CHEYENNE (WNE) — Less than a week ahead of this year’s National Travel and Tourism Week, the Wyoming Office of Tourism has announced the 2022 Economic Impact of Travel results.
Travel to Wyoming has returned to or exceeds pre-pandemic levels on all benchmarks.
Tourism is the second-largest industry in the state, touching all 23 counties and positively impacting the lives of residents across Wyoming.
From fossil digging to dude ranch experiences, travel is a lead contributor to sales and use tax, is the largest private sector employer in Wyoming and is essential to the economic well-being of the state.
2022 economic impact highlights include the following:
- In 2022,Wyoming welcomed an estimated 7.5 million visitors, an 8.5% decrease from 2021.
- Those visitors spent $4.5 billion buying goods and services from Wyoming businesses, a 3.8% increase over 2021.
- That $4.5 billion in spending generated an estimated $247 million in sales and use tax for local and state governments, an increase of 0.7% over 2021.
- The visitor economy, which supports more than 33,000 jobs, gained 1,850 jobs, an increase of 5.9%.
- Additionally, salaries and wages increased by 14.3%, totaling $1.2 billion in earnings.
NTTW is a time to celebrate the industry’s 33,000-plus workforce, as well as the organizations and businesses that welcome visitors to Wyoming daily. This year, NTTW will be held May 7-13.
The Wyoming Office of Tourism has planned a weeklong series of events to celebrate NTTW, including a proclamation signing with Gov. Mark Gordon on Thursday, an industry homepage takeover on TravelWyoming.com, as well as social media posts and events to highlight the travel and hospitality industry.
