Visitor spending in Virginia grew 4.4% last year
Published
Tourism generated $26 billion in visitor spending in Virginia last year, a 4.4 percent increase over 2017.
In 2018, tourism supported 234,000 Virginia jobs —a 1 percent increase from 2017. The travel industry is the fifth largest employer in the commonwealth.
Tourism also provided $1.8 billion in state and local revenue, an increase of 2.9 percent compared to 2017.
Since the “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan was introduced 50 years ago, the economic impact of travel in the commonwealth has grown from $1.3 billion ($8.6 billion in 2018 dollars) to $26 billion at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4 percent.