Scoreboard methodology
Every number on the Northeast Tennessee Regional Scoreboard ships with a definition, source, vintage, and known-limitations note. The Scoreboard's authority rests on being auditable.
Current status: the Scoreboard is in prototype. Region-level density anchors are actual 2024 figures (TDTD; US Census). County-level monthly telemetry shown on this site is illustrative sample data pending the Phase 1 records feeds and Phase 2 movement-intelligence license. Sample data is labeled wherever it appears, and this notice is removed metric by metric as live feeds replace samples.
Layer 1 — Established measures
The vocabulary DMOs already use in commission meetings, delivered monthly instead of annually.
Direct visitor spending
Source: TN Dept. of Tourist Development annual economic impact report (prepared by Tourism Economics). Cadence: Annual anchor, monthly interpolation. Limitations: State report publishes with a lag; monthly figures are modeled between anchors.
Occupancy tax collections
Source: County trustee and city recorder records. Cadence: Monthly. Limitations: Where counties don't publish digitally, figures arrive via standing records requests.
Lodging performance (Occ/ADR/RevPAR)
Source: STR or equivalent; AirDNA or equivalent for short-term rentals. Cadence: Monthly. Limitations: Small-county samples can be thin; suppressed below reliability thresholds.
Tourism employment & payroll
Source: TDTD annual report; BLS QCEW cross-check. Cadence: Annual.
Household tax relief
Source: Derived: TDTD tax impact ÷ Census household counts. Cadence: Annual. Limitations: An estimate, labeled as such wherever shown.
Layer 2 — Movement intelligence
Geolocation and demand intelligence licensed once regionally and distributed free to public institutions. Vendor selection in procurement (candidates: Zartico, Datafy, Placer.ai, Near/Azira).
Visitor volume
Source: Geolocation vendor feed (residents excluded by home-location model). Cadence: Monthly. Limitations: Device-based estimate, not a census. Aggregated and anonymized at source.
Origin markets
Source: Geolocation vendor feed. Cadence: Monthly.
Length of stay / day-trip ratio
Source: Geolocation vendor feed. Cadence: Monthly.
Visitation by point of interest
Source: Vendor feed against a platform-maintained POI registry. Cadence: Monthly. Limitations: Minimum aggregation thresholds suppress small cells.
Repeat visitation rate
Source: Geolocation vendor feed, 24-month window. Cadence: Quarterly.
Layer 3 — Platform-native metrics
The numbers that exist because the platform exists. No vendor sells them; no county can replicate them alone.
Per-resident spending density
Source: Derived: visitor spending ÷ US Census PEP population (single vintage per publication year, labeled). Cadence: Monthly. Limitations: The region's scoreboard number.
Multi-county trip rate
Source: Geolocation trip-chaining + platform itinerary telemetry. Cadence: Monthly.
Experiences per trip / cross-referral flow
Source: Platform booking, itinerary, and passport telemetry. Cadence: Monthly. Limitations: Aggregate-only reporting.
AI discoverability score
Source: Platform structured-data audit + scheduled AI assistant query panel. Cadence: Quarterly. Limitations: Composite score; components published.
Marketing attribution
Source: Campaign pixels/UTMs + geolocation arrival matching. Cadence: Per campaign. Limitations: Tracked spend is a floor, not a ceiling.
Privacy, by rule
All movement data is aggregated and anonymized at source. No individual-level location data is stored, displayed, or exportable. Minimum aggregation thresholds suppress small cells. Platform telemetry reporting is aggregate-only. The free public tier and any commercial data products run on separate accounts and entitlements, and never blur.