Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing Reports Record Growth in Visitor Spending and Tourism Industry Employment

STOWE, Vt., 2013-04-02 — /travelprnews.com/ — Visitors made an estimated 13.95 million person trips to Vermont during 2011 for leisure, business or personal travel. Direct spending by visitors for goods and services totaled $1.7 billion, according to a report released by the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM).

The biannual VDTM comprehensive research study titled: “A Benchmark Study of the Economic Impact of Visitor Expenditures on the Vermont Economy – 2011,” was prepared by Chmura Economics and Analytics.

Record growth in visitor spending generated $274.5 million in tax and fee revenue for Vermont, a 37.5 percent increase over 2009. Visitor spending also supports an estimated 37,910 jobs for Vermonters; accounting for approximately 11.5 percent of all Vermont jobs; this reflects a 13.1 percent increase of employment in the hospitality and recreation sector since 2009.

The research also details that 72.9 percent of the 13.95 million person trips are made by out of state visitors. Traveler origins are domestic U.S. (7.6 million), Vermont (3.8 million), Canadian (2.5 million) and International (.078 million).

“The preliminary taxable receipts reports for calendar 2012 indicate that the positive measures in 2011 have continued in 2012, with Meals, Rooms and Alcohol (MRA) sales up 4.73 percent,” VDTM Commissioner Megan Smith said. “Plus, this snowy, busy winter has meant a strong start for tourism in 2013.”

Key sectors of Vermont’s economy are substantially more dependent on visitor spending than the national average:

Jobs Supported by Visitor Spending	Vermont %	U.S. Average %
Eating and Drinking Places	36.3%	18.1%
Retail	6.8%	2.9%

Tax and fee revenues yielded from visitor spending during 2011 were $274.5 million total, disbursed to the general fund, education fund and transportation fund, up from $199.6 million in 2009.

The VDTM tourism industry fact sheet and the complete benchmark study are available at www.VermontPartners.com.

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