STAFF REPORT

Tourism is big business, both locally and across the state. According to a recent state report, the economic impact of tourism in Danville and Boyle County and throughout Kentucky rebounded last year, after being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Kentucky Department of Tourism, $71.97 million was spent on tourism in Danville and Boyle County last year, compared with $67.42 million in 2019, an increase of 6.7 percent. 

State and local taxes collected from visitors totaled $5.6 million in 2021, up from $5.09 million in 2019, which represents an increase of 10 percent.

The report also showed the number of jobs in local tourism dropped by 2.5 percent in 2021, compared with 2019, from 644 jobs to 628. As a result, tourism-related income dipped slightly, from $16.31 million in 2019 to $16 million last year, a drop of 2 percent.

“What these numbers do is verify what we already knew, and that is that people got out, traveled and came to Danville and Boyle County in 2021 after staying home for much of 2020 due to travel restrictions and concerns about the pandemic,” said Kendall Clinton, executive director of the Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “As restrictions were lifted people were excited to get out and travel and our local tourism partners were able to welcome those visitors back. It appears that trend has continued into 2022, though we won’t have actual data until sometime next year.”

The economic impact of tourism statewide was an $11.2 billion, with $7.7 billion in direct visitor spending, resulting in $808 million in state and local taxes. All of this helped support 83,100 tourism-related jobs, or 3.3 percent of all jobs statewide.

The information that was used to determine tourism’s impact in 2021 was drawn from six different data sources, including Longwoods International survey data; Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor statistics; lodging data; tax collections; business sales and seasonal second homes inventory; international travel data.

Those considered visitors included people who stayed in overnight accommodations and those who came from more than 50 miles away and deviated from their normal routines.

The Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau is the organization that promotes tourism and visitor activities throughout the county. Find out more about tourism-related locations and events at danvillekentucky.com