May/June 2014

As summer approaches bringing warm weather and weekend-long events to entice visitors to Vancouver USA, your Regional Tourism Office has encouraging news to report. Recently released numbers from the Washington State Travel Impact and Visitor Volume report show a 5.1 percent rise in Clark County visitor spending for 2013--ranking Clark County among the top 10 counties statewide in terms of visitor spending percentage increase.

Conducted by Dean Runyan Associates for the Washington Tourism Alliance, the report reveals year-over-year gains in visitor spending and visitor-related job earnings in Clark County for 2013. This marks the fourth consecutive year of visitor spending growth for our community.

In total, visitors to our area spent $467.8 million, generated $122.7 million in job earnings, supported a workforce of 4,180, and generated more than $31,000 in local and state taxes. These numbers represent a 5.1 percent spending increase from 2013 and outpace the state average of 3.2 percent.

Clark County also ranked number one in visitor spending percentage increase for all Washington State counties with populations greater than 100,000--a title that puts Clark County on the map as one of the State's growing urban destinations for visitors. In comparison, Spokane and Yakima counties both posted smaller although steady gains of 1.7 and 1.4 percent respectively.

For more detailed visitor spending numbers, including industry breakdown numbers for dining and retail, please download the full Clark County Report. We look forward to another great year of visitor spending growth!

Kari_Resized                                                                         Kim Bennett 84x107

Kari Jonassen                                                                           Kim Bennett
Board Chair, GM Homewood Suites by Hilton                   President & CEO, Regional Tourism Office