Visitor spending for Mathews County reached $18.2 million in 2023, a 3.2 percent increase from 2022, according to data from the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

This includes direct visitor spending in the following categories: $13.3 million on lodging, $1.9 million on food and beverage, $0.3 million in retail, $1.1 million in recreation, and $1.6 million in transportation.

According to the Virginia Tourism Corporation, tourism in Virginia generated a record high $33.3 billion in visitor spending in 2023, an increase of nearly 10 percent from 2022, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 14.7 percent. The tourism industry in Virginia directly supported over 224,000 jobs in 2023, an increase of over 13,000 jobs relative to 2022.

Direct travel employment is now at 93 percent of pre-pandemic employment levels. Visitor-facing industries accounted for more than 5 percent of all jobs in Virginia last year.

Travelers spent $91 million a day in Virginia in 2023, up from $83 million in 2022. Virginia visitors directly drove $2.4 billion in state and local tax revenue, an increase of 9 percent from $2.2 billion in 2022. Overnight visitation to Virginia increased by 1.4 million to 43.6 million visitors in 2023, up from 42.2 million in 2022, essentially reaching full recovery to pre-pandemic levels.

All five categories of visitor spending in the commonwealth have now fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels and beyond. Those categories include recreation, transportation, lodging, food and beverage, and retail. Recreation was the fastest growing category in 2023, up 12% over 2022 and 24 percent beyond pre-pandemic levels, more than any other category, as travelers continue to show a strong preference for experiences. Throughout 2023, Virginia’s visitor economy benefited from balanced hotel performance as business and group demand recovered strongly on weekdays against a backdrop of stable leisure demand during weekends.

VTC receives its annual economic impact data from Tourism Economics. The information is based on domestic visitor spending (travelers from within the United States) from per-person trips. Visitors included those who stayed overnight or traveled more than 50 miles to the destination. Detailed economic impact data and methodology are available at vatc.org/research.