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Tourism Matters to Washington State
(Source: Washington State Community, Trade and Economic Development Tourism Office/Dean Runyan Associates)
Tourism is a major industry in Washington State
According to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced, tourism ranks 4th as an industry, following software, aerospace and agriculture & food.
Tourism means business
it supports existing companies
it stimulates new business development
Tourism supports jobs
Nearly 150,000 jobs and $4.3 billion in earnings in Washington State
In six non-urban Washington counties, travel-related jobs are more than 10% of total employment
Tourists spend money
Total direct visitor spending was $15.2 billion in 2010
Tourists pay taxes
Nearly $1 billion in local/state tax revenue in 2010
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
Washington's urban and rural areas work together to maximize tourism benefit
Big cities are gateways to rural attractions
Rural areas are more dependent on tourism
(Travel spending generates 15% of local sales tax and hotel/motel taxes in 8 rural counties)
Tourism Matters to 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 $1.7 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 more than 400 times.
Each U.S. household would pay $1,000 more in taxes without the tax revenue generated by the travel and tourism industry
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 $188.3 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.
International arrivals totalled 59.7 million in 2010, accounting for $13+ billion in travel spending (export receipts).
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