July 21, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caryn Gresham
304-558-2288, ext. 347
cgresham@callwva.com

Travelers spending more money in West Virginia

(Download a PDF summary of the study)

Quick Facts

A new study commissioned by the West Virginia Division of Tourism shows that the state’s travel and tourism industry continues to have a positive economic impact on earnings, employment and tax revenue.

The study was completed by Dean Runyan Associates for the years 2000 through 2004 and shows that:

· Travel spending by all overnight and day visitors in West Virginia was more than $3.4 billion in the 2004 calendar year.

· Travel spending in West Virginia has increased by 11.4 percent per year since 2000. In constant dollars (adjusted for inflation), travel spending has increased by 9.3 percent for the same period.

· Visitors who stayed overnight in commercial lodging facilities spent $1.2 billion on their trips in 2004. This is about one-third of all travel spending in the state.

· Day travelers spent $1.7 billion, or nearly one-half of the state’s total travel spending, on gaming and entertainment.

· During 2004, visitor spending in West Virginia directly supported more than 40,000 jobs with earnings of $766 million. Travel spending generated the greatest number of jobs in accommodations and food services, arts, entertainment and recreation, such as performing arts, gaming, outdoor recreation and sightseeing.

· Local and state tax revenues generated by travel spending were $536 million in 2004. Without these travel generated tax revenues, each household in West Virginia would have had to pay an additional $730 in state and local taxes to maintain current service levels.

This study is important for the tourism industry because it reaffirms that tourism is growing in West Virginia, said Betty Carver, Tourism Commissioner.

“We used the same type of data that other industries use when they estimate their economic impact,” Carver said. “With this research, we can look at the direct impact tourism has, using existing statistics from county, state and federal reports.”

“This is the type of study that helps us in our strategic planning efforts with regard to tourism in our state,” said Commerce Secretary Tom Bulla. “Studies that accurately reflect direct benefits and economic impact provide us with the information we need to determine how we can best support this industry.”

“I am most impressed with the growth of West Virginia’s travel industry,” said Dean Runyan, principal, Dean Runyan Associates. “To maintain a growth rate of this magnitude -- 11 percent per year -- is quite notable.”

The study is a grassroots approach to the research that analyzes the travel economic impacts at the state, regional and local levels. Dean Runyan Associates used information provided by the West Virginia Department of Tax and Revenue, the West Virginia Racing Commission, the West Virginia Lottery and West Virginia State Parks and Forests. Federal assistance came from the USDA Forest Service, Department of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The study breaks out traveler spending and state earnings into categories that are important to the tourism industry’s planning and development strategies, Carver said. “This study incorporates the travel habits of residents who take vacations in the state and travelers who are within 50 miles of our border. Previous studies did not take these into consideration.”

Visitor spending is identified for types of accommodations, such as hotels and motels, campgrounds, private homes, vacation homes and day travel with no accommodations. It also takes into account goods purchased, such as accommodations, food and beverages, food stores, transportation and motor fuel, arts, entertainment, recreation, gaming and retail sales.

The study further takes these categories and details industry earnings, industry employment and tax receipts generated.

Dean Runyan Associates is an Oregon-based firm that has specialized in research and planning services for the travel, tourism and recreation industries since 1984. The firm developed and maintains the Regional Travel Impact Model (RTIM), a proprietary computer model for analyzing travel economic impacts at the state, regional and local levels. The company has extensive experience in project feasibility analysis, market evaluation, survey research and travel and tourism planning.

Dean Runyan Associates has done similar studies for the states of California, Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

The study is available here or online at the West Virginia Division of Tourism Web site, www.callwva.com in the Industry Information tab under Research.

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Economic Impact of Travel in West Virginia 2000 - 2004
Fact Sheet

· This report describes the economic impacts of travel to and through the state of West Virginia and its 55 counties from 2000 to 2004. The 2004 estimates are preliminary and may be slightly adjusted when original data sources are revised.

· Travel impacts consist of estimates of travel spending and the employment, earnings and state and local taxes generated by this spending. These estimates are broken out by type of traveler accommodation and by the type of business in which the expenditures occur.

· Dean Runyan Associates considered economic impact and visitor categories in its study.
- The economic impact categories include expenditures, total earnings, employment, local tax receipts and state tax receipts.
- The visitor categories include hotel/motel/B&B visitors, private campers, public campers, private home visitors, vacation home visitors and day visitors.

· An estimate of the Gross State Product of the travel industry is included in this report. Gross State Product is a measure of industry output that excludes the value of intermediate inputs purchased from businesses in other industries. As a single measure, it provides a meaningful gauge of industry output other than spending, earnings or tax receipts. It permits comparisons with other industries.

· Compared with previous economic impact studies, the Dean Runyan Associates survey is more comprehensive in that it includes in-state travelers and travelers who drive 50 or fewer miles for overnight or day trips. Previous studies, using a national-industry definition of a traveler as someone who travels 50 miles or more, left out these two important groups of travelers.

· The Dean Runyan Associates study takes a grassroots approach, working with local, county and state organizations to develop a model that is specific to the state and its tourism industry.

· Most of the travel that occurs in West Virginia is included in the scope of this analysis. The purpose of such travel can be for business, pleasure, shopping, to attend meetings or for personal, medical and/or educational purposes. All trips to West Virginia by U.S. residents and foreign visitors are included. The travel of West Virginia residents to other destinations in West Virginia is included, provided that it is neither commuting nor other routine travel.

· The impacts associated with travel are included if the travelers remain at the destination overnight and day travel for both in-state and out-of-state residents whose trip does not include an overnight stay at a destination in West Virginia.

· Approximately 90 percent of all travel-generated tax receipts accrue to state government in West Virginia. State taxes include the 6 percent state sales tax, the motor fuel tax (current flat rate of $0.205 per gallon plus a variable rate equal to 5 percent of the average wholesale price of motor fuel), income taxes on travel-generated earnings and travel-related business income, and taxes on gaming revenue. Local taxes consist of the hotel/motel occupancy tax, levied by cities and counties. Property taxes are not included.

· The West Virginia Department of Tax and Revenue, West Virginia Racing Commission, West Virginia Lottery, West Virginia Division of Tourism and West Virginia State Parks and Forests provided information for this report to Dean Runyan. Federal agencies that provided assistance include the USDA Forest Service, Department of Labor and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

· Dean Runyan Associates has specialized in research and planning services for the travel, tourism and recreation industry since 1984. The firm developed and maintains the Regional Travel Impact Model (RTIM), a proprietary computer model for analyzing travel economic impacts at the state, regional and local levels. Dean Runyan Associates also has extensive experience in project feasibility analysis, market evaluation, survey research, and travel and tourism planning.