Visit Gainesville, Alachua County celebrates National Travel and Tourism Week from May 7 through May 13. National Travel and Tourism Week is an annual tradition celebrating the industry’s critical role in powering economic development, employment, and destination growth.
This year’s Tourism Week theme is “Travel Forward.” In support of that, Alachua County is pleased to report record-setting tourism impacts across all key performance indicators for visitors who stayed in paid overnight accommodations in 2022:
- Visitors created $789,429,800 in economic impact, an increase of 25% (nearly $160 million) over 2021.
- Visitors spent over $495 million in Alachua County on local lodging, entertainment, dining, shopping, groceries, and transportation, an increase of 22% over 2021.
- Alachua County attracted nearly 1.4 million visitors that stayed in paid accommodations, an increase of 15% over 2021.
- Visitors to Alachua County generated 1,460,200 room nights in paid accommodations.
- Jobs supported by Alachua County visitors generated over $272 million in wages and salaries for local jobs, an increase of 29% over 2021.
- Visitors generated approximately $64 million in state and local tax revenue, saving each Alachua County household $621 in taxes.
- This economic data was compiled by Downs & St. Germaine and excludes visitors who took day trips to Alachua County and visitors who stayed in the residences of friends or family or in personal second homes.
“Alachua County’s investment of tourist development tax into capital projects and programs that enhance tourism and visitor spending has created a thriving tourism industry in the County,” said Alachua County Tourist Development Council Chair Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler. “There is so much to celebrate, including the upcoming ribbon cutting at the new Alachua County Sports and Events Center at Celebration Pointe, which will bring significant impacts to the industry for decades.”
A proclamation celebrating National Travel and Tourism Week will be read at the Tuesday, May 9, 2023, Alachua County Commission Meeting.
“Visitation and visitor spending will be a consistent driver of economic advancement and workforce expansion in Alachua County,” said Tourism Development Manager Jessica Hurov. “Industry partnerships and investments into nature, culture, and sporting opportunities create the foundation of historically high visitation to the County, and we are grateful for the opportunity to work collaboratively with our industry partners to expand County investments, destination enhancement, and marketing projects in the coming months and years.”
Alachua County deploys a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach to increasing tourism through the investment of tourist development tax into Countywide capital infrastructure projects; marketing and advertising strategies deployed to targeted regional and national audiences; grant programs and funding support to arts, nature, and culture organizations, attractions and event producers; outreach and sales to conference and meeting planners; support of participatory sporting activities including the Gainesville Sports Commission; hosting travel writers, supporting film crews; and more.