What we do

IER is a leader in economic and tourism research, conducting economic evaluations for over 400 events each year. With more than 30 years of experience, IER has developed comprehensive methodologies tailored to a wide range of major events, including free, ticketed, multi-day, and large-scale umbrella brand events.

Over the past thirty years, IER has created specialised methodologies to identify and measure the key factors that influence visitor satisfaction within the major events sector. By understanding these drivers and the causes of attendee dissatisfaction, event organisers can implement strategies to enhance the attendee experience and in turn drive spending, return visitation and advocacy.

IER’s social and community research helps event organisers and governments make more informed decisions about investing in major events to achieve economic benefits beyond traditional tourism impacts. This includes assessing the value of benefits such as mental and physical wellbeing, community engagement, social interaction and cultural enrichment generated by the major events sector.

Major events can have both positive and negative environmental impacts. IER specialises in assessing the effects of factors such as food and beverage, transportation, recycling, water and energy use, and more. This data is gathered from both event organisers and attendees, and aims to capture attendees’ perceptions on how organisers can deliver a more environmentally responsible event.

Over the past 30 years, IER has partnered with some of Australia’s leading cultural institutions to measure the economic and tourism contributions of major events, as well as their role in shaping identity, fostering civic pride, and promoting inclusivity and diversity within the cultural sector.

IER goes beyond evaluating the effectiveness of an event’s marketing campaign as part of the broader event assessment. We also conduct brand tracking to monitor how the event brand is perceived over time. Our research supports event owners in assessing their brand’s health by tracking key metrics, including brand awareness, customer loyalty, brand associations, and overall brand perception.

Estimating attendances for non-ticketed events can be one of the most challenging parts of major event impact evaluation. IER employs a number of different methodological approaches depending on the environment. IER uses a number of methodologies including mobile phone technology, density counts, straight head counting, consumption methods and aerial drone photography.

IER specialises in conducting independent evaluations of major events’ performance based on a set of pre-defined quality standards. The Quality Standards Assessment is a detailed photographic report that examines various aspects of the event, assessing the overall concept of “Quality.”

These may include areas such as:
+ Health, safety & security
+ Signage & brand image
+ Customer service & staff presentation
+ Public/corporate dining hospitality
+ Facilities (Inc. temporary infrastructure)
+ Marketing public/corporate
+ Precinct development
+ Potential revenue opportunities
+ Cleanliness
+ Accessibility & site layout
+ Sponsorship properties and opportunities
+ Transport
+ Technology
+ Comfort
+ Food and beverage
+ Layout of the servicescape

IER specialises in forecasting economic outcomes for both existing and new events within a defined region/state. By leveraging IER’s extensive dataset, which spans all types of events from business gatherings to multi-day sporting events, IER utilises generative AI modelling to predict economic results based on specific inputs provided by event organisers.

IER conducts comprehensive analysis of existing event data and population insights to identify key clusters that define personas, helping to drive product development and marketing strategies to optimise attendee experience and growth. The methodology includes defining the market, segmenting it through cluster analysis, and evaluating each segment based on factors such as size, growth potential, accessibility, profitability, willingness to attend, and distinctiveness.

With over 30 years of knowledge gained from major events, combined with IER’s extensive big data on event insights, IER has developed tailored methods for shaping major event strategies and driving event commercialisation. These strategies encompass growing revenue streams, conducting audience and market analysis, optimizing sponsorship and brand alignment, managing venue and logistics, and enhancing marketing, promotion, and sustainability efforts.

Over the past decade, IER has made significant strides in measuring the economic and social impact of major sporting leagues. These studies examine social and economic impacts, as well as participation at all levels of the sport. For more than five years, IER has been providing annual benchmarking on the size and scope of the sport and racing sector.

For over thirty years, IER has been conducting studies on the economic and social impact of the racing industry in Australia, New Zealand, and more recently, Asia. These studies examine the economic and social significance of various aspects of the racing sector, including breeding, racing, wagering and major events.

IER has partnered with some of Australia’s leading cultural institutions for many years, evaluating the social and economic value of their cultural offering. These assessments consider a range of factors, including gross operating surplus and income generated from direct economic activity, as well as current use value (consumer surplus) and non-use value, with a focus on measuring civic pride in landmark infrastructure.

For over 20 years, IER has specialised in assisting sporting organisations and the major events sector in securing government funding. The primary focus areas include economic analysis, forecasting, and cost-benefit analysis (CBA). This work encompasses the analysis and forecasting of major events and capital projects.

For over 30 years, IER has been conducting economic modelling of capital projects in the entertainment sector to estimate their economic impact, job creation, value-added contributions and perform cost-benefit analysis (CBA). These projects identify new economic impacts or the uplift on existing activities, while also assessing both the construction phase and ongoing operations. The studies help elevate the project’s profile within the community, fostering support from governments, media and the corporate sector.

For more than 10 years, IER has been assessing the economic and social contributions of sporting and racing clubs to their communities. IER’s analysis goes beyond the typical economic impact of hosting events and local spending, exploring broader social and community benefits such as health and wellbeing, community identity, educational programs, and social inclusion.