Tourism is a booming business in OC

Tourism is a booming business in the Golden Corner of South Carolina. More tourists are coming to see the beautiful mountains and lakes each year, says Ken Sloan, President and CEO of the Mountain Lakes Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB). “Let me go back to 2008 when we first started the CVB, we did around $44 million of tourism expenditures. We know that because we get ATAX numbers back from the state and the county, so we have a baseline measurement on those numbers and we know we did around $44 million in 2008. Be mindful of the fact that was one of the worst recessions in the history of the United States. So, in 2015, we were pushing $58.5 million, which is a 34% increase since we started the CVB in 2008. That is an extra almost $15 million a year in tourism spend. When I say tourism spend, I’m talking about visitors who come into Oconee County, stay in our hotels, buy food from our restaurants and grocery stores, buy gas, go shopping and then go home. When they leave they are leaving behind this $58 million of new money that gets circulated and recycled over the course of several years here in Oconee County. That equates to around 450 travel and tourism jobs with a payroll of close to $9 million a year here in Oconee County. We collected almost $7 million in local and state taxes. Here is the good part for home owners and property owners, we are saving $172 a year because of these tax dollars that we are collecting here.” The Mountain Lakes CVB builds marketing strategies to bring in visitors from all over the southeast, the nation, and the world. To learn more about the Mountain Lakes CVB, visit www.scmountainlakes.com.