BATON ROUGE – Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser announced record tourism numbers for 2018.
The state welcomed 51.3 million visitors in 2018, representing an increase of nine percent over the 47.1 million visitors reported by DK Shifflet in April 2017.
Visitors spent $18.8 billion, an increase of seven percent over 2017. The travel and tourism industry generated $1.9 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2018.
“We’ve seen a continued growth over the past three years of hotel accommodations, attractions, and tourism jobs all across the Louisiana. This growth has enabled us to continue successfully increasing our visitation numbers to reach 51.3 million,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “By promoting Louisiana as a place where you can Feed Your Soul, we can attract more visitors, which means more tax revenue we can generate. Through continuing to prioritize efforts to promote Louisiana and with the ongoing support of our partners across the state, we can continue this success.”
Tax revenue generated through travel and tourism spending saves each household in Louisiana $1,082 a year in taxes that would be needed to maintain current services.
At the end of 2018, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows 237,200 jobs were the result of visitor spending in Louisiana, an increase of 2,600 new tourism-related jobs over 2017. A total of 6,700 new tourism-related jobs have been added in Louisiana since 2016.
“Teamwork and dedication are critical to celebrating growth in visitation over seven consecutive years,” said Doug Bourgeois, assistant secretary of the Louisiana Office of Tourism. “Lieutenant Governor Nungesser’s leadership and the hard work of our statewide tourism partners make it possible to successfully promote Louisiana domestically and internationally, and continue to increase tourism numbers.”