The Catskill Chronicle

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY (July 8, 2013) – The Sullivan County Visitors Association has announced that spending by visitors to Sullivan County grew another 4.3 percent in 2012 to $364.3 million.

In fact, Sullivan County travelers increased their spending across all sectors (lodging, food service, transportation, retail & service stations, and recreation) in 2012, with the largest increase – 16.55 percent – seen in recreation spending. A close second was transportation, with an increase of 14.47 percent. The vast majority of total monies spent, however, was, predictably, in second homes and lodging.

The 2012 findings were recently released in a report by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company providing analyses of the tourism sector.

“Of course, we’d always like the numbers to be higher, but I am still very pleased with our continued growth in the tourism industry,” said Roberta Byron-Lockwood, president and CEO of the SCVA. “We are in a very difficult economic climate, so the revenue produced by the continued promotion of our many tourism assets offers myriad benefits to our local residents and businesses.”

Sullivan County tourism generated $44.2 million in state and local taxes in 2012, an increase of 1.5 percent over 2011. Total state and local tax proceeds saved Sullivan County households an average of $1,502 in tax burden, according to the report.

The tourism sector supported 17.6 percent of all Sullivan County employment, both directly and indirectly, last year. The nearly 4,400 jobs sustained by traveler activity span every sector of the economy, either directly or indirectly. Tourism-generated income reached $469.3 million in 2012, making up 16.1 percent of Sullivan County’s labor income.