Friday, February 20, 2004
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Friday, February 20, 2004 |
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Tourism continues to grow Coweta County ranked 25th out of 159 counties in tourist expenditures for the 2002 fiscal year. According to the latest statistics issued by the state of Georgia, tourists spent $83.89 million from July 1, 2002 until June 30, 2003. The latest data comes from the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade, & Tourism through a report from Smith Travel Research TIA, which tracks actual dollars spent in each Georgia county. Tourism is Georgia’s second largest industry and it is definitely a force to be reckoned with in Coweta County as well. Looking at the overall economic impact of tourism on Coweta, the data shows some 1,300 people employed in tourism related jobs with a payroll of $24,930,000. How does tourism help out local economy? Besides the creation of jobs, there is tax revenue generated and during the 2002-2003 timeframe studied in the latest report, Coweta County took in $2.53 million in tourism related tax revenue. It took a lot of folks visiting Coweta County last year to place us as high in the state rankings as we were. The Welcome Center was quite busy in 2003 with over 26,000 people taking the time to stop by the Walt Sanders Memorial Drive facility. Coweta County tourism helped Georgia as well by generating $3.62 million dollars for the state’s treasury. And the enormous impact tourism has on Georgia is made even clearer when you consider that 42 million people visited our state during the 2002 fiscal year, creating $1.1 billion in total revenue for local and state government. Over 207,000 jobs in Georgia are the result of tourism with a total payroll of 5.8 billion dollars. Overnight guest expenditures totalled $108.81. Day guest expenditures totalled $51.92. With the average tourist spending 3.2 nights, expenditures add up as lodging is paid for, vehicles are gassed up, meals are bought, and other supplies are purchased. Tourism in Coweta County continues to grow and as it does, so does the beneficial economic impact it provides for the Coweta community.
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