Tourism revenue in Virginia Beach totaled $1.4 billion in 2015, a 2.4 percent increase from the year before, according to recent U.S. Travel Association data.
The city’s $1.4 billion-haul accounts for 6.1 percent of the state’s total tourism revenue, according to the 2015 Economic Impact of Domestic Travel on Virginia Counties report by the association. Virginia Beach and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Henrico counties had the highest domestic travel impact in the state, and also had the largest tourism-related expenditures of any other counties in the state.
In 2015, Virginia Beach spent $256.3 million on tourism-related payroll and employed 12,900 people in the industry. These job include hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions throughout the city that are frequented by tourists, according to Teresa Diaz, public-relations specialist for the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau. In 2014, the city spent $244.3 million on tourism-related payroll and had 12,600 tourism-related jobs.
The U.S. Travel Association is a national, non-profit organization that advocates for policies that advance the national travel industry, according to its website.
