The Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau (TCVB) recently announced that Visit California has released the 2017 Travel Impact Report prepared by Dean Runyan Associates. The research results for Tuolumne County are worth celebrating. The numbers from 2016 to 2017 demonstrate a significant increase in direct travel spending, employment and tax revenue at both the state-level and county-level.

The key findings from the tourism’s state-level economic impact report are as follows: Statewide economic spending at $132.4 billion a 4.8 percent increase over the previous year, employment at 1.14 million a 3.1 percent increase over the previous year, and state and local tax revenue at 10.9 billion a 2.8 percent increase over the previous year.

The key findings for Tuolumne County are outlined as: Total direct travel spending $253.3 million a 13 percent increase over the previous year, 2,480 jobs up from 2,290 the prior year, and state and local tax revenue at $19.2 million up from $17 million the previous year. Another county-level highlight includes the transient occupancy tax showed an $818,000 increase from $3,718 million in 2016 to $4,536 million in 2017. Transient occupancy tax dollars are the only tax dollars that stay 100 percent local. The Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau is funded by 25 percent of the collected transient occupancy tax allowing Tuolumne County to be marketed as a tourist destination across multiple channels nationwide and internationally. It should also be noted that neither casino is considered for these numbers as they are indexed under government, separate from this research report.

“Tourism remains the county’s number one private sector industry. Seeing the numbers continue to grow across the board shows just how important and relevant tourism is to the county’s economy, businesses and residents. It is important tourism remains sustainable, so we are constantly working on new ways to promote Tuolumne County to varying audiences,” stated TCVB Executive Director, Lisa Mayo. “These numbers demonstrate an excellent return on investment.”

Tuolumne County is one of the top 20 counties in California where travel-generated employment is the majority of the county’s overall employment. The results of the 2017 Travel Impact Report suggest that Tuolumne County is a tourism destination where tourism positively and consistently affects economic growth.