It was another banner year for tourism in Virginia, and Hampton Roads was no exception.
Visitors spent around $25.8 billion on domestic travel in Virginia in 2018 — a 4.4% increase compared to the previous year — according to a new report from the Virginia Tourism Corporation.
In Hampton Roads, domestic travel expenditures reached about $5.1 billion — again, an increase of around $223 million, or 4.6%. The tourism industry supported 45,443 Hampton Roads jobs in 2018, with a total payroll of just over $1 billion.
“It is a viable industry and it appears to be growing,” said Kurt Krause, president and CEO of VisitNorfolk, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.
Norfolk continued a sustained period of year-over-year growth in 2018, netting around $887 million in travel expenditures. That’s 19% more than in 2014. Tourism jobs, too, grew 9% over the four-year period to 7,581. Payroll supported by tourism during the same time period increased 24% to about $232 million.
Krause said the growth has made the city a major player in terms of dollars spent and jobs supported. For 2018, Norfolk ranked sixth in the state in travel expenditures — just below Virginia Beach and beating out cities like Richmond, Alexandria and Williamsburg. It’s the same story for jobs: only Virginia Beach, Henrico County and Northern Virginia locations like Fairfax and Arlington support more employees.
“That’s a fantastic year, relative to the rest of the state,” Krause said.
In Virginia Beach, travelers spent around $1.6 billion in 2018 — a 4.4% increase from the previous year. The city supported 13,999 tourism and travel-related jobs, with a total payroll of about $301 million.
For Virginia Beach, tourism is a resilient economic driver, said Ron Kuhlman, convention and visitors bureau interim director.
“We have a unique selling proposition as a vibrant coastal destination offering visitors a diversity of experiences, and our residents benefit year round from added amenities and a subsidized tax base thanks to our robust tourism industry,” Kuhlman said in an email
Newport News Director of Tourism Cindy Brouillard said in an email the city was very fortunate to attract a mix of tourism, business and sports visitors. The city earned around $323 million from travel in 2018, which is a 5.2% increase from the previous year.
“Our economic development’s product development, our location and cooperation with our neighbors/partners promoting regionalism also is key,” Brouillard said.
In 2018, Williamsburg earned around $612 million from tourism and supported 6,019 workers, up 4.2% from the year before. Williamsburg Tourism Council CEO Victoria Cimino said there were many contributing factors to the successful year.
“The economy is good, gas prices are low, and (for the most part) the weather cooperated,” Cimino said in an email.
As far as other South Hampton Roads cities tourism dollars, Chesapeake brought in $386 million in 2018 and supported 3,440 jobs. Travelers spent $87 million in Portsmouth and supported 803 jobs. Suffolk earned about $81 million; 699 people were employed by the industry.
On the Peninsula, James City County brought in $442 million and employed 4,002. Travelers spent $263 million in Hampton and supported 2,433 workers. Tourism in York County earned $251 million and employed 2,093 people.
According to the study, Virginia ranks eighth in traveler spending among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Across the U.S., travelers spent around $1.1 trillion in 2018.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@insidebiz.com.
