MARYLAND TOURISTS INFUSE STATE ECOMONMY
WITH $13.6 BILLION DURING 2007
Industry provides jobs for 141,000 state residents
BALTIMORE, MD (Nov. 10, 2008) – Gov. Martin O’Malley announced that visitors to Maryland pumped a record $13.6 billion into the state’s economy during calendar year 2007 – an increase of 2.9 percent over the previous calendar year. The governor cited the results of a study released today by the Maryland Office of Tourism Development, an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
The report also showed that the tourism industry generated an estimated $1.7 billion in state and local taxes in 2007, while employing nearly 141,000 state residents – mainly in the areas of foodservice, public transportation and lodging – with a payroll of $3.8 billion. Transportation and food represent the largest share of the $13.6 billion in visitor spending, followed by shopping, lodging and entertainment.
“Tourism continues to be one of Maryland’s top economic engines,” said Gov. O’Malley. “In addition to boosting the state’s economic health through revenue generation and job creation, tourism is essential for providing Marylanders with a superior quality of life.”
Earlier this year, the governor announced that Maryland welcomed an estimated 27.2 million visitors during calendar year 2007 – a decrease of 3.8 percent from 2006. More than 75 percent were leisure visitors and the other 24 percent were business travelers.
This year’s report uses a new measurement system, the Tourism Satellite Account, which is endorsed by the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries and the World Tourism Organization. The Office of Tourism Development targets key geographic markets to influence prospective visitors to plan a trip to Maryland. Marketing activities are designed to increase traffic on the state’s visitmaryland.org web site and develop quality leads for potential visits.
As a measure of these efforts, the number of unique web visitors to visitmaryland.org increased by 41,000, or 3.6 percent, in FY 2008, compared to FY 2007. Advertising inspired nearly 330,000 enquiries for more information. This is a decline of 37 percent from FY07, as more and more travelers use the web to gather travel information. Meanwhile, the value of travel-media exposure, as promoted through public relations activities, jumped 183 percent in FY 2008.
To learn more about Maryland’s tourism industry, go to vistimaryland.org.
