Tourism $$ in Virginia

Tourism is one of Virginia's most powerful industries - bringing in billions of dollars in tax revenue and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs for Virginians. The facts and stats below are a glimpse of the positive economic impact of tourism in Virginia.

In 2010 Virginia Tourism:

• Generated $18.9 billion in visitor spending
• Supported 204,000 jobs
• Provided $1.3 billion in state and local taxes for Virginia’s communities

What tourism tax revenue means to Virginia

State tax revenues generated by tourism in Virginia are estimated to be enough to pay for:

• Salaries and benefits of more than 11,000 new state police officers, or
• Education of over 75,000 Virginia students, or
• Maintaining more than 55,000 miles of Virginia roads annually

Every $1 Virginia invests in tourism marketing generates $5 in tax revenue for the Commonwealth. That's a 5:1 return on investment.

Additional information on the economic impact of tourism in Virginia, including information for localities, is available at http://www.vatc.org/research/economicimpact.asp.