Visitors to Carroll County generated $122.8 million in direct domestic traveler expenditures in 2020, the Carrollton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau announced today.
According to an annual study commissioned by the Georgia Department of Economic Development, visitors to Carroll County and its cities were also responsible for $8.4 million in state and local tax revenues in 2020. Each household in the county would need to be taxed an additional $200 per year to replace taxes generated by tourism activity. The tourism industry supported more than 1,382 jobs and created almost $29 million in payroll in the county in 2020.
“Tourism spending locally has grown year to year for more than a decade, except in 2020,” said Jonathan Dorsey, the visitors bureau’s director. “But even in that pandemic year, which hit the hospitality and travel industry particularly hard, Carroll County was only down 11.6 percent under the previous year while the state as a whole was down 31 percent.”
Dorsey said the unique mix of attractions, events, lodging, dining and recreational opportunities in and around Carrollton draws visitors from all over Georgia, from out-of-state and internationally. According to the report, visitors to the county spent the most on food service, followed in order by local and air transportation, retail, lodging, entertainment and recreation.
