Earlier this week, the Northern Neck Planning District Commission (NNPDC) released the press release “Visitor Spending Reached $186 million in the Northern Neck in 2022 -Virginia reached $30.3 billion in visitor spending, returning to pre-pandemic levels.” (Full release is at bottom.)
In fact, the regional impact was greater when you add in the indirect and induced impact of $89.2 million. The release was reporting on the five counties―King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland―represented by the planning district. This blog, however, routinely discusses policies in the four counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland. The direct spending in these four counties in 2022 was $149.2m and $65.3m in indirect and induced impact.
Details by county related to direct and indirect spending in the five counties are in Tourism Spending on the NNK, 2022. The data was pulled from 2022 Direct Visitor Impact for Virginia Localities (.xlsx) and 2022 Indirect & Induced Visitor Impact for Virginia Localities (.xlsx). Want some historical data? LocalSpending_20172021 is a report from Virginia Tourism Corporation.
The chart Direct Visitor Spending by Industry in Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland Counties, 2022 shows that lodging makes up the largest single industry in visitor spending on the NNK. Equally interesting is the breakdown by county available in Tourism Spending on the NNK, 2022. In order from highest to least regarding lodging spending: Lancaster ($28.8m), Westmoreland ($20.9m), Northumberland ($17.9m), and Richmond ($3.7m). This information can help inform county governments, small businesses, and others where growth is possible and where investments are needed.
