Monroe County Touting Tourism
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA study released by Visit Bloomington suggests the area's tourism industry supported more than 4,100 jobs in 2013. The organization says the industry also accounted for an increase in sales in 2013. February 17, 2014
News Release
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A recent tourism economic impact study completed by the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies at Indiana University estimates that Monroe County's tourism industry created 319 new jobs and $6.9 million in new wages in Monroe County between the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2013.
Utilizing the IMPLAN Modeling System and surveying at various leisure, conference and sports tourism events, the study was first conducted in 2009 and repeated in 2013 to give Visit Bloomington a benchmark comparison of the tourism industry’s growth during that time period.
Key findings:
Total tourism jobs supported increased from 3,844 in 2009 to 4,163 in 2013.
Total tourism sales transactions grew by more than 16% from $279 million in 2009 to $326 million in 2013.
Total visitor days increased by 170,000 from 3.15 million in 2009 to 3.32 million in 2013.
Overall visitors spent an average of $81.19 per day in 2013, an increase from $70.03 in 2009.
Conference visitors spent $89.09 per day in 2013, an increase from $74.46 in 2009.
Sports visitors spent $77.82 per day in 2013, an increase from $60.75 in 2009.
Leisure visitors spent $73.13 per day in 2013, an increase from $57.25 in 2009.
Overall average length of stay decreased from 2.5 nights in 2009 to 1.8 nights in 2013.
Completed surveys collected increased from 536 in 2009 to 1,314 in 2013.
“We are pleased with that growth and we look forward to increasing it further. Monroe County continues to be primarily a weekend destination with our hotels commonly near capacity on Friday and Saturday nights. But we have three new hotels scheduled to open in 2014 and plenty of room to grow visitor business during the week. That's an opportunity for us to increase our contribution to the overall economy of Monroe County and Indiana. Visit Bloomington's most important goals include creating new Sunday through Thursday overnight stays and extending all visitor stays,” stated Mike McAfee, Visit Bloomington's Executive Director.
Source: Visit Bloomington