Montana Dragon Boat Festival 2018

This study was conducted for the Kalispell Conventions and Visitor Bureau, to provide insight into the characteristics of attendees of the 2018 Montana Dragon Boat Festival. Paper surveys on site and a post-event web survey were completed by 397 attendees and/or participants of the event. Results show that 60% of respondents were residents of Montana and of those Montana residents, 49% were from Flathead County. Out-of-county respondents spent an average of 3.90 nights away from home. Of those nights, an average of 2.87 of those nights were in the city of Kalispell and 2.76 nights in other Flathead Valley locations (outside of Kalispell). Hotel/motel/bed & breakfast/rental property purchases received the highest total dollars spent during the event of any spending category. Respondents to the survey reported a total spending of $165,943 in the Flathead County area. Results provide event organizers and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau with useful data for future event planning, making improvements to the event, event marketing/promotion, and understanding the visitor spending associated with the event