed method (e-mail and paper surveys) - $600
Paper surveys - $700-800
Timeframe & Contact Information
If you are interested in the ITRR Survey Kit services, you must contact ITRR a minimum of 6 weeks in advance. Without a 6-week notice, there is no guarantee that ITRR can fit you into the schedule!
For additional information and inquiries, please contact Megan Schultz with ITRR at 406-243-6454 or megan.schultz@umontana.edu