Tuesday, May 23, 2023
As the situation related to COVID-19 has diminished a lot, the latent demand from people who stayed at home for a long time with no travel and were all prepared to travel and create record visits to all the, theme parks, national parks and other destinations which were preferred in the last two years.
Even Tupelo, a small hotspot, experienced major impact from the boom in tourism. In the fiscal year 2021, tourism tax collections were over $4.9 million. This was an increase of 14% over 2020. For the fiscal year 2022, collections went up to $5.6 million. This was a 12% rise over the year before. Collections have topped $3.1 million, six months into the present fiscal year with 19% higher than at the same time 2022.
While price rise playing an important role in the rise in collections, it doesn’t give credit to the fact that now more and more people are going to the city and spending their money.
However it hasn’t essentially been for the business travelers that’s been the leader for the huge increases.
The executive director of the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau, Neal McCoy, said that sports tourism headed the way to the revival of the financial system. Sports tourism comprises baseball, soccer, softball and tennis. Also, Tupelo has the aquatic center, which attracts tons of local visitors.
However the growth in visitor numbers also put some pressure on the service industry as well.
Monday, September 25, 2023
