Indiana tourism grows to $12.7 billion in visitor spending
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - More people are finding reasons to visit the Hoosier State. And they’re spending more money.
A new report finds that Indiana’s tourism industry continues to grow, with a record 12.7 billion dollars in visitor spending last year. Visitor spending added 9.8 billion dollars to the state’s gross domestic product, and increased by 5.9 percent year over year.
Food and beverage had the highest total spending rate at 3.4 billion dollars. Second was shopping, followed by entertainment and recreation, lodging and transportation, respectively.
The report found almost 80 million people visited Indiana destinations in 2017, spending an average of 158 dollars per person. That number is up 1.7 percent over 2016, and leisure travel was up 2.8 percent over the previous year.
Out of each dollar spent by tourists, 72 cents stays in Indiana, the report found.
Tourism supports nearly 200,000 jobs in the Hoosier state. It takes only 400 visitors to support one new job, the Indiana Office of Tourism said.
The study was commissioned by the Indiana Office of Tourism Development and conducted by Rockport Analytics. It used data on visitor spending in Indiana from Longwoods International, Reach Market Planning and the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Travel & Tourism Office.
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