Estimating the economic impact of museums by using the new information technologies: The case of Ene.Termica museum

It is increasingly necessary to emphasize the potential of culture as an engine for economic development and its ability to generate income and create jobs. For this reason, this paper evaluates the economic impact of the Ene.termica museum in the territory in which it is located, Ponferrada (Castilla y Leon Community, Spain). In order to achieve this aim, the estimation of the different types of effects needed to determine the impact of economic of the activities linked to the existence of Ene.Termica is calculated by using the tool Impactrimonio, a web-based application that applies the Input-Output Tables methodology. The results show that due to both activities of the museum and demand flows made bby the visitors, between 2011 and 2012, an increase in production was generated of over 15 million euros, an increase in the incomes of the population of nearly 10 million and an increase in employment of 327 jobs.