Maryland tourism spending increased 3.2 percent to $15.4 billion in 2013, and nearly 139,000 Marylanders had jobs in the industry, the state announced Tuesday.
The bump continues a trend of growth, with visitor spending increasing by more than 3 percent for four straight years and more than 21 percent since the recession, the Maryland Office of Tourism Development said.
The 2013 statistics were the most recent available from the department's report, but tax records for the 2014 fiscal year showed $401.3 million in sales tax revenue attributable to tourism, a 2.4 percent increase from the previous year. That figure has increased by 38.2 percent since Fiscal Year 2007, as compared to 22 percent growth in overall sales tax revenue, the state said.
Roughly 36.1 million people vacationed in-state in 2013, an increase of 2.2 percent over 2012, according to state figures. Visitation in 2013 was 33 percent greater than 2007, when the state counted 27.2 million visitors. This 33 percent increase was substantially greater than the 17.2 percent increase in tourism across the nation and greater than the rate of increase for other mid-Atlantic states.
"Tourism has been and continues to be a powerful economic engine for Maryland," said Margot Amelia, the tourism development office's executive director. She called the data "a testament to our strategic regional promotional efforts."
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