Impact of smoke-free laws on hotels and motels: Keeping the light on

Background:  On July 5, 2010, Wisconsin became the 25th state in the U.S. to establish a comprehensive statewide smoke-free indoor air law.  While nearly fifty percent of the states had preceded Wisconsin in the passage of such legislation, Wisconsin was a leader in the tobacco prevention and control arena in that its law was one of the first to include the provision that businesses in the travel accommodation industry (hotels, motels, B&B’s) would be 100% smoke-free.

Arguments against the passage of smoke-free legislation, especially from those in the hospitality industry more broadly, have largely stemmed from the concern that such legislation would result in decreased revenue, and ultimately lead to job loss and the closure of businesses.

The Evaluation:  The goal of this novel study was to evaluate the potential economic impact of Wisconsin’s smoke-free law on the travel accommodation industry.  Time series analyses were conducted to examine trends in revenue and employment in the state’s travel accommodation industry, before and after the enactment of the smoke-free law, using data from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.  Multiple regression analysis was used to control for potential confounding factors, using additional data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

This session will discuss the how to think outside the box when trying to evaluate the impact of a public health policy, amidst controversies emerging from concerns for the economic well-being of the industries impacted by the policy.