In 2023, visitor spending totaled $90.9 million in Nelson County, 5.2% more than 2022, according to the state’s top tourism authority.
It’s a positive sign for both Nelson County and Virginia as a whole, which tourism officials say has completely recovered from the tourism-killing pandemic.
Roughly 22% of Nelson jobs, about 850 total, now are supported by tourism, according to Katie Conner, senior development manager for the Virginia Tourism Corporation. Many of those workers are connected directly or indirectly to the county’s growing beer, wine and cider industry.
In terms of visitor spending in the county, Conner broke it down into three categories: “For Nelson, that’s Lodging (38.9% of total visitor spending), Food & Beverage (22.4% of visitor spending), and Recreation (14.7% of visitor spending),” she said in a statement announcing the news.
Tourism in 2023 also injected some $5 million in taxes into Nelson County, according to the Virginia Tourism Corporation numbers.
“These are all very healthy figures and point towards a diverse and balanced visitor economy,” she added. “We know statewide that one out of four recreation jobs, one out of four Food & Beverage jobs, and virtually all hotel jobs are supported by tourism. For recreation and Food & Beverage, those figures are likely higher for Nelson given the strong employment intensity of tourism. Those Food & Beverage jobs and recreation jobs, while in the leisure & hospitality sector, are vital towards making our communities great places to live as well as work.”
Virginia as a whole posted stronger tourism numbers than in years past.
Visitors to Virginia spent $91 million a day in 2023, up from $83 million in 2022.
“Virginia visitors directly drove $2.4 billion in state and local tax revenue, an increase of 9% from $2.2 billion in 2022. Overnight visitation to Virginia increased by 1.4 million to 43.6 million visitors in 2023, up from 42.2 million in 2022, essentially reaching full recovery to pre-pandemic levels,” according to the Virginia Tourism Corporation statement.
Tourism spending is broken into multiple categories, including recreation, transportation, lodging, retail and food and drink. And while all categories have seen some improvement in Virginia since the pandemic, recreation was the fastest growing sector in 2023. Recreation spending was up 12% from 2022 and 24% from pre-pandemic levels.
It indicates that tourists prefer experiences more than anything else while traveling, according to the Virginia Tourism Corporation.
“Throughout 2023, Virginia’s visitor economy benefited from balanced hotel performance as business and group demand recovered strongly on weekdays against a backdrop of stable leisure demand during weekends,” the organization said in its statement.
The Virginia Tourism Corporation’s data is based on visitors to Virginia who traveled from within the U.S., stayed overnight or traveled at least 50 miles to their final destination.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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