Connecticut’s tourism sector continued to grow in recent years despite a significant decline in state funding for the local industry, a new study shows.
The state’s tourism industry posted $15.5 billion in total sales in 2017, up 5.5 percent compared to 2015, according to a study released Monday by the Connecticut Office of Tourism. Visitor spending rose 3.6 percent to $9.3 billion over the two-year period, the study says.
The biennial study, conducted this year by Pennsylvania-based Tourism Economics — an Oxford Economics Company — surfaces as tourism advocates call for more industry funding as Connecticut has cut tourism investment by 73 percent since 2012.
Meantime, debate continues over the effectiveness of the state’s “Still Revolutionary” slogan, which was implemented just seven years ago. Gov. Ned Lamont has said he wants to drop the slogan and a tourism panel launched by House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin) recently recommended that the state should review its current marketing strategy, branding and slogan.
The state’s tourism office appears to have removed the “Still Revolutionary” tagline from its website, but the agency on Monday says it has not dropped the monicker entirely.
The slogan and other hot-button industry topics will be discussed Wednesday during an industry-wide event at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford beginning at 8 a.m.
According to the study, tourism spending generated $2.2 billion in tax revenues in 2017, including $960 million in state and local taxes. Tourism also supports 84,254 direct jobs, which means tourism is the state’s eighth largest employment sector.
“Our statewide tourism marketing is working, but we’re always looking for new ways to work with our partners to improve and build longer-term awareness of Connecticut as a place to visit,” said Randy Fiveash, director of state tourism.
As previously reported in its 2018 tourism marketing study, people exposed to the state’s digital tourism advertising were six times more likely to visit the state vs. those who were not exposed.
Also, the state’s tourism website drew a record 5.4 million visits in 2018 and more than 3 million referrals in phone calls, emails and website clicks to tourist destinations.
DOWNLOAD PDFs
