Numbers show tourists visiting the River City are spending 3.7% more than they did in 2022.

The numbers were released this month as part of Visit Mississippi’s annual Tourism Economic Contribution Report. The study was conducted by Tourism Economics and provides an in-depth analysis of tourism’s economic impact in Mississippi for the calendar year 2023. Visit Vicksburg Executive Director Laura Beth Strickland released a Warren County-specific report at the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau (VCVB) board meeting Thursday.

By category, recreation spending in Warren County led the overall growth with a 5.5% increase over 2022, followed by food and beverage spending, which grew 5.2% compared to the prior year.

“Tourism is big business for Vicksburg,” Strickland said. “It’s no surprise that the data shows that visitors are bringing in millions of dollars into the economy. We are very excited to see those numbers growing from year to year and hope to continue pushing to increase the impact from one of our biggest industries.”

The report showed a record high in tourism spending when comparing data over the last five years.

• Total visitor spending in 2019 was $267.6 million.
• Total visitor spending in 2020 was $223.5 million.
• Total visitor spending in 2021 was $268.9 million.
• Total visitor spending in 2022 was $290 million.
• Total visitor spending in 2023 was $300.8 million.

The $300.8 million in visitor spending in 2023 generated a total economic impact of $447.4 million in Warren County. The $300.8 million accounts for 2.6% of the state’s total spend and is made up of:

• $76.9 million in Food and Beverage (26% of total visitor spending).
• $69.2 million from the Lodging category, which includes the value of second homes (23% of total visitor spending).
• $64.6 million in Recreation & Entertainment (21%of total visitor spending).
• $46.4 million in Retail (15% of total visitor spending).
• $43.6 million in Transport, which includes both ground and air transportation (15% of total visitor spending).

The report detailed Tourism Economics’s methodology in calculating the economic impact of tourism spending in Warren County. It said the firm used an input-output model (I-O) to trace the impact of tourism dollars as they flow through the local economy. The I-O model measures the relationships among industries and consumers and produces estimates of direct, indirect and induced impacts.

Direct impacts include spending in sectors like food and beverage, lodging, recreation and entertainment, retail and transport. Indirect impacts include companies that supply the sectors listed above and sometimes are referred to as supply-chain effects. Induced impacts include spending in the local economy by employees whose wages are generated directly or indirectly by visitor spending.

Tourism Economics calculates direct, indirect and induced impacts for six indicators: spending, wages, employment, federal taxes, state taxes and local taxes.

The $447.4 million in economic impact is made up of the following:

• $300.8 million in direct sales.
• $84.7 million in indirect sales.
• $62 million in induced sales.

The 2023 total economic impact sustained 2,765 jobs in Warren County, accounting for 10.4% of all jobs in the county and contributing $127.3 million in labor income. Visitor activity supported the largest number of jobs in the food and beverage industry (808), followed by the lodging industry (612).

Tourism in Warren County generated $16.5 million in state tax revenues, $8.7 million in local tax revenues and $19.9 million in federal tax revenues. The report showed that each Warren County household would need to be taxed an additional $1,502 to replace the visitor-generated taxes received by state and local governments in 2023.

Terri Cowart Frazier contributed to this report.