Tourism = Business
it supports existing companies
it stimulates new business development

Tourism pays for itself...and then some
Hotel/motel taxes support:
Convention center construction
Arts and cultural institutions
Low income housing
Transportation projects
Community centers

Tourism Works in the United States
(Source: U.S. Travel Association)

Travel and tourism is a $1.8 trillion industry in the United States
If one dollar bill equaled a second of time, then $1.8 trillion would equal almost 51,000 years.

Travel and tourism generates $118 billion in tax revenue for local, state and federal governments
If you place $118 billion one dollar bills end-to-end, they would circle the world 422 times.

Each U.S. household would pay $1000 more in taxes without the tax revenue generated by the travel and tourism industry
$1000 will buy about five weeks of groceries for a family of four, will fill the average car with gas 31 times.

The travel and tourism industry is one of the country's largest employers with 7.4 million direct travel-generated jobs.

Direct travel-generated payroll totals $186 billion; 1 out of every 9 U.S. non-farm jobs is created directly, indirectly or is induced by travel and tourism.

The travel and tourism industry is one of America's largest service exports.
International travelers spent more on their visits to the United States than U.S. residents spent while traveling abroad, creating a trade surplus of $23.2 billion for the U.S.

Dining is the most popular domestic trip activity and is included in 31 percent of all domestic trips; Shopping is the No. 1 leisure/recreational activity for overseas visitors.

Approximately 2.8 million hotel room nights are sold every day in the United States. That is enough hotel rooms to lodge every person living in Dallas, Detroit, Denver and Orlando combined.

Direct spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $2 billion a day, $86.6 million an hour, $1.4 million a minute, and $24,000 a second.

Tourism Works for the Southeast
(Source: U.S. Travel Association)

Tourism Works for Alabama »
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Other Useful Resources

United States Travel Association
A national travel and tourism industry, U.S. Travel Association offers economic data, information, analysis and travel trends and supports industry efforts involving advocacy and promotion.

DMO Pro
DMOpro is a social network of like-minded Destination Marketing professionals sharing information and support for one another.

National Tour Association (NTA)
Leading business-building association for travel professionals interested in the North American market - inbound, outbound and within the continent.

Arizona Tourism Alliance

Jacksonville Tourism Matters

Ohio Tourism Works

The Power of Tourism graph

Tourism Works for Rhode Island

Tourism Works for Us (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

Travel and Tourism Works for America Publication

Coastal Virginia Tourism Alliance

SETTRA (Southeast States Chapter of TTRA)

Why Tourism Matters

Denver: Tourism Pays

Pinehurst/Moore County, NC Golf Industry

Watch this short video to learn more about how tourism impacts your community.

Regional Industry Resources

Alabama Travel Council

Arkansas Association of CVBs

Florida Association of CVBs

Georgia Association of CVBs

Kentucky Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus

Southern & Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association

Louisiana Travel Promotion Association

Mississippi Tourism Office

Tennessee Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (TACVB)

Virginia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus

West Virginia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus(WVACVB)

STS Economic Significance of Tourism Toolkit

Do you need to more specific metrics on the impact tourism has on your particular community. STS and Dr. Steve Morse of the University of Tennessee have created a tool that allows you to present the travel's impact on your county. There is no more guessing about tourism's importance in economic development. Use the STS Economic Significance of Tourism tool, and transform your community contacts into tourism advocates.

For more information,
click here.

View a sample,
click here.