Jerry Parrish: Attracting 100 million tourists would create 121,000 jobs, report says

Each year, millions of tourists visit Florida.

The revenue collected from the state’s thriving tourism-centered economy helps keep tax rates low for our full-time residents and businesses. The more visitors the state attracts, the more revenue is collected through sources like sales taxes and bed taxes. But the tourism industry does much more than pad the state’s coffers.

Last year a report from the independent research group Florida TaxWatch detailed the benefits that Florida stood to gain by increasing the number of annual visitors to the state. The report, Investing in Tourism, showed that increasing the state’s visitation to 100 million visitors would create more than 121,000 jobs.

The addition of 121,000 jobs is certainly welcome news for job seekers and economic development professionals. Perhaps even more surprising, the study found that nearly half of those jobs would be created in non-tourism related industries. Non-tourism related jobs help diversify the economy, which means increased economic benefit year round.

Gov. Rick Scott and Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing agency, made a goal to bring 100 million visitors to Florida. The good news is that the latest report from TaxWatch shows that Florida is well on its way to welcoming 100 million visitors per year.

According to the latest tourism report from Florida TaxWatch, Unpacking the Benefits of Florida Tourism (2014), the number of tourists has been steadily increasing as a result of the state’s commitment to investing in tourism-related marketing. The new Florida TaxWatch projections estimate the 100 million mark will be reached next year.

But Floridians don’t have to wait until next year to see the results from this increased tourism investment. Just last year, an estimated 75,000 jobs were created in Florida as a direct result of our state’s investment in tourism. Since 2013, Florida has seen the addition of 38,000 tourism-related jobs, which resulted in the creation of 37,000 non-tourism industry jobs.

This higher-than-expected job increase appears to be directly related to the success of tourism marketing in overseas markets, whose visitors typically stay longer and spend more during their visits.

It’s clear to see the importance of the tourism industry to Florida’s economy, specifically focusing on the economic impact of its job creating ability. With a better understanding of tourism-related return on investment, Florida can tailor the state’s marketing efforts to ensure sustained growth.

Dr. Jerry Parrish is Chief Economist and Executive Director of the Center for Competitive Florida at Florida TaxWatch. Column courtesy of Context Florida.