DENVER — Visitors just can’t get enough of Colorado and the state’s tourism office has the numbers to prove it.
For the eighth consecutive year, Colorado continued its record-setting growth in visitors, traveler spending and tax generation in 2017, according to the Colorado Tourism Office.
New studies showed that Colorado attracted 84.7 million U.S.-based travelers, plus one million international visitors to the state last year. Collectively, they spent $20.9 billion and generated $1.28 billion in state and local tax revenue, the tourism office reported.
“With the full participation of destinations across the state, Colorado continues to build a national success story that is generating taxes for state and local jurisdictions, supporting businesses and creating new jobs,” said Colorado Tourism Office Director Cathy Ritter. “By taking our message about superlative Colorado travel opportunities to an ever more national audience, we are generating travel in every corner of our state, from our cities to our mountains and plains.”
Here are some statistics from the report:
- The total amount of travel spending in Colorado not only increased by 6.5 percent in 2017, which is more than twice the natural average, but it reached an all-time high of $20.9 billion
- Visitor spending on air travel was up 5.8 percent
- Lodging tax receipts swelled by 6.9 percent
- The Colorado travel industry supported 171,000 jobs and earnings of more than $6.3 billion
- About 34 million visitors stayed overnight in the state and 46.8 million were day travelers
- The state’s top international markets are Mexico and Canada, followed by the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, China and Japan. On average, international travelers spend a record $1,763 per trip and overseas international travelers spent about $2,424 per trip