The “Lancaster County Visitor Economy” report completed in May 2024 by the respected industry analysts at Tourism Economics contains figures that demonstrate why organizations like Discover Lancaster are so crucial.
Through an analysis of key performance indicators, the study describes the economic impact of this important work, the highlights of which include:
An estimated 9.92 million visitors to Lancaster County directly spent $2.58 billion in 2023 (representing gains of 1.5% and 4.3%, respectively, over 2022), creating a total tourism impact of $3.4 billion in the county.
This visitor spending supported 25,679 county jobs in total, including 16,922 direct industry jobs. These figures both grew by 2-3% in 2023 and kept tourism in the Top 10 largest non-agriculture private sector employers in the county.
State and local tax revenue generated by the tourism industry saved each Lancaster County household from paying an additional estimated $1,169 annually in such taxes in order to maintain current services.