Friday, July 5, 2002
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Friday, July 5, 2002 |
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Tourism meams big bucks for Coweta Tourism is leading the way to increased economic development in Coweta County and within the state of Georgia. In the latest Georgia tourism economic impact study, conducted by Davidson-Peterson Associates, figures for 2001 show visitors in Georgia contributed $16.1 billion dollars in expenditures and directly supported 9,000 businesses. Tourism is responsible for 200,000 Georgia jobs and $3.3 billion in resident wages, which reflects a 2 percent increase from 2000. State government realizes nearly $645 million in tax revenue, saving every resident $80 each in taxes. The Davidson-Peterson Economic Impact study was released the beginning of May and measures the time frame between July 2000 and June 2001. It show that most Georgia regions experienced and increase of visitors in fiscal year 2001, with a total overnight visitation of 41.74 million. In Coweta County, the total tourist expenditure was $88.8 million for fiscal year 2001. More than 1800 jobs were supported with $29,917,013 in wages directly supported by tourism. The Georgia Department of Industry Trade and Tourism says other indicators that Georgia tourism is growing are the increased requests for Georgia Travel Guides, up 129 percent in the first quarter of 2002, and the increased traffic flow to Georgia Visitors Information Centers, which hosted more than 16 million visitors in 2001. "This new study confirms that tourism is a major part of Georgia's current economy and will play a role in future economic development," said Janis Cannon, deputy commissioner of tourism for GDITT. "As we implement our marketing efforts to attract new and repeat visitors to our state, we will see these numbers continue to grow. As the second largest industry in the state, tourism is poised to be the economic stimulus many regions need."
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