For all of you economic buffs out there...Karl Storchmann, an economics professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, just released a study of how much economic impact the wine industry has had on the areas hotels and restaurants.
"Drawing on quarterly hotel and restaurant revenue data for all 38 counties in Washington State ranging from 1995 to 2006 we find that critical wine points of 91+ indeed affect the county's tourism industry," reads the paper. "About 5 percent of Walla Walla's restaurant revenue and almost 30 percent of all hotel revenue is linked to the local wine industry. That is, the local wine industry is becoming increasingly important for the accommodation industry..." - WineBusiness.com
A lot of this seems pretty common sense but one interesting finding is the direct correlation between increased economic performance and wine media scores of 91 points or higher. Who said scores don't mean anything?!?! As any winemaker, or Walla Walla county, will tell you, they mean cash!
The full study can be found on
Whitman College Economic Department's working papers website
