ECONOMIC IMPACT
ALABAMA TRAVEL INDUSTRY 2008

April 10, 2009

Executive Summary

Analysis of state lodging tax revenues, Smith Travel Research data on hotel occupancy rates, and field intercept surveys conducted in previous years were used to estimate the economic impact of tourism on Alabama for calendar year 2008.
Based on the primary and secondary data, it is estimated that over 22 million people visited the State of Alabama during 2008.
Travelers are estimated to have spent almost $9.6 billion in Alabama. This represents an increase of 3 percent over 2007 spending.
In 2008, over $702 million of state and local tax revenues were generated by travel and tourism activities. Without those taxes, each household in Alabama would have had to pay $404 in additional taxes to maintain current service levels.
Travel industry expenditures represent 5.7 percent of Alabama’s Gross Domestic Product – overall production – in 2008.
An estimated 169,651 jobs – 8.5 percent of non-agricultural employment in Alabama – were directly or indirectly attributable to the travel and tourism industry.
The total impact of the travel and tourism industry on Alabama’s earnings in 2008 is estimated at over $3.7 billion.
Every $83,945 of travel-related expenditures creates one direct job in Alabama.
For every $1 in Alabama’s travel-related expenditures, the state retains a total of $0.39.
The most visited counties in the state were Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, and Montgomery, accounting for 63 percent of the total number of visitors to the state.

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