New study shows state's tourism industry had strong year in 2017
Connecticut tourism generated $15.5 billion in total business sales in 2017, a 5.5 percent increase over 2015, a new biennial study released Monday shows.
Conducted by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics research firm, the study finds that tourism in the state accounted for $2.2 billion in tax revenues, including $960 million in state and local taxes, and directly supported more than 84,000 jobs. It marks the seventh consecutive annual increase in tourism employment, the eighth largest employment sector in the state, according to the study.
“We’re really pleased with the numbers,” said Randy Fiveash, director of the state Office of Tourism, who noted the increases have been achieved despite reductions in state funding of tourism promotion.
“We have continually looked for ways to be effective and efficient in using the marketing dollars that we’ve had,” he said. “We deploy a sophisticated mix of marketing that targets the people who are most likely to visit.”
Visitors drove a 3.6 percent increase in tourism spending on recreation, food and beverage, lodging, retail and local/air transportation, the biggest annual rate of increase since 2011, the new study shows.
Earlier this year, the state tourism office released its 2018 marketing review, which showed that those targeted by the state’s digital tourism advertising visited Connecticut six times more often — and stayed 3.5 times longer — than those who were not targeted.
Amid cuts in funding, the tourism office ceased out-of-state TV advertising in 2016. Staffing of highway Welcome Centers also was curtailed that year, and the printing of a visitors’ guide ended this year, according to the marketing review.
Separate research aimed at evaluating all aspects of the state’s tourism marketing efforts, including the effectiveness of its “Still Revolutionary” slogan, is due next month.
The annual Connecticut Governor’s Conference on Tourism is scheduled for Wednesday at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to deliver a luncheon address during the daylong event.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
