Wednesday, October 15, 2014

DCVB Releases White Paper on Visitors’ Impact

Why is tourism and the related visitor spending it generates so important to a local economy? Quite simply, because it provides a source of revenue to a community that would not otherwise exist.  

It also provides tax revenues to state and local governments in addition to jobs and wages, which have a multiplier effect throughout the local economy.

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB) sets out to learn just how big that impact is through a biannual study it commissions with D.K. Shifflet and IHS Global Insights, two leading research firms.

“Visitors provide significant impact to Durham, and it has increased steadily, year after year,” said Shelly Green, President and CEO of DCVB.

The newly released white paper covers 2012, the most recent data available, as well as estimates for 2013. It shows that Durham hosted nine million visitors in 2012, and that those visitors spent $765.8 million within the county. The net result was a $560 million economic impact to the local area, including support for 13,339 jobs and $86.3 million is state and local taxes.

“Without visitors and the spending they generated, each household in Durham would have to pay as much as $745 more a year in state and local taxes to maintain the current level of services they enjoy,” Green added.  

Read the full report on DCVB's website.

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