Ithaca Tourism Stats

Tourism by the Numbers: Tompkins County 2011

Total Lodging—1,856 rooms, an increase of 11.5% from 2006.

• 1,547 hotel rooms
• 309 B&B/Inn rooms
• 76 B&B/Inn properties
• 19 Hotel/Motel properties

Peak Season—Summer, Fall

Total Lodging Revenue—Approximately $45 million annually (STR* Ap 2011 + est. non-reporting properties)

Total Hotel Nights Booked—More than 340,000 (STR Ap 2011 + est. non-reporting properties)

Total Number of Annual Visitors—843,000 (TCVP*, 2010)

Total Tourism Spending—$156 million (TCVP, 2010)

Local Tourism Employment—2,366 people (direct employment, TCVP, 2010)

By total employment, tourism is the seventh-largest industry in Tompkins County. (TCVP Direct Employment compared to Bureau of Labor Statics 2007 report)

Local Tax Revenue Generated—$12 million (Oxford Economics*, 2008)

State Tax Revenue Generated—$10.6 million (Oxford Economics, 2008)

6.1% of all employment in the Finger Lakes is generated by tourism (Oxford Economics, 2008)

Average Traveling Party Size: 2.9 people (TCVP 2010)

The average overnight visitor is in county for 2.3 nights or 3.0 days. (TCVP 2010)

The average visitor (including day trippers) stays in county for 1.4 nights or 2.2 days.

54% of adult visitors to Ithaca and Tompkins County are age 45-64. (TCVP 2010)

Visitors to Ithaca and Tompkins County tend to be educated with 74% having bachelors or graduate degrees (TCVP 2010)

47% percent of all visits to Ithaca and Tompkins County are college related; i.e. visitors have business, family or professional connections to Cornell University or Ithaca College. (TCVP 2010)

37% of all visitors to Ithaca andTompkins County are day trippers, 63% are overnighters. Among overnight visitors, 50% stay in a hotel, motel, or resort, 31% stay with family and friends, and 2% stay in a bed and breakfast or inn. In addition, 7% stay at a campground and 4% stay in dorm rooms. (TCVP 2010)

The most popular attractions in Ithaca/Tompkins County, visitor survey:

• Cornell 42%
• Downtown Ithaca/Commons 42%
• Parks/waterfalls/gorges 39%
• Wineries 17%
• Ithaca College 12%
• Cayuga Lake 12%
• Farmers Market 9%
• Johnson Art Museum 5%
• Moosewood Restaurant 4%
• Cornell Plantations 4%
  (TCVP 2010)

Visitors to Ithaca/Tompkins County spend an average $265 per person/per trip. (TCVP 2010)

Of all tourism spending in Tompkins County, the largest component is food and drink (35% of total visitor spending), followed by lodging (28%), shopping (25%) and in-county transportation (7%). (TCVP 2010)

The average visitor to Tompkins County has an estimated annual household income of $90,931 per year. (TCVP 2010)

Top-10 metro sources of Visitors to Ithaca/Tompkins County.

• New York City 17%
• Binghamton 9%
• Syracuse 7%
• Rochester 6%
• Philadelphia 3%
• Buffalo-Niagara Falls 3%
• Boston 2%
• Elmira 2%
• Washington, D C 2%
• Albany 2%
  (TCVP 2010)

Top-10 states (+Canada) sources for visitors to Ithaca/Tompkins County.

• New York 49%
• Pennsylvania 9%
• New Jersey 7%
• Massachusetts 5%
• California 3%
• Canada 3%
• Connecticut 2%
• Florida 2%
• Maryland 2%
• Illinois 2%
  (TCVP 2010)

Sources:

STR: Smith Travel Research, industry-standard reporting service for hotel lodging data.

TCVP: Tompkins County Visitor Profile, a comprehensive visitor study conducted by Chmurra & Associates in 2008/09 and released in spring, 2010. The full study is online, here.

Oxford Economics: NYS Tourism Economics study, data collected 2008, released April, 2009.