George Washington's Mount Vernon
📍Mount Vernon
Tourism & Travel Statistics
Tourism is a proven economic development strategy for Fairfax County, bringing in over $3.42 billion annually. Visit Fairfax is a non-profit Destination Marketing Organization working to bring visitors to our great community. Our mission is to enhance economic and social growth in Fairfax County and Northern Virginia through travel and tourism. Based on principles of partnership, cooperation, and mutually beneficial alliances, our program of work is managed by objectives and is accountable for tangible, measurable results ensuring a significant return-on-investment.
Take a moment to look at this chart to understand how travel dollars support America: The Power of Travel.
Billions in Economic Impact
Total tourism spending in Fairfax County for 2021 reached over $2.39 billion.
Within the entire Commonwealth of Virginia, Fairfax County is the #3 contributor of expenditures to Virginia's tourism industry.
Thousands of Jobs
In 2021 visitors to Fairfax County directly supported more than 17,728 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. These local tourism jobs have combined earnings of $672 million.
Tourism in Virginia
Tourism has a huge economic impact in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2022, millions of visitors traveled to and around Virginia, bringing in more than $46.1 billion. 303,369 jobs were supported directly by travel spending, with earnings of more than $2.9 billion in state and local taxes generated. You can download the 2022 Economic Impact of Visitors To Virginia report here.
National Overview
Nationwide, the U.S. travel industry directly supports nearly 15.8 million people, produced $2.6 trillion in economic output, and generated state and local tax revenues of about $84 billion. Direct travel expenditures within the United States totaled $2.55 billion in 2022. You can download the 2023 State of the Travel Industry White Paper (U.S. Travel Association) here.
*The numbers and statistics used here can be found at US Travel Association, http://www.ustravel.org and Virginia Tourism Industry, http://www.vatc.org. Data from 2022 and 2021.