Tourism revenues reached $23 billion in 2015

Published September 12, 2016 by Paula C. Squires

The Virginia Tourism Corp. reports that the state’s tourism revenues topped $23 billion in 2015, a 2.4 percent increase over 2014. In 2015, tourism in
Virginia supported 223,100 jobs. The tourism industry also provided more than $1.6 billion in state and local revenue.

The state’s tourism marketing agency largely attributed the increase to Virginia's authentic, local travel experiences, diversity of tourism product
and the efforts of the destination marketing organizations and their leadership in their communities.

According to the Virginia Tourism Corp., tourism is an instant generator for the commonwealth. For every dollar invested, tourism returns $5 to
the general fund, it said. Tourism also is the fifth-largest private employer in Virginia.

The data on total figures was updated from forecasted data previously provided in June. The Virginia Tourism Corp receives its annual economic
impact data from the U.S. Travel Association. The information is based on domestic visitor spending (travelers from within the U.S. ) from
per person trips taken 50 miles or more away from home.

Detailed economic impact data by locality is available on www.vatc.org under Research.