CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Spending by tourists continues to play an increasingly large role in West Virginia’s economy, state Department of Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby told lawmakers Wednesday.
Spending by tourists generates more than $8.7 billion in economic impact for the state each year, Ruby said during testimony before the House Agriculture, Commerce and Tourism Subcommittee.
“That is generating more than $1 billion in tax revenue and employing more than 60,000 people,” she said. “And those jobs are paying out more than $2 billion in wages.”
In 2021, state officials celebrated reaching nearly $5 billion in total visitor spending.
“I remember that was a big milestone for us,” Ruby said. “Today we’re looking at $8.7 billion.”
This growth is the result of several years of work to overhaul the state’s tourism marketing and advertising strategy after officials observed an overall decline in tourist spending in West Virginia around 2012, Ruby said.
“What was happening then was we were being outspent by our neighbors,” she said. “The states around us were investing more into tourism marketing, and they were doing a better job of making it cohesive and really having a unified brand.”
In 2017, the West Virginia Legislature approved tripling the annual budget for tourism promotion, Ruby said.
“So you see, starting in 2017, the huge increase (in spending). We took the dip for COVID that people around the country took, and then it’s gone straight up from there,” she said.
Compared to 2019, overall annual traveler spending in West Virginia has increased by 23%, Ruby said.
“If you compare that to the rest of the nation and you compare that to where the U.S. as a whole was with traveler spending in 2019 and where the U.S. is today, the U.S. has only grown 9%,” she said. “Not only are we growing quickly, but we’re outpacing much of the nation.”
On average, traveler spending in the state is about $17 million per day, Ruby said.
“That equates, in tax revenue, to a saving of about $835 per household in West Virginia each year,” she said. “We’re bringing in that significant amount of taxes that we’re offsetting those for households across West Virginia.
The Department of Tourism has seen success with its special promotions, like the West Virginia Waterfall Trail and the Almost Heaven swings, Ruby said.
“As they’re going to visit these places, they’re all spending money on gas, they’re all spending money on food, and they’re visiting new places in West Virginia,” she said.