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Regional Economic
Impact
Tourism
In addition to direct travel spending through food, lodging, recreation, and shopping which supports
local businesses, this travel spending also supports job growth in the region. According to the
Virginia Tourism Corporation, 10,145 full time equivalent jobs existed in SWVA thanks to travel in 2016.
This is up 955 jobs since 2004. Overall employment in the leisure and hospitality industry sector is
up 14% from 2001 to 2016.While overall employment has failed to rebound to pre-recession levels,
leisure and hospitality employment is at a peak.
Leisure and hospitality industry employment