-May 6,2020-
New economic impact report highlights the importance of tourism to Visalia and Tulare County, Calif.
Visalia, Calif -The coronavirus pandemic has shattered Tulare County’s tourism industry, which, according to Visit California’s latest economic impact report, was thriving in 2019. The “California Travel Impacts” report, prepared for Visit California by Dean Runyan Associates, states that visitor spending reached $451 million in 2019, an increase of 5.8% from the previous year, and supported 5,530 jobs in Tulare County.
Continued growth highlights how important tourism is to the region and California’s economy. “Just look at the numbers. Travel supports one in nine American jobs, including 5,530 right here in Tulare County, an increase of 2.6% over the previous year,” said Nellie Freeborn, executive director of Visit Visalia. The tourism economy and tourism related jobs in Tulare County showed sustained growth for the last 10 years – making it a strong decade for the local industry.
“Visitor spending generated $17.4 million in local tax revenue in 2019, providing a stream of revenue in Tulare County to fund the community’s way of life including support of essential programs, such as public safety, infrastructure and parks. This illustrates the economic power of tourism to our community and underscores the work Visit Visalia will continue to focus on as families take first steps in planning travel, when safe, to road trip friendly destinations like Visalia.”
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, Tourism Economics projects California will lose $72.1 billion in statewide travel-related spending in 2020, nearly half of what was generated last year. The study also showed the pandemic will wipe out 613,000 California jobs by the end of May, more than half the tourism industry’s workforce.
Statewide, 2019 marked a record 10 years of travel-related economic growth for the state, further signaling the steady influence tourism has had on California’s economy for the past decade.
Visitors to California spent $144.9 billion in 2019, a 3.2 percent increase over 2018. The number of travel and tourism jobs increased to 1.2 million last year, an additional 13,000 jobs. Travel-generated tax revenue also grew for the 10th straight year, providing $12.2 billion to state and local governments, a 3.4 percent increase over 2018.