Billions in Economic Impact
Total tourism spending in Fairfax County for 2008 reached over $2.56 billion, an increase of almost a half a percent over the previous year.
Within the entire state of Virginia, Fairfax County is the #1 contributor of expenditures to Virginia's tourism industry.
Thousands of Jobs
Visitors to Fairfax County directly supported almost 30,000 local jobs. While the majority of these jobs were in the leisure and hospitality industries - accommodations, food service, arts, entertainment and recreation - tourism impacts a multitude of businesses and crosses numerous industries.
Hotels
Hotels in Fairfax County had an average occupancy rate of 67% in 2008. With over 18,000 rooms in nearly 100 hotels, Fairfax County sold over 4.2 million room nights throughout the year.
Tourism in Virginia
Tourism has a huge economic impact in the state of Virginia. In 2008, millions of visitors traveled to and within Virginia, resulting in $19.2 billion in spending. 210,600 jobs were supported directly by travel spending, with earnings of $4.4 billion in payroll and salaries.
National Overview
Nationwide, the U.S. travel industry directly employs 7.7 million people, generates payroll of $194.1 billion and tax revenues of about $117 billion.
Travel expenditures within the United States totaled $772.9 billion in 2008; and visitors to the U.S. spent more here than U.S. residents traveling abroad, creating a positive balance of trade of for the national economy.
The numbers and statistics used within this document can be found at:
The Travel Industry Association Website at http://www.tia.org/
And
The Virginia Tourism Website at http://www.vatc.org/
