City of Mattoon issued the following announcement on Sept. 4.
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), with the Illinois Office of Tourism, has released its ninth consecutive year of record tourism growth in 2019. With 120 million visitors last year, visitors spent nearly $43.1 billion — a $1.3 billion increase over the prior year — according to the U.S. Travel Association. These expenditures directly supported more than 344,100 jobs in the Illinois travel and tourism industry, an increase of 1,800 jobs from 2018. Travel also generated nearly $2.5 billion in state tax revenue, an increase of 7.7 percent.
The local numbers for Coles County 2019 showed a 4.3% increase over 2018, with total economic impact rising from $55.60 Million in 2018 to $57.96 Million in 2019.
Mattoon Tourism and Arts Director Angelia Burgett said regarding the report, "The 2019 numbers show that Coles County was progressing in the right direction with tourism before Covid-19 hit this year. It is our collective hope that normalcy will return soon and we can recapture that momentum."
Charleston Tourism Director Diane Ratliff agreed, stating that "While it is difficult to measure our full loss of dollars in 2020, we are all working in preparation of being ready to fully open up when guidelines allow. Coles County cannot wait to have visitors back in our area."
For more information contact Mattoon Tourism at 217-258-6286.
Original source can be found here.
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